Saturday, February 7, 2009

Earl's letter to the Milton Times

Seems like I'm getting more and more political these days, but this isn't about national politics. Here is Earl's letter that he sent to the Milton Times regarding the town's budget crisis and the School Committee's consideration of the possibility of closing an elementary school in town.

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Close Tucker School or close Cunningham School. Without an override, that’s what the School Committee will do.

My special needs daughter was in Milton’s pre-school, attended kindergarten at the Glover School, and then was moved to Tucker where she has been a student for two years. For several years, I’ve studied the academic, social, and legal aspects of special education. I know directly and through extensive conversation with parents from various schools in Milton and other communities, that Tucker School exemplifies the way in which a public school should run special education. Tucker has the creativity to maximize special education student inclusion, create effective Sped programs with minimal resources, and fully encourage and respect parental involvement.

Tucker has the largest population of students of color, low-income families, single moms, and families whose primary language is not English . Tucker has many important programs designed to target minority performance. It is our obligation to support at-risk students. Extensive educational research proves that if we disburse these students to other schools, academic performance will suffer.

Many Tucker families walk their children to the before-school and home from the after-school programs at Tucker. The neighborhood around Tucker has the largest number of families who rely on public transportation. Milton might bus these students to Cunningham, but how will these families drop off and pick up their children from before-school and after-school programs? Closing Tucker puts an undue burden on Milton’s economically struggling families.

The Tucker School is a beacon of hope and educational opportunity for those who need it most. Close Tucker, and the burden of single mothers will increase, minorities will be pushed aside, low income families will be passed over, and the best environment to support special needs programs will be dismantled.

Shutter Tucker School? Is this the Town of Milton? Conscience must prevail.

Earl W. Fay

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