Letter to the Editor

LETTER: "Our Children Need A Safe Place to Play"

Precinct 17 Town Meeting members: "We must and will do the best we can for our children and for the Town of Framingham."

This letter is about serving all the children of Framingham.  As Precinct 17 Town Meeting members, we support citizens’ petitions to help the children in our precinct, which has the lowest income in Framingham.  We also support: Remodeling Loring Arena, improvements to Cushing Park, and a new library in Nobscot because they will help the children of Framingham, which is a good thing.   Unfortunately, most of our children are not able to use these facilities because they are far away and they would have to cross Waverly Street and the railroad tracks.        Like all children ours need a safe place to play. Now they play in the street. It’s dangerous. This is a fact. We see it. The kids should be kept busy, out of trouble and away from drug…

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: 'If We Can Save One Kid, It's Worth It'

Pastor Timothy P. Jones: For the identified families the "choice is between an after school program and feeding their children."

We want to start an after school program at the New Bethel Baptist Church.   This will be a vital service to the community because the program is working to break the vicious cycle of poverty, crime, drugs  and jail. The program will not charge fees because the target will be low and extremely low income families. The identified families work 2 jobs and the existing after school programs usually cost $25 per week per child. They can’t afford it because it will take money from food and from living expenses. The lights may have to be shut off.  Things are that tight. The choice is  between an after school program and feeding their children.    This is about single moms working 2 jobs or for example, a mom working 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: 'Program Wants to Break the Cycle of Poverty, Drugs, Crime and Jail'

Town Meeting Members on citizen's petition that failed: 'This is real life in parts of Framingham that many of you don’t know about or maybe don’t care about. But it affects the whole town.'

We would like to discuss one of the Citizen’s Petitions recently brought before the Framingham Town Meeting. This is for an after school program.   We have identified kids who will hopefully be attending the program. Presently they are dropped off at their homes. They eat whatever they want, which most times is not the best thing for them. The first thing they grab is the junk food.   The people available to help the kids with home work are not always academically able to help them. The home atmosphere is that grandma is possibly taking care of the kids and has no control over them. There are lots of kids are running around and  playing. It is not possible for the kids to concentrate on their  homework. To emphasize again, the kids are …

• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

Chasan Endorses Colten and Ortiz for Planning Board

Chasan: "Send a message that Framingham values the jobs and tax revenue that businesses provide to our community. "

To properly fund our schools, public safety, etc., Framingham needs responsible growth and the tax revenue that comes with it.   Framingham’s current leadership talks a good game but the votes and policies of the town have driven long time businesses out of town and prevented new businesses from investing in our town.   Neighboring communities have departments and staff that welcome, attract, recruit, and work diligently to retain companies, while here companies leave town due to overburdening regulations.   There are 2 seats in the April 9th election, where we have an opportunity to elect new members to the Planning Board that will help to encourage businesses to invest in and remain in Framingham.   We all live here and want Framingham …

• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: 'We Love this Town and Care Deeply About Our Students'

Framingham High history and social studies teachers: "As the School Committee continues to delay the settlement of a fair contract, the morale of the teachers continues to dwindle."

The teachers of the Framingham Public Schools have been without a contract for over 190 days. As the School Committee continues to delay the settlement of a fair contract, the morale of the teachers continues to dwindle. However, we know that the parents and greater community have incredible respect for the work we do. As dedicated professionals, who work passionately to guide the learning of your children, we need your support in reaching a fair contract with the School Committee. We are committed to the academic and social success of our students. We work every day both inside and outside of the classroom to help students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve academic goals, gain meaningful employment, go on to a bright …

•  32 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: 'Our Students Have Been The Only Real Victims'

McElwain: "Miskin, and to whatever degree they are involved, the FTA board, the MTA, and indeed any individual, who took part in authorizing, authoring or supporting this 'stress plan' has done a great disservice to our teachers and our community..."

This community’s response to the outing of Mr. Miskin’s message and survey, sent to more than 1,000 FTA members, was completely proportionate to the threats he poses. There is absolutely no misunderstanding, unless it’s his.  The fact that he has not retracted his letter and his survey has not been taken down, only modified, removing the request for School Committee member’s place of worship, and their children’s names and schools, continues to infuriate anyone with the sensibilities to recognize these kinds of tactics. (And in fact, the survey may have been modified only because a number of us reported it to Google yesterday, as a clear violation of their policy on hate, violence and illegal or offensive activities.)  Further, this has …

•  23 Comments
• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Teachers Union President: 'For Any Misunderstanding ... I Apologize'

Framingham Teachers Association President: "We have made very little progress."

The recent communication that has become controversial has been blown out of proportion – our focus has been on making connections. For any misunderstanding about the intent, I apologize. We are teachers – we put kids first every single day in our classrooms and schools. We are not out to hurt anyone – and we are certainly not going to involve children. EVER. Period. We have been in lengthy negotiations for a contract and we are looking for ways to ensure the committee, as elected officials, is as invested in and feeling the same levels of urgency that our membership has felt. We asked about children, social groups and places of worships, not because we want to picket a church service or “stress” any particular child, but because our …

•  97 Comments
• Photos (1)

Brad Evans

12:41 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013

@FramTeacher 2013 - you cant leave it to the Kindergerten process to fix the class size issues.. It only fixes it for that year - at a certain moment in time. Imagine if you will all Middle school classes at 25 students in all schools.. Now, it is October and 3 new families move in to Framingham, one with twin 12 year old boys (7th grade) and one with a 6th grader. As soon as you assign these …   more ›

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Teachers 'Do Not Give Up Your Fight'

Zide: "I am a parent of former Framingham students and I am appalled at the way in which the teachers are being treated!"

I am a parent of former Framingham students and I am appalled at the way in which the teachers are being treated! I still live in Framingham and pay taxes here and still very much care about our schools. In fact, we have a real estate business in Framingham, so are directly impacted by this. When my son was in first grade at Brophy, 24 years ago, there were four first grade classes. We were constantly getting letters telling us that our children, as classes, were exhibiting immature behavior and several children were not meshing well together. What did they do? They made three second grades, larger classes! Brilliant, don't you think?!! For the rest of my son's elementary years, they had only three of each class. It was NOT to the benefit …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (1)

Frambors Finds a New Home At E-Democracy.org

After founder Steve Orr’s unexpected death on Monday, we wanted to find a way to carry on the legacy of his community email list Frambors. When the Frambors server crashed this week, it was clear that we needed to figure out a plan quickly.

After founder Steve Orr’s unexpected death on Monday, we wanted to find a way to carry on the legacy of his community email list Frambors. When the frambors server crashed this week then came back with limited functionality, it was clear that we needed to figure out a plan quickly. After considering a variety of options, we have decided to move the list to a non-profit host called E-democracy.org. Steven Clift, Executive Director and Founder of E-Democracy.org, met with Steve Orr and I several years ago to consult about Frambors and discussed ways of improving it, and Steven and Steve were in touch over the years and Steven has been a huge support as we make the transition, and has been helping us to make be as smooth and as painless as …

• Photos (1)

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Administration Foot-Dragging; Teachers 'Losing Faith'

Teachers Association: "We are also considering more drastic measures including a “work-to-rule” action. This means that many of us, who enthusiastically take part in extra-curricular activities in our community, will be sitting on the sidelines."

We, the 1,000 teachers and education professionals of the Framingham Teachers Association, recently began picketing outside of our schools. We have taken this step to call attention to our current contract struggle. We view these negotiations as an opportunity to work jointly to make improvements to our schools – including reducing class sizes – that will truly benefit our students. While we maintain hope that the superintendent and Framingham School Committee will join with us in this important endeavor, we are losing faith. While the administration wants the public to believe that class size reduction does not have an impact on student achievement, that premise is just plain false. The information that the administration has put on their…

•  25 Comments
• Photos (4)