In a move to provide citizens with open and transparent government, Massachusetts has put the state’s checkbook online.  Open Checkbook provides the public with easily accessible and understandable information to State Government spending. From the website individuals can search details of state spending, see payroll and pension information and identify vendor payments.

Last year the legislature passed and the governor signed into law new transparency and accountability reforms as part of the FY 2011 Budget. As part of this proactive approach to civic engagement, the Executive Office of Administration & Finance, the Office of the Treasurer and the Office of the Comptroller have been working jointly on the Open Checkbook Website.

Click here to get access to the site.

Some interesting data on Franklin has been made available from the folks at ProzimityOne.  Using the school district demographic profiles provides insights into the school district community. These data tell us about characteristics of the community including educational attainment, enrollment by type of educational institution/level, workforce and employment, age and gender, place of birth, citizenship status, ancestry, foreign born population, language spoken at home, income and poverty, race/ethnicity, household composition and family structure, housing value and rent, mobility, vehicles, commuting, housing stock and attributes, among others.

For Franklin, you can get the following data by clicking on the links below:

DP1 General Demographic Characteristics

DP2 Social Characteristics

DP3 Economic Characteristics

DP4 Housing Characteristics

The information is based on data from the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS). Profiles for each Massachusetts school district are included based on boundaries as of the 2007-08 school year. These data provide estimates centric to mid-2007 and are the first “richer demographics” updates since Census 2000 that are available for all school districts. Updates to these data will be available in December 2011, based on the 2010 ACS, will reflect boundaries as of the 2009-10 school year, and demographic characteristics centric to mid-2008.

ProximityOne develops geographic-demographic-economic data and analytical tools and helps organizations knit together and use diverse data in a decision-making and analytical framework. The company develops custom demographic/economic estimates and projections, develops geographic and geocoded address files, and assists with impact and geospatial analyses.

As you may know, Franklin is in the process of evaluating and approving a new building for Franklin High.

You are invited to attend Thursday evening’s public meeting on the proposed model school to replace Franklin High. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann School and the community will have an opportunity to hear the presentation and to ask questions.

The goal of the hearing is to give parents and citizens an update on the effort to win state approval for a new high school, using the Whitman-Hanson High School design as the model for our building. Members of the Building Committee, the project manager and the architects will give the presentation and be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Work is underway on the design, the specifications, the drawings and the cost estimate for the new building, all of which are scheduled for submission to state officials by December 9. If all goes well, the Massachusetts School Building Authority will vote on our submission in January. Their approval will set the stage for town-wide vote in March or April 2012 on a debt exclusion to finance the project so that Franklin can qualify for a 57.9% reimbursement of the total approved cost. Assuming the community agrees to seize this opportunity and barring unforeseen issues, a new high school to serve Franklin will open its doors to students in September 2014

Thursday’s hearing is the first of several events designed to give parents and citizens the opportunity to hear about the progress of this project and to ask questions.

For more information, go to the Town of Franklin website. You can view a video of the Whitman-Hansen model by clicking on the image below. Have additional questions? Please come to the meeting or contact Ed Cafasso, Member of the Franklin Building Committee at edcafasso@comcast.net.

The election results are in and I am both grateful and humbled by your support last Tuesday. I am looking forward to our first meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2011.

As I have said on many occasions, I enjoyed the last 10 years with the Franklin School Committee and the challenges of working in municipal government. I am proud of the accomplishments made by the Franklin Public Schools team and will bring that spirit of hard work and commitment to the Town Council.

I was particularly proud to stand alongside all of the candidates who sought town offices in this election. Each of these people dedicated countless hours to the task of making Franklin a great community for everyone. Everyone took the initiative to stand up and be heard, and made a difference.

I also want to especially thank all of those people who supported my campaign and who took time out of their busy schedules to hold signs, talk to their friends and neighbors, host signs on their lawns, sign my nomination papers, or offer advice and counsel. Your assistance with this effort was remarkable, and I will honor that commitment by dedicating my heart and soul to the task at hand.

Again, thank you, and I look forward to being your Town Councilor.

You can read more about the election from the Milford Daily News by clicking here or here.

In today’s Boston Globe, there is a column by Brian McGrory entitled “The Dignified Statesman.”  The piece recounts a chance encounter with former President George H.W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine.  But more than just a quick visit, McGrory reflects on the loss of civility in American politics and the America we have become.  He speaks on the national level, but there are many parallels happening at all levels of government.

“Five minutes with George H.W. Bush, and the problems of the present are made more vivid by the virtues of the not-so-distant past,” he writes. “Say what you will, but the unimpeachable fact is that he knew how to govern.”  He continues on about a tax hike (which likely cost him his presidency), the spending caps and cuts he put in place, two pieces of landmark legislation, and a war with a clear mission and a defined end.

He sums it all up this way:

There are no leaders risking their careers in the name of the common good. There are precious few officials seeking compromise rather than cheap political points. There are no bridges, just blockades, no reasonable debates, just frantic threats. The extremes, especially on the right, have overwhelmed the middle, and the result is an economy in a government-prolonged rut.

The piece concludes with the observation that you don’t outgrow these virtues, you simply abandon them. And having spent a few fleeting moments with what we had, he remarks that it only makes it more regrettable about what we’ve become.

This piece is a great reflection on our history over the last 25 years.  And it will cause the reader to stop and think about what we can do to change our course.  It’s big-picture thinking, and something worthwhile to explore.

You can read the entire column by clicking here.

The Franklin Public Schools, in conjunction with the Joint Parent Communication Councils of Franklin, is hosting a screening of the film Race to Nowhere on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 7 p.m.  The film will play at the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann Middle School on Oak Street.  A panel discussion will follow the screening.

Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people who have been pushed to the brink and educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills needed for the global economy, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic running rampant in our schools.

The film is the product of Vicki Abeles, a concerned mother turned filmmaker, who aims her camera at the culture of hollow achievement and pressure to perform that has invaded America’s schools.  As Abeles notes, “it is destroying our children’s love of learning and feeding an epidemic of unprepared, disengaged, and unhealthy students.”

The film is a call to families, educators, experts and policy makers to examine current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become the healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens in the 21st century.  You can learn more about the film by clicking here.

The event is free and open to the general public.  However, those who wish to attend the screening must register online for tickets by clicking here.

Much has been said about the recent School Committee approval of the teacher’s contract.  While the focus has been on a 1.5% wage increase over two years, what is being lost in the argument is the fact that the Committee negotiated an agreement to re-examine the salary table which has been a significant source of annual financial pressure.  In addition, the contract provides for the parties to undertake interest-based bargaining, an innovative method to implement solutions to systemic issues.  These are two monumental breakthroughs for all parties.

Thrown into the discussion is the issue of why the School Committee was not in attendance at the last Town Council meeting.  Here is some information to consider on these issues:

Several School Committee members, including me, could not make it to Wednesday night’s Council meeting due to work and/or family commitments, and notified several members of the Council and the Town Administrator well in advance. We felt that unless we all could attend, it wouldn’t be fair to ask one or two members to do it on their own, especially given the heightened tension and climate of anger. We prepared a letter in lieu of attendance and offered to provide additional information and answer any other questions they may have. Click here to view the complete letter.  We are continuing to address questions and concerns as we receive them.

Each School Committee member cares very much about this community and we are committed to working hard to make Franklin a great home for all residents, young and old. Indeed, that’s why I dedicated the past 10 years of my life to the School Committee. We accomplished some great things together, and I am ready to bring that dedication and commitment to the Town Council if elected on November 8.

I respect the Council’s authority and autonomy under state law and the charter. I have not always agreed with the decisions from that board. When appropriate, I have shared my opinions in a respectful manner, understanding that they have researched and carefully considered the issue before rendering a decision. I only ask that the same consideration and respect be given to the authority and autonomy of the School Committee.  Click here for an interesting article from City and Town which discusses roles, responsibilities, and accountability.

I can assure you that the School Committee carefully researched and considered all options before making its decision on the teacher’s contract which concerned more than raises. It was a reasoned and informed judgment. I know that it is not popular with some in this community, but I continue to believe that it is right and just. I suppose we could have sought political cover by delaying the vote until after the election, but that would have been disingenuous and irresponsible. We have a responsibility to exercise our judgment, not for political gain, but for the benefit of the community. I am convinced that the long range benefits of this contract will prove their worth. It may not happen in the next six months, but long term, this contract is good for this town.

As noted earlier, one of the key components of the deal was an agreement to study and revise the salary table.  It’s an enormous undertaking, but the groundwork has been laid. The teacher’s union has promised to work with us to affect change, and I believe that it will be a successful effort. A successful re-structuring of the table will save money for the community and reward teachers for a job well done.

Finally, I don’t think it’s fair to say that no one showed up at the Council meeting on October 5. In fact, a key member of the School Committee negotiating team who helped broker this deal was in the Council Chambers that night. The Town Administrator was a member of the negotiating team, he was at all the negotiation sessions discharging his duty on behalf of the Council, and he had more intimate knowledge of what went on than many of the School Committee members because of his presence at those sessions over the past two years. He was in a position to address any immediate questions or concerns that could not have waited until the next Council meeting when School Committee members could appear.  The fact that Council members chose to excoriate rather than ask questions of a negotiating team member is puzzling.

I thank everyone who has shared their opinions and concerns on this issue. This is not the first time there has been disagreement, and I do not suspect it will be the last. But we become a stronger community by approaching our disagreements with creativity and civility. I hope that we can continue to do this in the future, and I pledge to make every effort to do so myself.