Hey There Flynn Families - Sorry for the late post - the weather was just too beautiful and the day too short to fit in the blog... The big news this week is VOTING. Tomorrow is the big day!
All other Burlington elementary schools will have parents out at drop-off and pick-up today and tomorrow, helping to get out the vote. As far as I know, Flynn had no takers... It is not too late. If you have 15 minutes to spare at pick-up or drop off to talk to other families about voting, that would be fabulous. Every single YES vote will make a difference and we all know that best intentions don't always make it on the TO DO list...
Please Vote Tomorrow - June 3rd.
Ward 7 - vote at Miller Center
Ward 4 - Vote at St. Marks
In case you missed this in the Free Press:
Common ground in school budget vote
Erik Esckilsen12:07 a.m. EDT June 1, 2014
As the signs have gone up in my neighbors' yards — "Schools, kids, community, vote yes" — and as I've read the commentary about the June 3 vote on a new Burlington school budget, I've found myself living in two parallel Burlingtons.
One is defined by a strong sense of community. The other is defined by polarized discord. I prefer the former — and not just because it's friendlier. It more accurately reflects what the school budget vote is about — common ground.
That common ground is Burlington's cherished, multifaceted quality of life. It's why most of us are here, although not every facet holds equal value for every Burlingtonian. For example, before I had kids, school funding didn't mean as much to me as it does today. But I still understood maintaining good schools to be among my obligations as a city resident.
Looked at this way, the upcoming school budget vote is not a question of whether we think the budget is too high, but of whether we think the quality of life that we all enjoy is worth the cost. Approaching the matter from this common ground might cool the rhetoric and compel voters to consider the budget more analytically and less emotionally.
This means ceasing to criticize people hesitant to open their checkbooks for yet another increase. Burlington has become, for many people, a prohibitively expensive place to live — common ground of a regrettable sort. Failing to acknowledge the school budget's role in this is naive at best and narrowly self-interested at worst.
If the school budget were to blame, however, an end to Burlington's problem of increasing economic exclusivity would be in sight. It's not. Look at home prices, our weathered infrastructure, insurance premiums, myriad taxes — all add to the cost of living. The school budget has become a financial scapegoat, in part because the benefits of education are difficult to quantify in the short term, and they affect school employees and taxpayers with kids in the system most directly. Unfortunately, the students will bear the greatest cost if the budget is rejected.
Voters might be surprised by how well our students are doing currently. Remember the bold experiment with "magnet" elementary schools that the city launched six years ago? Those new schools are thriving, reportedly trending upward on assessments and some winning national accolades for innovation.
Our teachers win awards too, and our high school graduation rates are among the highest in the country. But that's old news.
Our schools' increasingly diverse student population is another laudable distinction. Serving students with wide-ranging cultural backgrounds honors the city's longstanding commitment to inclusivity while enriching the educational experience for all. Burlington kids are coming of age in a time when multicultural understanding is essential to success — a critical job skill and a requirement for conscientious global citizenship. Our schools get that — big time.
This picture of resourceful, progressive education is clouded by inflammatory rhetoric about fiscal mismanagement and failed programs. Notwithstanding the recent tumult over district leadership, the facts about what the new budget will accomplish, and what our schools accomplish each day, contradict those distorted narratives.
Our schools are a facet of our shared quality of life of which we can all be proud — whether or not we have kids in the system. Schools are not parks, bridges or housing developments. They're not improvements to our quality of life. They're the essence of it.
What's more, our schools are the means by which we fulfill our moral obligation — as citizens, not just as parents or guardians — to prepare our youth as best we can for a tomorrow we can scarcely imagine.
I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that a yes vote on the school budget on June 3 will enhance students' ability to face it.
Erik Esckilsen lives Burlington
PTO- Last meeting this Thursday at 6:30 in the library. Come a little early to settle the kids into childcare and have a light supper. Hope to see you there!
June 3- Vote on School Budget
June 5 - Last PTO meeting of the Year! - 6:30 in the library
June 9 - Flynn Olympics (am- grades 4-6, pm - grades K-2)
June 9 -5th Grade Bridging Ceremony - 6pm
June 11 - Last Day of School (note date change due to last snow day...) Early release and parade at 11:30
June 27- Flynn School Lake Monsters Game - get your tix!!!
August 27 - Back to school...
