community events

What resources does it take to provide quality education to all our children in the Commonwealth?  You'd think by now we'd know the answer to that question.  After all, within the past 2 decades years there have been two major education lawsuits regarding funding our public education system to provide quality education.  One of the reasons for education reform in MA is due to funding.

It's about time our legislature got serious and moved forward with the education funding adequacy study.

An adequacy study determines how much money it takes to deliver a baseline adequate eduaction to each and every student in the Commonwealth, based on such factors as the number of kids in each grade, how many low-income students a district serves, and how many special education students a district serves, among other factors.

Come to the event on Monday, Dec 5th, and join in the conversation with Representatives Tom Sannicandro and Jason Lewis to discuss how this legislation can positively impact your children and your community.

For the July 4th celebrations, many cities and towns are relying on private fundraising.  So is the reality after many years of budget cuts, continuing with fiscal year 2012 which began this past July 1st.

Faced with the prospect of a quiet, dark Independence Day, many town committees staged emergency fund-raising drives, managing to save some or all of the festivities. In Lowell, a last-minute donation from a local bank meant the city could have fireworks without laying off another municipal worker in 2009. But others, such as Ipswich, Abington, and Methuen, canceled their shows altogether. [Full Article: Boston Globe]

On a recent Tuesday night, about a dozen or so people, all representing various community organizations, gathered at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury. They listened to a Powerpoint presentation that explains the ins and outs of redistricting. This once-a-decade process can be confusing and somewhat wonkish, but the political stakes are very high, especially for minority groups who want to see increased representation at all levels of government. [Full Article: WBUR]

Starting today, Wednesday, Sept. 3rd, through Sunday, Sept. 7th, for the third year in a row, a vacant lot near Boston’s Chinatown Gate will become a FREE outdoor theater, showing Kung-Fu and classic Chinese-language films under the stars.

Films at the Gate is a collaborative project of several Chinatown residents and the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC).


The series seeks to:

• Improve awareness of Boston’s Chinatown as a site of cultural activity
• Restore a tradition of shared, public experience of Chinese-language films in Chinatown
• Provide temporary community use of Chinatown’s underutilized spaces, draw foot-traffic to neighborhood restaurants, and make downtown Boston a destination beyond the working hours.