John Connolly

If BPS has already decided how to rejigger school zones, why is it holding parent meetings?

adamg — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:35:21 +0000

Parent Imperfect attended one of those hearings BPS held to solicit parent input on school assignment, came away concluding BPS already has a basic plan in place (more and smaller zones), based on the questions the facilitators asked. He also discusses a similar, smaller session held by City Councilor and Maybe Possible Mayoral Candidate John Connolly, who raised the question of whether "empowered" (i.e., middle and upper middle class, mainly white) parents are better able to play the current assignment game.

Councilors want to crack down on irresponsible sober homes, pawn shops

adamg — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:52:54 +0000

The City Council voted today to consider measures that would regulate so-called sober homes for recovering drug addicts and require pawn shops and other businesses that sell second-hand goods to tie into a Boston Police database of stolen property.

Councilors propose making black history part of high-school curriculum

adamg — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:57:34 +0000

The City Council tomorrow considers a request from Councilors Tito Jackson (Roxbury) and John Connolly (at large) for a hearing on making black history a mandatory part of education for students in Boston public high schools.

In their request to hold a hearing, the two say that with so many black students in local public schools, "it is critically important for young people to know where and whence they have come and the full story of the accomplishments of their ancestors."

The weekly city-council meeting begins at noon in the council's fifth-floor chambers at City Hall. They're also aired live on Comcast channel 12, RCN channel 82 and on the Web.

BPS, teachers declare contract impasse

adamg — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:30:17 +0000

City and BTU negotiators last night threw up their hands and decided there's nothing more they can say to each other, so they'll be seeking state help to mediate a contract.

The declaration comes 21 months of negotiations; firefighters still hold the modern Boston record for going without a contract, at four years.

Meanwhile, BPS has decided to fight back against BTU airplanes with updates, which they declare are "not intended" for the eyes of union members (also see the BTU's contract Web page).

The Dig considers the impact of Menino's apparent attempt to WiFi John Connolly over the issue of school assignment.

Mayor Menino to adopt "radically different student assignment plan"

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:32:16 +0000

West Roxbury Patch reports:

Connolly to Lead Council's Review of Student Assignment Process

City Councilor John Connolly will lead the Council's review of the Boston Public Schools student assignment plan. His announcement comes days after Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's State of the City Address in which the Mayor called for "a radically different student assignment plan."

Connolly's order will be introduced during tomorrow's City Council meeting. No dates have been set yet for the City Council hearings, but Connolly wants to give parents an opportunity to weigh in on what makes a quality school, the challenges parents face with the current assignment process, and changes parents would like to see.

Read More...

Connolly vote collapses in Hyde Park

adamg — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:42:04 +0000

Steve Poftak looks at the numbers from Tuesday's election, notices that John Connolly's tally in Hyde Park and the neighboring part of Roslindale dropped more than 1,000 votes from 2009:

What's the explanation here? Well, my best guess would be a certain 60-something Readville resident and civic leader might have been less than fully supportive.

Chris Lovett also looks at Hyde Park's numbers - from 1999, the year of Dapper O'Neil's last hurrah.

No, John Connolly hasn't had a last minute change of heart about Michael Flaherty

adamg — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:25:43 +0000

Dave Atkins of Roslindale reports he's gotten two of these Flaherty cards, both signed, in slightly different handwriting, by "John."

Am I supposed to mistake this card as an endorsement of Michael Flaherty by John Connolly?

Connolly, of course, has flooned Ayanna Pressley, but is also running as a sort of non-slate slate with the other two incumbents, Felix Arroyo and Steve Murphy.

Flaherty gave up his at-large seat to run for mayor in 2009. Sean Ryan and Will Dorcena round out the field in Tuesday's election, in which voters will pick four at-large councilors.

In a world where death lurks behind every corner

adamg — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:18:52 +0000

One man dared protect your children from FROZEN MEAT PATTIES.

Gin Dumcius reports that seems to be the gist of the mailer John Connolly just sent out:

In at-large race, Connolly sends out epic-looking mailer touting expired frozen food investigation. Mailer red and white front: "WARNING: Contents inside were not suitable for children. Until John Connolly Took Action"

Back in March:
Councilor: Schools kept buying meat even as frozen meat kept piling up in warehouse.

City councilors propose ban on tinted windows in school, day-care vans

adamg — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:52:11 +0000

At-large councilors Ayanna Pressley and John Connolly say a ban might have prevented the death of Gabriel Josh-Cazir Pierre, who died locked in an unattended van for several hours last month.

"It's very possible that someone might have seen Gabriel in that van and intervened," Pressley said at a council meeting today at which she held up a T-shirt emblazoned with Gabriel's photo. The ban is part of "Gabriel's Law," a series of proposals by his mother, Virginie Cazir, who lives in the same building as Pressley.

All other councilors signed up as co-sponsors of the proposal, which now goes before the council's committee on government operations for a formal hearing.

City Councilor Charles Yancey (Dorchester) said he hopes the hearing will expand to cover more general issues of day-care van safety.

Motion for a hearing

Connolly, Pressley pull a Floon

adamg — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:50:06 +0000

The Globe reports ticket topper John Connolly and cash-poor Ayanna Pressley have merged their campaign finances and begun campaigning together as they run for re-election for at-large City Council seats. For Pressley, the move means immediate resources; for Connolly, it means access to new constituencies should he ever run for another office.

John Connolly puts campaign sign on my property without permission

jikamens — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:40:55 +0000

Dear Councilor Connolly,

When I arrived home (__ ___ Street, Brighton) at 6:15 this evening, I found a "Connolly for Boston" campaign sign secured to my porch railing with zip ties.

My wife tells me it was not there when she arrived home at 5:15. My three-year-old son tells me he saw "a man in a pickup truck" put up the sign.

Neither my wife nor I has spoken to anyone from your campaign or approved the placement of this campaign sign on our property.

Please explain yourself.

Furthermore, please remove this sign from our property immediately.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kamens

CC: UniversalHub.com
CC: allstonbrighton2006@googlegroups.com
CC: blog.kamens.us
CC: Boston Globe
CC: Boston Herald
CC: Allston-Brighton TAB

[Simulblogged.]

City council wants to require kids to stay in school two more years

adamg — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:24:01 +0000

The Boston City Council voted unanimously yesterday to seek approval from the state legislature to raise the dropout age from 16 to 18.

At-large Councilor John Connolly, who co-sponsored the request with District 7 Councilor Tito Jackson, said 16 no longer makes sense in a society that has outgrown its agrarian roots, in which even a high-school diploma is barely enough to succeed. He added:

"We don't allow 16 year olds to smoke, drink or vote, but we will allow them to make a decision that will put the lowest of ceilings on their future. 16 year olds are not equipped to make that decision."

Jackson said, if nothing else, there's an economic reason for raising the age: Dropouts are far more likely to wind up in prison, and the annual cost of educating a student in Boston is $11,000, compared to the $47,000 cost of keeping a person in prison for one year.

Both councilors said raising the age will also take increased efforts by schools to work with the at-risk kids to keep them engaged and prepare them for college or the modern workforce. Connolly praised current efforts by Boston Public Schools to do that.

Councilors: Raise dropout age to 18

adamg — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:05:18 +0000

JacksonBoston City Councilors John Connolly (at large) and Tito Jackson (Roxbury, South End) today proposed raising the minimum age at which public-school students could leave school to 18.

The two say similar action in other states has led to dramatic decreases in dropout rates; they will hold a hearing later on dropout-prevention efforts by Boston Public Schools. If the council as a whole agrees with them, it would have to seek approval from the state legislature to change the current minimum Boston dropout age of 16.

Some kids now refusing to eat school lunches; BPS denies students got fed outdated food

adamg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:36:36 +0000

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson is sending letters home with students to tell parents that the food their kids get at school is "safe and healthy."

Without naming him, Johnson's letter denounces City Councilor John Connolly, who charged yesterday students at at least four schools were fed expired food from a frozen-food warehouse in Wilmington - food that would not have made them sick but which may have had reduced or no nutritive value. Johnson said that's not true; that, while, yes, the schools have wasted money on expired food, students have never been fed the stuff. She added she sent the letter after one cafeteria worker told her:

[I]n the days after the safety of our food was called into question, the number of children arriving for free breakfast at her school had dropped by 25 percent. One student refused to eat lunch because she heard it might be dangerous.

Johnson's letter to parents

Councilor: Schools kept buying meat even as frozen meat kept piling up in warehouse

adamg — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:27:48 +0000

City Councilor John Connolly launched a scathing attack on Boston Public Schools this morning, charging the school system's cafeteria system is rife with waste, poor planning and a warehouse in Wilmington full of expired frozen food.

At a hearing this morning, Connolly charged students at 48 public schools were served frozen food past its expiration dates and that school food officials have so screwed up the food requisition process they were ordering frozen chicken patties even as the federal government was giving BPS chicken patties for free.

Using BPS requisition documents, he said on Jan. 14, students at South Boston and Madison Park high schools and the Higginson and Frederick schools were offered Cargill grilled egg patties that had been sitting in the warehouse since September, 2009.