News writers are constantly looking for new topics, fresh angles, scoops, and shenanigans to expose — and once we’ve done that work, it’s on to the next new thing.
Because there is always a new issue, catastrophe, trend, or serious question to analyze, journalists and public interest will often move on from a storyline before it reaches a conclusion. Many of us are left wondering, “What ever happened to …”
This week’s column is full of updates on issues I’ve sought to tackle in this space before. If you’ve got a topic from this column in mind that you’d like to see updated, let me know at editor@valleyadvocate.com.
GOP Gun Control Vote
Last week I blasted Congressional Republicans for voting down common sense gun control measures following the Orlando massacre in exchange for campaign contributions from the gun lobby. Following a 26-hour sit-in by Democrats who disrupted House business demanding U.S. Representatives take another vote on gun control, Speaker Paul Ryan pledged on June 30 that the House would vote on a measure that would bar people on the terrorism watch list from purchasing firearms. What is unclear is whether Ryan will put the Democrats’ measure on the table, which seeks to ban all people on the watch list from purchasing guns, or the Republicans’, which would give the government three days following an attempt to purchase a firearm by someone on the watchlist to either prove that person has terrorist ties or allow the gun sale to go forward. This vote is largely symbolic, as few people on the terrorist watch list attempt to purchase guns. About 150 to 250 people on the U.S. terrorist watch list attempt to purchase guns every year, according to the Government Accountability Office, with 8-25 denied purchases per year. This terrorist watch list vote is a lot of puffing. The vote America needs Congress to take is to institute universal background checks — a move that could reduce the firearm death rate in the U.S. by more than 60 percent, according to a recent BU study.
Years of Mold at Gerena School in Springfield
In April, Springfield community members rallied at the Gerena Elementary School in the North End to push city officials to improve the school building. After all, Gerena has been dealing with water leakage — which is occasionally so severe that the school closes — since at least the early 2000s. Built in 1975 between I-91 and the railroad tracks on Birnie Avenue, the school is a four-building complex connected by underground tunnels. It’s the tunnels that suffer the most water damage. Meanwhile, 20 percent of Gerena School students have asthma, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The state average is 10 percent. And though MCAS test scores have been improving, the school is considered a Level 3 school, which means it’s among the 20 percent worst performing schools in the state. It’s also worth noting that the student body is 80 percent Hispanic and 16 percent black; 85 percent of students have “high” educational needs, and 81 percent are economically disadvantaged, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The $3 million to fix the 10-year-plus health and wellness problem was set aside in 2014 as part of the state’s transportation bond bill, but neither Governors Patrick or Baker have released it. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno sent a letter to Rep.s Welch and Gonzalez in May, but there are no immediate plans for the state to release the money.
For Profit Higher-Ed Smack Down
The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools got closer to being terminated Thursday after the federal panel that oversees accrediting agencies voted to de-recognize the council, the largest national accreditor that oversees many for-profit colleges. In April, Massachsuetts Attorney General Maura Healey was among a dozen state attorneys general who sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education asking it to dump ACICS as one of the watchdog agencies it uses to ensure colleges meet minimum standards of ethical operation and student achievement. ACIS, which accredits a lot of for-profit private colleges, does a spectacularly poor job of gauging whether a college is a legit university or a hamster wheel, the attorneys general say. Once the decision is finalized, and if a court doesn’t block it, the 245 colleges ACICS accredits, including three local schools, would have 18 months to find a new accreditor.
Contact Kristin Palpini at editor@valleyadvocate.com.
