The Opposite Of Progress Is...

There's an old joke about how, "if pro is the opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress?...Congress".  There is no doubt relevance to that joke as congressional approval rates often hover near single digits regardless it seems of which major political party currently has it's hands on the reigns.  

In truth there is a far greater enemy to progress, whether progress to you is to mean the progressive terms of sliding society into a more managed by experts form of so called democracy, or whether your definition of progress is more of a libertarian mindset of increased freedom bringing about progress as defined by liberty. The name of that enemy is procrastination.

As I've been getting ready to take a swing at my first run for a local elected office, (school committee in Falmouth), I have been paying close attention to the actions taken by the current members of the committee and the reactions of the parents and public to those decisions.

What I have found has triggered some alarming familiar feelings, a sort of deja vu, showcasing the feeling that I've seen this pattern before.  One we often see in congress.  

It is no surprise that accountability has long been in decline in our country, especially as it relates to elected officials.  Unfortunately, this has transcended into the public as well.  While we expect this to a large degree from children, whose natural immaturity, especially with younger boys, is expected.  To see this come to the forefront more and more with our adult population is alarming even if not completely surprising.

It's easy to sit on the outside and criticize every political decision made by our elected officials.  The useful cancer that is social media has turned everyone into an expert on everything from history and education to landscaping and fashion.  There is a delicate balance to maintain.

As a self educated man, raised by a nurse and an accountant, both with masters degrees.  I watched firsthand as the child of a teen mom working her butt off at multiple low level jobs to help take care of me and my brother.  It was through that example and an old school belief that success requires hard work and that society owes me nothing, we have to become our own success stories, that gave me the work ethic required to get where I am today.

As time went on and my stepfather came into the picture.  An accountant with a masters degree in finance.  He taught me, even to some degree unrealized by myself at the time, the importance of maintaining good credit, and not only living within your means, but if possible to live below it.

Like the rest of us, I have made my share of mistakes.  However, if not for the base of hard work and responsible finance given to me by my parents there is no way I would be surviving in a state like Massachusetts with a family the size of mine.

Now let's pull this back into why I bring this up and how it relates to education in Massachusetts.  As I pointed out earlier in this post I am running for the local school committee here in Falmouth and I have no idea as to what my chances are.  While I am well educated and have likely read more history and economics books in the last few months than the average person has in the last few years my relevance as a candidate doesn't come measured in how many PTO meetings or Farmers market's I've attended.  

It comes from simply watching and listening to the state of education and the concerns of parents in my community with regards to the results we are getting from our current school committee.

Back in October there was a discussion about how to consolidate the grades and whether or not they should close the Morse Pond Elementary School.  There has been division on this decision with some members not only of the committee but also the public as to whether or not this was a good idea.

Those in favor say the school costs too much to maintain and requires maintenance that doesn't make fiscal sense.  This is a 5th and 6th grade school and like most of the schools, (with one exception), it is under capacity due to the declining enrollment overall. 

What is in question, and as of this writing the most recent school committee meeting, is how to configure the grades in the consolidated schools.  If you watch the meeting you will see that for months there has been disagreement as to whose responsibility it is to take the next steps required by the state to apply for the federal funds to expand and consolidate the schools with the new proposed grade configurations.

The school committee, (split 5-4), blames the superintendent.  The superintendent, blames the committee.  Now they are approaching the point where these decisions are supposed to not only be made but also proposed to both the residents and the government for the same reasons, allocation of funding.  This will require millions of dollars from the town of falmouth, (starting with $2 million from town for a "feasibility study").

Beyond that there is the much larger expense of the actual build of the school expected to take several years.  Here is a detailed article regarding some of these issues from the Enterprise Newspaper back on October 30, 2025.

Morse Pond Fate Decided

 

"After that, the committee will need to make a decision on grade configuration before moving on to the proposals on the elementary schools.

A decision from the MSBA is expected in December. If accepted, the school will request $2 million at April Town Meeting to begin the feasibility study. Dart said knowing the grade configuration of Lawrence will help “build the case with the town” so taxpayers will know what they are paying for.

Medeiros said MSBA can be asked to provide assistance and consultation to the district to help decide grade configuration. She said she was in favor of collecting more community input."

We are now days away from the town meeting where the $2 million will be requested.  With the premature decision to close the Morse Pond School there is little chance that the 2 million will not be approved.  If, however, the money isn't approved then the whole project is threatened and the funding becomes unavailable.  

The current projected costs of the Lawrence renovation is about $150 million with an opening set for the 2032-2033 school year.  Like most government projects they will likely fall short on both calculations.  The timeline will likely have to be extended and the likelihood of it costing more than projected is all but guaranteed.

This raised several questions from me.  The first is wondering if the town would have in fact saved money had they instead tried to repair and update both schools.  The town could have a much more accurate figure of repair costs than it can from a multi-year mainly government funded school renovation.

Another question regards my suspicion of other motives.  Several months ago I asked a member of the school committee what the plan was for the Morse Pond School after it's closed.  The answer I received was that it would be given back to the town.

Now think of this.  A major issue dividing communities all across the cape is housing and affordability.  Unfortunately, the prevailing and likely to be successful plans given our current legislative ideological dominance will be and is becoming the massive expansion of subsidized housing.  Basically, grow the welfare state on Cape Cod to create the illusion of affordability.

Whether or not you agree is irrelevant as it relates to the schools but does create a potential massive, thus far unseen and not discussed issue.  I mentioned previously that there is currently an issue with declining enrollment in our local schools.

What happens if the expansion of low income housing causes a vast increase in student enrollment from those housing developments?  

We are playing a very delicate balance here.  If we decline capacity in our schools over the next few years and at the same time develop housing projects for low income residents then we will need somewhere for their children to attend school.

If we decline capacity too much we face a risk of going from under capacity which threatens the funding and rationale for having so many schools in the first place to a problem with surpassing max capacity leading to large class sizes and a whole new set of problems to address for a community already paralyzed by a lack of communication and a propensity for procrastination....the true enemy of progress.

Let us hope the mistakes made in recent decisions all around regarding these issues serve as lessons for us to do better in the future.