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U.S. Sen. Edward Markey meets with constituents at Parks Square in Pittsfield.
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Markey addresses supporters in Pittsfield.
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier speaks to the gathering about her support of Markey.
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Mayor Linda Tyer speaks in support.
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Small-business owner Auric Enchill says both he and the senator come from modest roots.
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Mayor Thomas Bernard welcomes the senator to North Adams.
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Markey's campaign bus arrives at Marshall Street in North Adams.
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Supporters at the park in North Adams.
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Markey fist bumps with Farley-Bouvier.

Markey Talks Education, Health & Green New Deal in Campaign Swing

By Jack Guerino & Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Markey says public education and student access to the internet are keys to the future during a stop in North Adams. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey made three stops in the Berkshires on Friday to speak on education, technology climate change, health care, racial justice and other issuing affecting the nation. 
 
His "Leads and Delivers Tour" bus campaign has been making its way around the state as he seeks re-election in the U.S. Senate. The state's junior senator is being challenged in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary by U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III of Brighton. 
 
The former Malden representative is known for his progressive stance, particularly his sponsoring of the Green New Deal with New York's U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 
 
The son of a milkman and a valedictorian who was forced to give her dream for college to take care of her sisters when her mother died, Markey has said education is critical to success.
 
"What I learned from my mother, that was the message, it's education is everything. Education is the key to the future," he told a gathering of 70 or so at the new park on Marshall Street in North Adams at day's end. "So what the Trump administration is doing, and saying they don't want to fund educational programs, they don't want to fund the internet at home -- they're saying that they don't understand our modern society."
 
Internet is the "oxygen" for young people, the senator said. "And we have to guarantee they get it."
 
He also called for free public college and university, saying Massachusetts could be the leader in moving in that direction. 
 
Neil Clarke, a retired longtime educator in the Lee Public Schools and a representative of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said Markey was the fighter they needed in Congress. 
 
"If you believe that all students, regardless of ZIP code deserve access to a quality public education, if you believe that all students deserve the support system necessary to nurture their progress, if you believe that the road to a brighter future in our communities, our commonwealth, our nation, our planet is securing the resources necessary to provide for a world-class public education for all," he said. "You know the value and wisdom of returning a fighter and champion of public education to the Senate."
 
Also referring to his mother, who had Alzheimer's, Markey said he wanted to go back to the Senate to continue to fund a program to find a cure for the disease by 2025. With the baby boomer generation moving into its senior years, up to 15 million could be expected to suffer from the mental debilitation. 
 
"In the 1960s, it was about a mission to the moon," he said. "And in the 21st century, it's a mission to the mind.
 
That was just one of host of reasons Markey said he wanted to go back to the Senate. His hope is that issues the nation is facing now -- Alzheimer's, climate change, racial injustice -- will only be learned through history books by future generations of children. 
 
Mayor Thomas Bernard greeted the senator and pointed to the multigenerational support that had come to hear him, along with Councilors Benjamin Lamb and Lisa Blackmer, state Rep. John Barrett III and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President James Birge.
 
The senator was introduced by Owen Tucker-Smith, a recent Mount Greylock Regional School graduate who is now working on Markey's campaign. Tucker-Smith pointed to the funding the senator has been able to get for the region to improve broadband and internet service and ensure schools have access. 
 
"He's never given up on Berkshire County. He's never given up on rural communities. And he understands that different communities have different priorities," he said. "That's why he's absolutely the best choice."
 
Markey repeated Bernard's opening that they had a month to turn out the vote for the Democratic primary.  
 
"If you've got my back for the next 30 days, I'll have your back on the Senate floor for the next six years," he said. 
 
Markey's first stop was in Great Barrington, where he talked about COVID-19, the recent unrest over police brutality and racial injustice, and the restoration of WWLP Channel 22 to the region's television lineup -- a point he brought up again during his next stops. 
 
In Pittsfield, Markey visited Park Square alongside supporters and constituents.
 
"I know Shays' Rebellion started out here and all I can tell you is that I will bring Markey's revolution to the floor of the United States Senate and to the state of Massachusetts," Markey said. "We have to have that fundamental change that is necessary and that is what we see here."
 
Markey thanked all those in attendance who included Mayor Linda Tyer, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, and City Councilor Patrick Kavey and said he could feel a "bounce in the step of Pittsfield."
 
"You can feel this energy; you can feel this change that is taking place," he said. "You hope to everyone in the city that the future is as bright as at any point of the past."
 
Markey called back to the Four Freedoms March he attended in 2017 and said he was inspired by participants who still marched even in 11-degree weather. This was two weeks before President Donald Trump was inaugurated and attendees anticipated what was to come in the next four years.
 
"The first people up in our country were right here in early freezing January in 2017 in the same way the Berkshires have always been the birthplace of the revolution," he said.
 
Markey spoke to the importance of the Green New Deal and said unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a vaccine to solve the climate crisis.
 
"My belief is that the planet is dangerously warm. We know we know what the vaccine is," he said. "We know it is a political problem, not a technological problem."
 
He also spoke to Medicare For All and the importance of changing healthcare so it doesn't bankrupt people but allows them to live healthy lives, get the assistance they need, and thrive.
 
He promised to continue his efforts to fight for economic justice, education justice, health care justice, and racial justice.
 
Tyer noted that  many mayors across the commonwealth support Markey because he is truly a friend in Washington, D.C. 
 
"I am voting for Ed Markey," she said. "We are certainly in extraordinary times. There are so many urgent public health, environmental, social justice battles taking place right here in America. Pittsfield needs a fighter in congress and that fighter is Ed Markey."
 
Cultural proficiency coach for Pittsfield Public Schools Shirley Edgerton echoed some of Tyer's statements and said with such injustice and inequality Markey is the steady hand needed to support fundamental change.
 
"We need progressive leaders ... who are consistent and relentless in representing the needs of the oppressed to created change and eliminate these injustices," she said. "He has demonstrated his commitment and he is leading the fight ... Change for change 's sake makes no sense. We need Ed Markey to return to the Senate to continue to make necessary and good trouble."
 
Farley-Bouvier said, as a representative, she counts on Markey's support and listed numerous times he has supported Berkshire County. She said Markey was a state representative and knows that it is important to "get the job done" even if the problem only affects a few individuals.
 

Owen Tucker-Smith, a recent Mount Greylock graduate, introduces the senator on Friday. 
"We are all here because we know the difference between someone who has the privilege of being in office and those who have earned getting into office," she said. "Ed Markey is not a name I knew because of history Ed Markey is a name that I have gotten to know because he has earned my trust."
 
Kavey told a story about an interaction with Markey's office and said a trans male constituent came to him when the pandemic first hit and was about to lose their job, home, and could not care for their sick infant.
 
"His office got back to me within 45 minutes ... I just wanted to tell you that story and as important as the legislation he is putting in to make our country a better place he also is here in our state every day working with us and every day in our city. He is the person in Pittsfield, this country, and the state needs."
 
Small-business owner Auric Enchill said, like himself, Markey came from humble beginnings. Enchill, whose parents moved to America from Ghana some 30 years ago, said this background gives him a different perspective. 
 
"He has a blue-collar background and he understands who we are," he said. "He fights for us every single day so come September I think the decision to vote for Senator Markey is quite simple."
 
Before jumping back on his bus to head north, Markey made a promise. 
 
"All I can promise you is that if you give me your help now and you have my back I will have your back on the floor of the United States Senate," he said. "I will give you everything I have. Every ounce of energy I have ... I will fight until we fundamentally change this country."

 


Tags: Democratic Party,   election 2020,   primary,   senator,   


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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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