These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
Cycling Safety Ordinance impact
Cycling Safety Ordinance economic impact study information session, 5 to 6 p.m. Monday. Staff from the city and Volpe National Transportation Systems, a city consultant, will talk through methodology and data for a study on the effects on installing protected bike lanes on Cambridge streets – which can force the removal of some parking spots used by businesses, seniors and others. A related City Council committee hearing follows Thursday. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Affordable homes on Mass. Ave.
Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. There will be an advisory design review for the historic building at 1627 Massachusetts Ave., which Lesley University sold to Homeowners Rehabilitation Inc., a nonprofit builder of affordable housing. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Alewife neighborhood zoning
Ordinance Committee, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Marc McGovern and Quinton Zondervan talks about zoning for a proposed Alewife Overlay District written by a working group over the past year to determine how an entire neighborhood of new buildings and public spaces develops. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
More about effects from the CSO
Economic Development & University Relations Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday. This committee run by city councillor Paul Toner gives an update on a study of the economic impact of adding protected bike lanes to streets under the city’s Cycling Safety Ordinance. It follows a related meeting Monday. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
A stronger
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The Math Circle article is already gone from the front page (why is that Marc), so I’ll post this Globe link. This is the state of Cambridge schools. No advanced math for middle schools.
From the article:
“Many students continue to reel from pandemic-related learning losses and are not ready to take algebra I before high school, and offering it only for those who are prepared, they say, would only widen the persistent disparities of educational performance among subgroups.”
Simply unbelievable!
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/14/metro/cambridge-schools-divided-over-middle-school-math/
Algebra for none! No Cambridge public school child will be offered algebra 1 in middle school. Wow how pathetic can they get?
I don’t know what the bottom is for Cambridge Public Schools but this sure feels like it.
Way to set a stretch goal of lifting up students. Sadly run don’t walk away from cps.
This was the comment (below) that was the most upsetting. That’s right… penalize the students who are achievers in math, so that the gaps don’t get wider. What kind of Superintendent thinks in those terms? Is this the person who should be the head of Cambridge schools? Superintendent Greer, don’t penalize those who “can do” in order to not perpetuate those gaps. Narrow the gap by raising the level of the other students. Or do you have low expectations for those students?
“We have a huge focus on addressing both the academic achievement gaps and the opportunity gaps in our community,” said schools Superintendent Victoria Greer. “One thing the district is not interested in doing is perpetuating those gaps.”
Is the city of Cambridge trying to get rid of small businesses by putting bike lanes in front of them. So more ugly apartments/condos can be built for the money 💰?
The Globe article was really quite shocking. What a complete admission of failure by the superintendent! We did such a poor job preparing a segment our own students to take advanced math that we choose to offer it to no one. Simply and truly amazing.
In the meantime let’s try as hard as we can to get rid of a high quality test in MCAS to best hide this failure
@pmadey no, it is trying to better support those businesses by making it safer & more pleasant to visit. I encourage you to attend one of these meetings & learn how bike lanes bring more customers to businesses.
The installation of separated bike lanes, along North Mass Ave in particular, has nothing to do with “supporting” businesses. That claim is just absurd. These radical changes are being introduced in the belief that this new infrastructure will make it safer for bicyclists (regardless of how they actually behave, evidently.) This isn’t the “Business Improvement Ordinance,” after all. Many business owners and clinicians, etc., report a dramatic negative impact on their businesses. Telling them they’re just “wrong” seems arrogant to this observer. I’ll be curious to see the methodology deployed and to learn more. I’m not convinced the most vociferous bike lane advocates genuinely care about what happens to many of these businesses. Get ready to “parse” every word in this impending “battle of the (alleged) data.” James Williamson
(Candidate for City Council – [bike-less & car-less])
Equity in Cambridge schools is defined by eliminating advanced math in middle schools because it is over enrolled by whites and Asians.
Sad!
Public hearing on bicycle lanes will be used to call those against bike lanes as bad troglodytes to be ignored.
Sad!
I’m looking forward to the session regarding the mass ave project. We need a well-informed, data-supported action plan. Not a perfunctory one like the initial attempt. It’s disappointing that implementing safe infrastructure devolved into controversy, I believe initially we all had more shared ground than we realized.
I hope we’ve learned to temper our conduct and tp engage in better constructive outreach. I also hope the City has learned not to cave in to the deafening roars of empassioned advocacy, however justified, to the point where ignoring due process and civil responsibility to the entire constituency is the chosen course of action. We should be an example to the rest of the country in regards to civil engagement, and not just another echo of the contemporary nation-wide circus act.
I’m unfamiliar with the current crisis regarding our mathematic MCAS, and need to read up on the matter, but my blanket opinion is to ensure we have a well-funded and comprehensive education program that strives for excellence.
And exactly what did you mean by this?
“to ensure we have a well-funded and comprehensive education program that strives for excellence.”
@concerned43
Thanks for asking, I realize that statement comes off as rushed, as my comment was already pretty long. Apologies.
I highly value our education, and believe its generally underfunded across the nation. I saw comments mentioning an issue with Cambridge MCAS, and after investigating, it looks like our schools are ill-equipped to teach and test Algebra- a residual consequence from the pandemic.
It’s my opinion we need to expand our tutoring program and eligibility to tackle this issue. I took the middleschool MCAS in the Northshore right after the ’08 recession, and my school offered external tutoring specifically for Mathematics. Perhaps a similar program could solve the issue here.
I recognize this MCAS topic stemmed from digression in this comment section, but I wanted to chime in nevertheless.