Carl Sciortino (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) Somerville is a city with a constantly changing population. We have many proud life-long residents, and we have many new faces and families from all over the world. This rich diversity in our community brings a wealth of energy and ideas, but also brings with it significant challenges. One such challenge is the pressure of such a largely mobile population on our schools.

Student mobility, the level of students who move in and out of our schools, creates an educational challenge. Somerville in some years sees our student population turn over as much as 25%. While our school systems are set up assuming a continuity of curriculum from kindergarten to 12th grade, there are in fact few students in Somerville who have the luxury of such stability. At Somerville High School, 35% of students have only been in our school system for six years or fewer. That is a large number of our high school students that have not spent most of their educational upbringing in our community.

We have students that have moved multiple times during the course of a single year, and some who return with families to their country of origin for the winter months, only to return in the spring with unknown educational opportunities in the missing months. It is difficult to assess a student's need or build upon their skills when they do not remain in the same school for an entire academic year, let alone from year to year. Looking at improving public education without taking into account this factor would not give mobile students, their teachers, or school districts the support and tools they need to improve educational attainment.

While Somerville is not alone in grappling with the challenge of student mobility, we are unique in the leadership our community has shown in addressing it. It was at a State House meeting of citizens, school committee members, the school superintendent, and our state legislative delegation four years ago that this issue was brought to light. Since that time, I have been proud to work with my colleagues, in particular School Committeewoman Mary Jo Rossetti and Superintendent Pierantozzi, in pursuing solutions and action to address this at the local, state, and federal levels. We put aside the divisions between our levels of government, and worked collaboratively in pursuit of educational excellence.

This month, we succeeded in adding mobility as an issue in our state laws for the first time. The Education Reform Bill of 2010 requires the state Department of Education to assess the impact of student mobility on how best to address the needs of all our students. For a school that is determined to be underperforming, a turnaround plan must be created. With the adoption of an amendment I filed, working with the entire state delegation and our local partners, mobility must be addressed in turnaround plans for underperforming schools.

Researchers point to a number of challenges confronting mobile students, including poor attendance, higher likelihood of suspension, higher risk of dropping out, and overall lower academic performance. This places a heavy burden on teachers when a high percent of his/her students come into the classroom, whether they have come from a neighboring community or from another country altogether. What kind of resources do they need to adjust, such as when their new school's curriculum or grade level doesn't match where they came from? How can teachers best meet the needs of new students, while continuing to progress and challenge the rest of their class? These are just some of the questions that need to be addressed if we are ever to close the achievement gap, and to help all of our students succeed.

As our society continues to become more mobile, fewer of our students are allowed the benefits that come with educational consistency. Fewer and fewer people raise children in the same place in which they grew up, for a complicated range of reasons. That is not only true of Somerville. What is unique about us is that we have recognized the challenge that mobility presents on how we educate our kids, and we are taking steps to ensure every child get the educational opportunities they deserve and need.