Thirteen Cantabrigians Who Want to Run the City Schools

Henrietta S. Attles

Henrietta Attles, running for her second term on the CCA slate sees the discrepancy in reading scores between Cambridge elementary schools as an important indication of what the School Committee must do during the next years. "With the prospect of another year of 2 1/2 we must concentrate our resources and ensure that each child in our schools gets a basic education."

Attles explains that "a third grader in one school might read at merely a third grade level, but in other schools the average third-grader is at a fifth or sixth grade level." Such a difference in reading scores indicates where resources that the school system has should be channelled, Attles believes.

The current school committee has developed a set of criteria that can best dictate who should be maintained and who fired considering the limited resources, Attles explains--and she sees this formula, not strict seniority, as the most valid criteria.

Currently a second-year doctoral student at Harvard's School of Education, Attles has two children in the Cambridge school system.

Sara Mae Berman

Sara Mae Berman, now running for her fourth term on the School Committee, wants to keep parents in Cambridge committed to the public schools. "If we cut alternative education programs we will lose the parents that we want the most," Berman says.

She adds that if teachers are fired or retained on strict seniority basis, the alternative programs will falter and the school system will suffer large loss of credibility.

Her strategy for maintaining alternative programs and assessing teachers on a number of different qualities calls for stronger leadership at the administrative middle level. "We need more masters who are willing to work cooperatively and supportively to shape programs and guide teachers," Berman says.

In her fourth term--despite Proposition 2 1/2--Berman doesn't intend to give up any of her traditional priorities for the schools: Affirmative Action in the teaching staff, varied programs and effective curriculum planning--she also continues to have a particular interest in the physical education programs for the skillful and not-so-skillful in the Cambridge Public Schools.

David C. Blackman

David C. Blackman, endorsed by the Cambridge Civic Association in his second run for the school board--says he is worried about Proposition 2 1/2. If any more teachers are laid off, he says, the city's school system will become little more than "a day-care system"--he is running for School Committee to find an alternative to firing teachers.

"All teachers provide direct service to the students, and thus cannot be considered for cuts," he says. It is also unrealistic to enlarge the size of classes, especially on the elementary level, Blackman adds: "Even a great teacher can't be effective with too large a group."

As an alternative to firing teachers, Blackman wants to cut facilities. "The school system currently rents a suite of offices on Thorndike St.--this is the kind of expense that has to be looked into. Could the offices be moved to another, city-owned facility?" Blackman also intends to search for new sources of supplies, and for new federal grants.

Blackman, a life-long resident of Cambridge, is married to a Cambridge teacher and has two children in the city's school system. "I went to Cambridge Public Schools and I'm connected with them now as a parent. The schools here have great potential, potential that must be lived up to even with 2 1/2," he said.

Mary E. Blessington

Mary E. Blessington, an Independent candidate and the former master of the Fletcher School resents the notion that more senior teachers are neccesarily less qualified.

"Eight-to-ten year teachers have been the prime targets in the cuts so far," she says. Many more recently hired teachers are kept on because they are specially qualified--for alternative programs or because of affirmative action, Blessington says.

Blessington terms herself a believer in alternative education--"parents should have that kind of choice," she said. But she adds, "We might not be able to continue all alternative programs with 2 1/2 and the federal budget cuts expected."

She also believes that affirmative action cannot be justified with 2 1/2. "The priority must be providing good quality education--and this can be accomplished more effectively by encouraging leadership at the administrative middle-level," she said.

Blessington says Superintendent William Lannon must meet with the masters to make many decisions--most importantly on curriculum changes and hiring and firing policy. "The masters of the individual schools will know best who to fire or to keep on," Blessington added.

Frances M. Cooper

Frances Cooper, a CCA candidate, says her goal is simple: "To see that each child gets a good quality education in whichever program is best for that child." As a school board member, Cooper says she would try to preserve the choice of programs that the city's schools now offer.

Qualified teaching determines the success or failure of a program according to Cooper. "A qualified teacher is more than just a certified one," she adds. Cooper believes that in the hiring and firing of teachers the needs of the whole system must be considered. Because of the varied needs of the schools, cutting teachers on "strictly a seniority basis doesn't work."

The Cambridge school system should also be committed to minority teachers, Cooper adds. "Minority teachers are not important only for the 37 per cent minority students; the non-minority students benefit just as much--it should be considered part of their education," Cooper says.

Alfred B. Fantini

Alfred Fantini says there is a change in the school committee's position these days. No longer can the committee determine a budget and submit it to the city manager for automatic acceptance--with Proposition 2 1/2 the size of the committee's budget is dictated to them. The loss of that autonomy, he adds, means the committee must run a much tighter ship.

"It seems to me that people at the administrative level should be cut first, and the teachers who provide a direct service should be the last to go" Fantini, the brother of current school board member Donald Fantini, says.

Fantini says Cambridge should follow the contract that was negotiated with the Cambridge Teachers Association, including the straight seniority clause. "We should stand by that which we agreed to--and not fall into believing that the more senior a teacher the more incompetent," he added.

Teachers should be encouraged by providing them with new opportunities and upward mobility. "Starting a new program doesn't mean always bringing in new people," he says.

But "incompetence in the senior ranks of teachers cannot be tolerated either," Fantini adds. Encouragement must go hand in hand with strict management, he says.

Glenn S. Koocher

Glenn S. Koocher '71 says there are only two main issues in this year's school board election for the Cambridge School Committee. The first centers around what Koocher calls "the fundamental differences" between Independent candidates and Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) candidates on the issue of how to dismiss teachers.

A veteran of the school committee since 1974, Koocher is endorsed by the CCA; while Independent candidates favor layoffs according to seniority alone, he says, the CCA is in favor of layoffs according to seniority "within specific areas of qualification."

Under the plan, younger, less experienced teachers (who are also often minorities) accrue seniority within their particular department or field of teaching and cannot, therefore, be bumped from their jobs by teachers who may be more senior, but teach in a different area.

The second issue, Koocher says, is that the school committee will have to fight for its budget and defend its programs in front of the city council now that it has lost "fiscal autonomy" because of Proposition 2 1/2.

In the light of cuts that will have to be made, the election for school committee becomes a matter of electing people who will be effective in arguing for programs, Koocher adds.

Roxanne C. Leary

Roxanne C. Leary considers the Cambridge School Committee's dispute with the Cambridge Teacher Association to be contractual matter: the school committee should honor the contract and dismiss teachers according to seniority alone.

If elected, Leary says, she would work to insert a clause into the new teacher's contract (due to be negotiated this coming spring) that would hold teachers accountable for their positions "so that the school committee would not be holding on to people strictly according to seniority."

Leary, who has taught in the Cambridge schools, worked for the Massachusetts Department of Education, and holds a law degree from Suffolk University, says it is too early to tell what additional cuts will have to be made because of Proposition 2 1/2 and whether efforts on the part of Cambridge to override the tax-cutting measure will be successful, but adds that the school committee will have to work with what resources it has.

Endorsing "the idea of neighborhood schools," Leary adds that many parents have told her they did not want their children riding buses if there were schools nearby. Dealing with busing, thought, Leary admits, is a sticky problem from a legal standpoint since the city is using it as part of a voluntary desegregation plan.

Maryann McEachern

Maryann McEachern has based her campaign on seven points. First and foremost, she is in favor of "maintaining the diversity of the schools and programs." At the same time, she says, the school committee must consider consolidating administrative and clerical costs.

McEachern says she will push for the establishment of a committee of parents, teachers, and administrators for the express purpose of "collecting information, confirming it, and distributing it throughout the system," and adds the committee could be used to help improve the strained relations between teachers and the school committee.

The central administration, McEachern says, must be held accountable to the committee. She says she supports the present school committee's quest for affirmative action in the hiring and firing of teachers, and agrees with the committee's definition of "qualified."

Noting that the school committee would soon be engaged in contract negotiations with city teachers, McEachern says she favors the involvement of parents in that part of the committee's work.

A single parent with two children in the Cambridge public schools, McEachern has been endorsed by the CCA, the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus, and the Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX).

David J. Oley

David J. Oley refused to discuss the issues in the race for seats on the school committee, saying that in interviews he had granted other newspapers, he had been misrepresented and his views distorted. He added that he thought his chances for election were better if he did not discuss any issues.

Oley did say that he is the only candidate in the race who supports Proposition 2 1/2. He also said that he though it "disgusting" that the curriculum taught in the city's schools was not strong enough to get students in the system into M.I.T. or Harvard.

Though he has said that he is a Libertarian Pary candidate for the school committee, an official of the Libertarian Party, Lee Mason, has told reporters the party has not endorsed Oley. Mason did say that Oley is a member of the party.

Oley was arrested and charged last Tuesday night with one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon and one count of assault with intent to murder after Oley allegedly stabbed another Cambridge resident during what police called "a political argument."

Released on $25,000 bail, Oley will stand trial on Nov. 12 in Cambridge District Court. Mason said Oley would not be expelled from the party unless he were found guilty of the charges pending against him.

Joseph E. Maynard

Joseph Maynard, a member of the current school committee certain to win his quest for reelection, declined to answer questions about the election; his wife died recently and since then he has not been campaigning actively or granting interviews.

Maynard has held one of the Independent seats on the present school committee, along with Donald Fantini, who is now running for city council.

In a statement about his candidacy in the Cambridge Chronicle, Maynard said he wants to continue "to provide services and information to school administrators, teachers, students and parents."

Robert P. Reardon

After going door-to-door, Robert Reardon says he has discovered that people are afraid to send their children to school in Cambridge because they doubt the quality of the education and fear for the safety of the children in the schools.

Reardon, an unaffiliated candidate and former teacher in the Cambridge school system, says he wonders why the system is "top-heavy with administrators" when teachers are being dismissed to reduce the school system's budget.

Last spring the present school committee voted to extend the contracts of superintendent of schools William C. Lannon and assistant superintendent Oliver Brown for three years, a decision Reardon says effectively removed control over the superintendent from the incoming school committee and the voters. (Each school committee sits for two years).

Reardon promises to see that funds are distributed evenly throughout the system, adding the city council should work to find additional resources for the entire city, but that the school committee must look for ways to make cuts and save money that would not necessarily affect the quality of education.

The present school committee, Reardon says, handled the dismissal of teachers "haphazardly," adding that he thought the CTA had a "legitimate argument" concerning layoffs.

Jane F. Sullivan

Jane Sullivan--who has spent more than $5000 on her campaign--could not be reached for comment.

Part of an old political family, Sullivan has told candidates' forums that neighborhood schools should be kept open and children allowed to attend them. The CTA's contract should be honored--lay-offs should be according to seniority, Sullivan says, and adds that Cambridge students should be working to improve their scores on national tests designed to measure scholastic achievement.