Thirteen Candidates Seek School Comm. Positions

The Cambridge School Committee, which won national recognition this year from the National Education Association, may have new faces when elections roll around in November, as only four of the six incumbents seek re-election.

Incumbent School Committee members said panel members have succeeded in forging compromises between Cambridge Civic Association [CCA] and Independent members.

"We've really made the Cambridge school system the best urban system in the country," said Independent candidate Alfred B. Fantini, who is running for his fourth term.

Of 13 candidates for the School Committee's six seats, eight contenders are on a slate endorsed by the CCA. Five Independents are also running on separate platforms.

Nevertheless, it may be difficult for voters to choose between the candidates because the issues which divide them are few and far between.

CCA candidates said the most divisive issue is that of parent evaluation of teachers, but other issues are at the top of the Independents' list. CCA President Jack Martinelli said his organization wants to make parent comments a formal part of the teacher evaluation process--although such a move is banned by the teachers' current contract.

"I don't intend parents to take over evaluation from professional educators, but I do want parents to have an opportunity to comment on their kids' progress," said CCA incumbent Larry Weinstein.

"The whole CCA platform is a case of sensationalism," Fantini said. "I think the CCA candidates ought to debate each other," he added. "It's amazing, the differences between them [on parent evaluation]."

Although she appears on the CCA slate, first-time candidate Donna Brescia disagreed. Brescia, a former teacher, said she did not consider it "appropriate" for parents to have a direct effect on evaluation of teachers.

Many Independent candidates agreed. "I believe in parental involvement; however I do not support parental evaluation of teachers," said Independent David Maher, a first-time candidate. "I am under the assumption that a teacher is a professional and should be evaluated by another professional," he added.

Maher also said that he does not think the issue is as important or divisive as the CCA platform has made it seem.

Other issues facing the candidates are matters for mutual concern. Most support the goals of a recent report by Black teachers at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School (CRLS), which saw a need to bring Black and minority students' lagging academic performance up to that of their non-minority classmates.

"I think we also need to pay attention to unconscious ways in which teachers apply different expectations to different groups of kids," Weinstein said.

Other candidates, such as first-time Independent candidate James J. Rafferty and CCA incumbent Frances H. Cooper, call for a mandatory curriculum to provide "consistency."

On the CCA slate are Donna Brescia, incumbent Francis H. Cooper, Henrietta Davis, Richard Griffin '51, Henry Lukas, Denise Simmons, John T. St. George '70-'72, and incumbent Larry Weinstein.

The Independent candidates are incumbent Alfred B. Fantini, David Maher, Fatima Martins, James J. Rafferty, and incumbent Timothy J. Toomey Jr.