School Committee Candidates Look to End Disparity

Solving the problems that plague Cambridge's public schools was the focus of a notably civil discussion at last night's "School Committee Candidates Forum" at the Cambridge Senior Center.

Among the many issues candidates stressed in the forum, which was sponsored by the Cambridge Democratic City Committee, was the need to eliminate disparities in performance between students of different races and classes. Blacks and Latinos fail and dropout much more, incumbent Alice L. Turkel said.

"We are not doing the same quality for all the children in our school system," she said.

Incumbent Joseph G. Grassi said that if he is re-elected his main priority will be working to close the "achievement gap" in Cambridge's schools.

"I am extremely concerned about families and children that are not empowered," Grassi said.

Thirteen candidates are running for the six seats on the Cambridge School Committee. Elections will be held Nov. 2.

The forum, moderated by "Cambridge Inside Out" host Thomas S. Rafferty, was attended by nearly 50 people. Candidates, sitting side by side, gave short introductory and concluding speeches. In between, groups of four candidates were given one minute to answer questions on topics ranging from Cambridge's school choice system to Harvard's involvement in the public schools.

Declining enrollment in city schools was a major source of concern for the candidates.

"Parents are moving to this city and sending their children to other places [such as private schools]," said candidate Michael Harshbarger, adding that the school department needs to market itself to prevent students from leaving city schools.

But while the candidates agreed on most issues, they disagreed in other cases.

Alfred B. Fantini, a former school board member who is trying to regain the seat he lost in the 1997 election, said the committee has become bogged down in the minutia of school decision-making.

"This School Committee has micro-managed to an extent that I thought was not possible," he said.

Fantini also criticized the school choice system Cambridge uses to make its schools socio-economically-balanced, saying that it takes too many students out of their neighborhoods.

"Kids shouldn't have to get up at 6 a.m. in the morning to travel to another part of the city," he said.

Candidate Donald Harding said that school choice makes it harder for working-class parents to be involved in their child's education.

"When you take the children from blue-collar parents out of their neighborhoods, you're not involving the parents," he said.

But Turkel said that the school choice system is "one of the finest things" in Cambridge's schools. She urged the school department to use school choice to help keep enrollment from falling.

"We have to be competitive with charter, parochial and private schools, and I think choice is a big part of that," she said.

Perennial academic problems at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS), the city's only public high school, also sparked comments.

"[There] are a tremendous amount of children failing three classes out of the seven classes they are taking [at the high school]," Turkel said.

"We have to get off the verge of restructuring [CRLS] and restructure," she said.

One question asked the candidates if they thought Cambridge's universities were giving enough resources to the school system.

"I will be a leading advocate for forming a subcommittee...to go out and force these places to give resources and opportunities to our children and our parents," Harshbarger said. "If we ask, they will follow," he added.

The forum will be shown on MediaOne and Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) before the election, said Frank A. Pedro, chair of the Democratic City Committee.

Incumbents Susana M. Segat and E. Denise Simmons and candidates Melody L. Brazo, Elizabeth Tad Kenney, Jamisean F. Patterson and Nancy Walser also participated in last night's forum. Candidates Shawn M. Burke and Alvin E. Thompson did not attend.