School Committee Candidates Stress Importance of Technology

Eleven School Committee candidates offered their ideas for how Cambridge's school system can be improved in the next millennium in a forum last night at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Memorial Drive.

The event --titled "Cambridge 2000 and Beyond: A City for the Next Millenium"--was organized by Cambridge residents Lawrence Adkins, Allen Dobson, Charles L. Stead and Elie Yarden. Two of the candidates in the Nov. 2 election did not attend.

Candidates were given one minute to answer a series of questions from organizers of the event and the audience.

Forum organizer Lawrence Adkins raised signs notifying the candidates when they had 30 and 10 seconds remaining, and hit two glasses together when they ran out of time.

Candidates stressed the basics in educating the city's students for the information-based economy of the next century.

"We need to teach them how to think, because there's a lot of information out there and we need to teach them what to do with it," incumbent Susana M. Segat said.

Candidate Donald Harding stressed the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic and said the school system should take advantage of the information technology in the city.

"We have development that is technology-based, and we're not taking advantage of that," Harding said.

The issue of whether Cambridge's school choice program should be continued was a hot topic at the forum, which was moderated by outgoing committee member Robin Harris.

"We need to end the school choice program that we have," Harding said. "If you want [parents] to participate in the schools, have [children] go to the schools right next to their house."

But Candidate Michael Harshbarger said neighborhood boundaries have eroded since he attended Cambridge public schools, and that school choice helps foster interaction between students.

"It teaches children about other children in other areas of the city," he said.

Harshbarger also stressed one of his campaign's main themes, arguing that vocational tech students should be adequately educated and integrated into mainstream schools.

Currently the school department sends students to schools outside of Cambridge for vocational education.

"The public school system needs to step forward and take responsibility for people who are struggling," he said.

Candidate Jamisean F. Patterson criticized the lack of a proper vocational education program in the system. The vocational education program at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) was recently abolished.

"I think all students aren't going to college, and we need to do something to prepare them for life," he said.

Across the Board

Accountability and inequalities in the school system were another major topic of discussion.

Candidate Nancy Walser said she is running for School Committee to eliminate differences in physical conditions of the schools.

"We have a lack of accountability, we have a lack of responsibility from administrators on this problem," Walser said.

One organizer asked what candidates would do to alleviate the high amounts of alienation and dropout among blacks and Latinos.

Candidate Alfred B. "Fred" Fantini said teachers need to adjust their styles to meet the needs of individual students, while incumbent Alice L. Turkel said students need adult mentors in their schools.

Harshbarger said the city should take advantage of Harvard's resources to develop new extended-day school programs.

"We need to push [Harvard] for their facilities, we need to push them for their students," he said.

Many candidates said there needs to be more communication between the schools and parents.

"We need to make sure that parents and the general public...know what is going on in our schools," candidate Elizabeth Kenney said.

There was little open criticism between candidates, but Fantini did get in one jab at current School Committee members.

"These people took two years to develop an attendance policy," he said. "They have forgotten what emotion and passion is all about."

Audience member Lorraine Y. Scott said she wished candidates had given more attention addressed to the issue of inequalities in the schools. She said some students in poorer areas of the city have to use Xeroxed papers in place of textbooks.

"Where the kids don't have books, they're basically children of color, children who don't speak English as their first language," Scott said.

A City Council forum followed the School Committee portion of the event.