Mayor Frustrated By University Missteps On Cambridge Initiative

As Harvard and Boston officials celebrated the announcement yesterday of a major initiative to fund Boston afterschool programs, University administrators scrambled to patch relations with the Cambridge mayor over a planned Harvard venture into Cambridge education.

The University is expected to announce on Monday the formation of the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy, which will offer classes to students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) while it trains student-teachers at Harvard's Graduate School of Education.

Among the snafus that have upset Cambridge Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio was the major gift to Boston, which he said took him by surprise.

Galluccio and Paul S. Grogan, Harvard vice-president of government, community and public affairs, spoke by telephone last night. But as late as yesterday morning, Galluccio said he was only vaguely aware that Harvard was announcing a $5 million afterschool initiative in Boston--just days before the joint Harvard-Cambridge summer school was to be announced.

And Galluccio said he did not know the high price tag of the Boston plan compared to the $100,000 Harvard will be committing to the Cambridge program this summer.

"In terms of financial contribution, if you're telling me Harvard's putting up $5 million for Boston, then there's no comparison," he said.

"It's still an important step," he added. But Galluccio went on to say that he "certainly would hope that this is one small piece of a broader education initiative."

Last year, Harvard announced the so-called 20/20/2000 program to finance affordable housing in the community. This project offered equal funding--$10 million in low-interest loans each--to Boston and Cambridge. At the time, Grogan said the initiative would serve as a model for future community projects.

However, the initiative that was announced yesterday in Boston has no similar Cambridge counterpart. And University officials say the planned Cambridge announcement on Monday is unrelated.

"What really distresses me is if the Summer Academy is sort of looked at as a consolation prize in a contest between Boston and Cambridge," Grogan said. "I don't want [Galluccio] to feel, anyone to feel, anyone to misinterpret this as throwing a little bone to Cambridge while we're doing something big in Boston."

Making the Announcement

The announcement of the Cambridge-Harvard Summer Academy had been planned for tonight, one day after the Boston announcement.

But on Tuesday, planning decisions by Harvard administrators left Cambridge Mayor Galluccio saying he wanted the entire announcement put on hold.

The plan was for a dinner with the mayor at the Harvard Faculty Club, followed by a GSE professor's speech on current issues in education.

This set-up--which was centered around the University rather than the city--was described by Galluccio as "completely inappropriate."

"I wanted to make sure all the city elected officials would be involved because the elected bodies of the city have been very clear about their will to see Harvard engage in more partnerships," he said.

Rather than an event at the Faculty Club, Galluccio favored a presentation at CRLS that would include students and put elected officials center stage.

The Summer Academy

The summer academy plan, which will now be announced at CRLS on Monday, calls for GSE students to work with experienced Cambridge school teachers, providing summer classes for Cambridge high school students. In the first year, around 350 students will attend the Academy, but the plan is to offer classes to all students who wish to attend as well as those who have failed during the year.

A proposed budget obtained by The Crimson shows that Harvard's $100,000 investment will be supplemented by $50,500 from the City of Cambridge.

Instructors at the Graduate School of Education will hire ten Cambridge teachers to lead summer school classes. The teachers will work with teams of four teacher interns from GSE in classrooms of 25 students.

In addition to their in-classroom experience, the GSE students will attend GSE courses over the summer.

The Harvard plan resembles an existing city-university partnership that has joined Cambridge and Lesley University for the past 20 years.

Lesley's Compass Program, a summer program for elementary students, links student-teachers at Lesley with Cambridge educators to provide summer academic help for Cambridge children.