Good afternoon,
I had intended to stay out of this school committee/charter discussion this Mr.
Weader and Ms. Bernstein had had because I thought that Mr. Kingâs response
last night was well done. But I have to jump in to note that Mr. Weader
continues to give incorrect information.
Yesterday, he claimed that the Charter commission plan for school committee
done by neighborhoods rather than at-large was âuniqueâ and that âno one else
does it that way.â Mr. King pointed out that this was not true and gave one
example off the top of his head. Mr Kling noted several more. Mr. Weader today
responded that he stood by his statement, writing, " I apologize for my error
in leaving out the weasel words "almost" and "practically" which would make my
statement totally true. As originally written it is only 350/351 true which is
very good by political standards.â
Simply put, Mr Weader is wrong again and should know better. In fact, the
Charter Commission âCharter Basics" Powerpoint, available online since sometime
in January actually has a slide on this exact issue. On it, youâll 9 of the
27, or 33% of largest communities in MA have district representation like
what we are proposing. There are other smaller communities that do it that way
as well. While at-large is more common, this idea of districts is in no way
âuniqueâ or âsomething no one doesâ.
We have the right to our own opinions, but not to our own facts, especially
when accurate information on this has been presented a number of times and is
available for all to see. It does a disservice to the people trying to figure
out the issues and decide how to vote. Iâd also say that I was troubled by Mr.
Weaderâs use of the word âSouthside dominanceâ of school committee elections. I
have no fears about the people of the South side making school decisions or any
other type. Afterall, if most of the students in town live on the South side,
Iâd expect them to have a significant voice, one they currently lack in both
school committee and other parts of our government. This is one of the big
social justice issues driving me to support a new charter.
Lastly, Ms. Bernstein wrote that she does not think that having 9 neighborhood
district School Committee reps rather than the at-large ones we have "will make
any difference whatsoever.â She asked "When Adam Blumer was on the school
committee, do you think he only cared about North Side schools?â
I always appreciate the shout out :), but Ms. Bernstein, and other critics of
the Charter completely miss the point in this area. Of course when I was on
school committee, I tried to make the best decisions for all of the town, and
so do all our elected officials. But I donât live next to environmentally
contaminated sites where progress hasnât been as fast as we like, so I donât
experience that anxiety in the same way that residents there do. Iâd also be
the first to say that I know far more people who live near me than i do people
who live south of 135 or even south of route 9. It is far harder for someone
who lives south of 135 to ârun intoâ a school committee member and share a
thought, or to trust that a school committee member or Selectman knows exactly
what they are hoping and fearing. To me, thatâs a fundamental problem and a
major inequity.
Having neighborhood reps `means we WILL have people from all parts of town who
do share those experiences first hand, and who are far easier to reach.
Councilors and school committee members will work together, and people will
know there are people close to them to contact with concerns. It is a far more
fair system than we have now, where so many of our elected officials come from
1 or 2 precincts.