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The Newton Teachers Association sent a questionnaire to all candidates for School Committee as part of their endorsement process. I am not seeking an endorsement from the NTA because I believe it would not be appropriate for a School Committee candidate to seek the endorsement or support of an organization with which they have a legally mandated responsibility to negotiate.
I very much appreciate the opportunity to answer questions from the NTA and consider them a vital partner in the work of NPS.
1. The Unit A Collective Bargaining Agreement requires that every kindergarten classroom with fourteen or more students have a full-time kindergarten aide. The current School Committee has not honored this provision. When an arbitrator ruled last year that the School Committee must restore full-time kindergarten aides in accordance with the contract, they appealed this. Would you support the immediate restoration of full-day kindergarten aides in accordance with the district's contractual obligations by advocating for the withdrawal of the district's appeals, and voting in favor of any such withdrawal?
As a current member of the School Committee, and a member of the School Committee’s bargaining sub-committee, I will not comment on pending litigation.
2. The Superintendent, along with some members of the current School Committee, have suggested that, while MCAS is no longer a statewide graduation requirement, Newton might incorporate MCAS into its local graduation requirement. Do you believe Newton ought to do this?
A majority (approximately 56%) of Newton voters voted in favor of retaining the MCAS requirement. The will of the voters matters: keeping MCAS as a graduation requirement should be on the table and up for consideration in Newton.
It’s not a perfect test and there are good reasons for looking at a change, but we do need some objective measure as part of the larger set of graduation requirements in the district. I think we have an opportunity to redefine our graduation requirements and incorporate work from the recent Portrait of a Learner working group. That work can be used, alongside objective and standards-based assessment, to more holistically describe what it means to leave NPS college, career and life ready. We should think of the many paths that readiness can take and use this opportunity to align our graduation requirements to our goal of having every student reach their full potential.
3. What is your understanding of what precipitated the January 2024 NTA strike, why it lasted as long as it did, and what the results were?
I respectfully decline to relitigate the strike. It was bad for kids, very bad for our most vulnerable kids, and was a collective failure of leadership in the city.
4. What actions do you plan to take to avoid another strike?
I believe the School Committee and Mayor must negotiate with the NTA with budget transparency. Both the NTA and the School Committee should be clear about what they value most and where they are willing to make trade-offs given finite resources.
We must also continue the work of the joint committees who have made great progress over the past year and are a wonderful example of working together toward shared goals and with different perspectives. These groups have not only promoted understanding among the different roles in the district, but have already made some solid recommendations for improvements in their respective areas. We should consider expanding this interest-based collaboration to more topics and more voices.
At the end of the day, however, no School Committee candidate can assert that a specific action or actions they take will prevent a strike. The NTA alone makes that decision.
5. What do you think are Superintendent Nolin’s strengths? Where do you think the Superintendent has room for improvement?
As a current School Committee member, my evaluation of Dr. Nolin, completed in June, is public record and is linked here: (33) June 2, 2025 School Committee Meeting - Google Drive
6. Historically, School Committee members have worked most closely with the Superintendent, and it is from the Superintendent that they receive most of their information regarding the operations of the school system, including its ongoing relations with the NTA. How do you think the School Committee could communicate and collaborate more directly with the NTA?
I would very much like to expand the School Committee’s outreach to teachers and staff. I recently suggested at the School Committee Retreat in August that we conduct regular office hours at schools, at times that are most convenient for teachers. I would welcome additional time with teachers and NTA leaders to discuss topics that are most pressing to them, and I’m also sensitive to asking for more teacher time when that is hard to come by. So, I’d love to see a format that is open and accessible, and not so formal that it feels like a task that teachers need to prepare for.
7. Health insurance costs have increased dramatically over the last year, burdening the NPS and the City of Newton budgets. Do you believe that some of these costs should be shifted onto Newton educators?
Newton should be a destination district for top teacher talent. Our total compensation and benefits package, along with other important factors like professional development, climate and culture, family and administrative collaboration, etc., must be competitive if we want to be able to attract and retain that top talent. Any discussion of shifting a portion of healthcare costs to educators must be considered in this context.
Health insurance cost increases are an unfortunate reality across industries and municipalities.
The cost increase last year for NPS was $1.3M more than anticipated in the budget (and an 11% total increase year over year), and the city covered that additional cost entirely. If free cash or other revenue continues to be available to offset these increases, we should use it. If not, there are many things the city could do to avoid shifting the cost to educators, but some of those things, such as moving to a less expensive healthcare plan or reducing benefits, might not be desirable either.
Like any other cost increase, this would need to be considered in the context of the overall budget and adjusted for in some form. I would like to see the city adjust the pension liability schedule to free up money to fully fund the NPS budget, including increased costs like healthcare. If the city doesn’t do that and cannot afford to absorb the increases in full, those increases may need to be shared with employees, just like the cost of benefits are shared between the taxpayers and city employees today. But again, changes like this have to be evaluated in the context of the total compensation and benefits we offer our educators and we need to ensure that that package, along with the factors mentioned above, will enable NPS to recruit and retain top talent.
8. If there is anything else you consider pertinent to your candidacy that you would like to share, please feel free to do so.
I appreciate the opportunity to answer questions for both the NTA and the public, and I believe the NTA plays an important role in the work of the district. I want to be clear, however, that I am not seeking, and will not accept, an NTA endorsement. I believe it is a conflict of interest for School Committee candidates to seek or accept the endorsement or support of an organization with which they have legally mandated responsibilities to negotiate.
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