| Subject: Re: In Defense of Our "Four Simple Rules" |
Author:
Dennis
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Date Posted: 08:48:15 06/20/03 Fri
In reply to:
Kelly
's message, "Re: In Defense of Our "Four Simple Rules"" on 06:39:59 06/19/03 Thu
Dear Kelly,
I have exactly zero insight on this. That's because as a co-host of WRT, I can ask questions about things I hear about, and I'm perfectly happy to have somebody else illuminate me. It makes for good discussion -- I just play stupid and ask questions. And sometimes I'm not playing stupid.
But as a selectman, I steer clear of individual staffing and budgetary items related to our school system (with one notable exception regarding the Superintendent's contract -- but that was more about the process than the substance). That's the School Committee's job. The state law says so and they are elected separately.
Now that doesn't mean that I don't get involved in the overall allocation of resources in the town. That's the province of the Town Manager (who works for the Selectmen) and the Fincom/Town Meeting (about which the Selectmen are supposed to make recommendations to the Town Meeting attendees). You may recall an amendment I made last year giving the school system an extra $400,000 because I didn't think we were being fair -- overall.
Now in this case, I asked Tim Woods about it on our show. Tim is a guy I have run against for public office, run with for public office (sort of), worked directly with while on the School Committee for three years, participated with in all manner of grindingly tough collective bargaining sessions, worked indirectly with for six years while he was on the School Committee and I was on the Board of Selectmen, and finally, a guy who has come to be a close and trusted friend. If he says this was part of a planned-for reorganization, I believe him.
In this case, if you want to have it reevaluated, you're going to have to get with the School Committee -- either individually, or collectively by trying to get on their agenda. It will be an uphill battle. The School Committee will not (and should not) automatically micromanage the exact allocation of human resources that the Superintendent determines is best. The Superintendent is being asked to do more with less. True, there are no layoffs. True, we are doing something close to level funding. But with contractual increases, there will be fewer people to do the same job. There will be vacancies left unfilled and the Superintendent must figure out the best way to plug the gaps.
But anyway, your best bet is to raise the same issues you raised in your post in a public forum like the School Committee meeting, and ask them to reconsider.
Happy hunting!
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