We enthusiastically support Dr. Michael Williams’ candidacy for the School Committee. We have spent our working lives as teachers, and the last 30-plus years as Concordians. We firmly believe as teachers that curricular decisions are the prerogative of the faculty and the School Committee. The community obviously agrees: Town Meeting voted to accept the School Committee’s budget as proposed, despite cuts recommended by the Finance Committee, because the School Committee argued that those cuts imperiled some curricular areas. In this vote, the town signaled its respect for the Committee’s knowledge and experience.
The School Committee, however, did not reciprocate that respect after an overwhelming majority at Town Meeting had voted to name the new school The Ellen Garrison Middle School, and it continued to reject that mandate over the course of the spring. The name of a school is not a curricular decision, and the townspeople, surely, have the expertise of their experience as Concordians in choosing a name that would reflect their understanding of their community’s history and their aspirations for their children’s futures.
Bad feeling in the town has followed from the School Committee’s bad faith, and we need to work to repair trust and communication, and to make discussion truly inclusive. It’s time for new perspectives from a person with strong connections to the school system and the community, an attentive listener with a keen intelligence, an inclusive vision, and a fresh voice: Vote for Michael Williams for School Committee.
Julia Genster and John Fyler
Central Street
