Posted by MikeNaughton - Sun, May 6, 2012, 8:24 P

Hi Neighbor

"Bet I go back further than you neighbor."

Okay, I think you got me there, neighbor! :-)

Still, I stand by my statement at town meeting. I'd add that I think it might be helpful to talk a little bit more about what we might mean by "problems with the school committee".

Not too long ago (six or seven years), we had a school committee that was pretty united -- united behind the idea that asking Montague for a $1.2 million assessment increase was perfectly reasonable. I was on the finance committee then, and they said to our faces that we should feel lucky they weren't asking for $1.8 million (I'm not making this up). I guess we did feel lucky, in a way, but we also wondered just what world they thought they were living in.

The school committee is definitely not as united these days, but I think that's because some people decided that instead of just complaining they'd join the committee and try to change things. What we're seeing play out is a clash of world-views between what might be called the "old guard" and the "new wave".

I think it would be great if they could figure out how to work together effectively, but I'm not sure we should be surprised that they've failed to do so. Rich Kuklewicz spoke of the need for mutual respect, which I agree with, but I think there's a fundamental lack of respect on both sides: the old guard thinks the new wave doesn't value education (at least not education as they see it), and the new wave thinks the old guard doesn't understand arithmetic. That's a simplistic analysis, and probably inaccurate in some ways, but I think the point is that each side sees the other as a destructive force, and why would you want to work with someone who you think is trying to sabotage what you're doing?

Personally, for all its warts, I'm glad this drama is taking place, because I think it was necessary if the district were to be saved. The alternative would have been a united school committee that kept bringing in unaffordable assessments until the towns decided to dissolve it and do something else. And if you think _this_ is disruptive, imagine what that would be like! :-)

JHMO ....