I will bring an educator’s experience and a passion for community engagement to my efforts to strengthen our schools. Here are three reasons to vote for me:

Olivia's three children

1. I will ensure that the new Superintendent has clear, measurable goals. All good teaching starts with articulating clear objectives. Our new school committee will select a new superintendent. I will help hire a strong leader who will unite our community around clear, meaningful, and measurable goals for the schools. I will ensure that we report on progress towards those goals both quarterly and annually.

2. I will engage our community in the schools: The School Committee (SC) should be actively engaged with the community. I visualize a new level of communication between the SC and the public: one where a majority of residents can tell you what the top three priorities are for the district and are excited about the direction of the schools.

When I announced my candidacy, I was surprised by how many people asked me: “What’s the Newton School Committee?”. Every Newton resident should already know the answer.

I want SC meetings where a new level of positive energy pervades the discussions. A new level of clarity that enables the committee and the public to focus on where we are headed. A new era of transparent decision-making – where public debate and participation lead to creative solutions to our challenges. A new use of technology – where citizens can access any topic of the school committee meetings online easily, and citizens can give feedback on issues using electronic surveys.

A new format for meetings that utilizes the best research on how people learn—instead of lengthy presentations, there will be short, vibrant presentations followed by engaging dialogue and deep participation from teachers, principals, and school personnel as well as experts who have successful ideas from other districts and fields.

I will promote volunteerism: Using the incredible wealth of skills and untapped energy in Newton’s citizens, I will work to increase the number of volunteers in our schools. In the spirit of our country’s renewed interest in community service, I will assemble a simple menu of volunteer opportunities for citizens citywide that range from one-time opportunities to ongoing mentoring and enrichment activities. We can increase the astonishingly low percent of Newton students who express interest in STEM (Science, Math, Engineering, & Technology) careers by involving STEM professionals in meaningful projects with students. All volunteers will be well-trained to ensure the schools are excited about the volunteers’ efforts towards reaching the unified vision for the schools.

3. I will make budget decisions that support a long-term, fiscally sound plan. I have been shocked to find that each spring, panic sets in among Newton parents as rumors abound regarding which budget cuts will be made by the School Committee. Having founded a children’s literacy nonprofit organization and grown the budget each year as the Executive Director, I know how to identify organizational priorities and make sensible budget decisions. We must learn from the skyrocketing Newton North high school costs and not repeat mistakes.

As the Citizen Advisory Group (CAG) recently emphasized in their School Cost Structure report, the existing school funding model requires a 5.9% increase annually just to keep our current school programs—but the Newton schools have been receiving average annual budget increases of only 4.3% over the past six years. Unless we make lasting changes, our city’s funding gap will be $2.5M next year growing to nearly $20M by FY15.

I believe that our school committee can inspire the community to contribute energy and ideas, implement new solutions, and unite citizens around goals that are part of an ambitious, comprehensive plan. This will ensure that the Newton public schools offer an incredible education for the next generation.