Newton Needs a Strategic Plan: I will take action against the financial crisis facing our schools. This financial crisis underpins all issues regarding our children's education and the quality of our community. I have unique managerial and financial skills that will help create a sustainable solution to this problem. I serve on the Newton Public School Strategic Planning Committee, a subcommittee of the School Committee. They’ve been focusing their energy on where we want the schools to be in the information age, and how to get there. For the last decade, Newton’s “planning” has been reactive – focusing on immediate solutions without taking the long view. To do things right, and cost effectively, Newton needs a long-term plan, one that is sustainable - not only for the school system but for the city as a whole.

I will consider candidates for Superintendent from varied sources. I want a Superintendent with a clear vision, strong leadership qualities, managerial experiences and respect for our education system and our community.

Good Decisions Need Good Information: Tom started his career as an accountant for a top accounting firm. To make good decisions, every organization needs good data. The Ed Center is doing an inadequate job of managing information, and relies too much on old fashioned paper systems. When Newton applied for a grant for an autism specialist, they needed to state how many kids with ASD were in Newton Schools. The Ed Center had to call each inclusion facilitator at each school, and have them look through their IEPs to count how many children in Newton carried an autism diagnosis. This information should be available with a keystroke – and the system should be tracking the services of each SPED child year to year to evaluate the programs. To address a problem, it first has to be quantified – with good data. Newton also manages their financial information this way as well. Tom will new implement software so data monitoring is efficient and cost effective.

Differentiated Education: Regular education is one size fits all based on the old fashion lecture model. The more we learn about "learning" the more we understand that children learn best in a variety of ways. For example: the SPED model starts with the student’s needs, and then builds a program to meet them. Our classrooms can be designed the same way with the use of new teaching modalities and available COST EFFECTIVE technologies that are all ready in place in elementary schools across the country.

A special needs student, by definition, is one whose needs cannot be met by the regular ed classroom model. Newton’s model is the same as it’s been for a century- the teacher stands at the front of the class and delivers information for students to hear. If you change the model to something that works for visual learners and tactile learners, some children who are now on SPED will be able to function independently in the regular classroom, and the regular ed kids will be more engaged. The key is differentiated education – every child should be able to get what they need in every classroom. A wider curriculum needs to be available in every classroom, for children who need to move at different paces. Technology can support differentiated education through visual supports and interactive programs in smaller group settings. This will be imperative as class sizes continue to grow in Newton.

School Buildings: Tom is the only candidate with real building experience! He has been a successful builder and environment friendly business owner in the Boston area for decades. Many of our school buildings are in woeful condition, and the school committee will be involved in a number of major construction projects. To keep costs down the School Committee needs an experienced building manager on the team. Furthermore, the current conditions of the buildings resulted from a lack of proper maintenance strategy, which Tom has a plan to correct.

MCAS: Tom is the only candidate for school committee who opposes the MCAS. MCAS was designed to identify weaknesses in cities that already have marginal schools, and is not really helpful for a system the caliber of Newton. More importantly, preparing MCAS modifications for SPED students and the accompanying required paperwork are a huge burden on our already overburdened inclusion facilitators - and an unproductive expense for Newton. Some inclusion facilitators estimate that MCAS can take up to 30% of their time. This is not an efficient use of Newton's resources.