Education/Newton Public Schools

The backbone of our community is our public education system. It’s the overall excellence of our schools, the depth and breadth of our offerings, and our educators in diverse methods of instruction for all abilities. We must not fall short in allocating appropriate resources to ensure we continue to attract and retain the finest teachers to achieve educational excellence at all grade levels.

We must also not be afraid to recognize that while the end result of the new Newton North project is a physical structure we can all be proud of for several generations, the wasted dollars in design and construction delays are lessons we must take to heart as we examine our school system’s future needs.  Equally troubling, with the last decade’s shifting of priorities, our elementary school buildings are overcrowded and have been allowed to deteriorate and our middle schools are no longer up to par.  Now, we’re even seeing potential reduction of programs such as Art & Music, and even AP offerings in core subjects. There is a direct correlation to the debt service for Newton North to these reductions.

We cannot allow the system to be chipped away bit by bit. As residents are understandably concerned with the process and are reluctant to provide more resources, we must continue to seek creative ways to build broad-based support for investment. Only about 20% of the households in Newton have school aged children. Yet, the other 80% have a stake in the system in other ways. Home value, quality of life, and vitality of the community are all tied in some sense to the reputation and qualitative realities of the Newton Public Schools.

As a product of the Newton Public Schools myself (Countryside/Meadowbrook (Brown) NSHS), as a father of two who continue to benefit from our schools, and as a member of the Board of Aldermen I will continue to use my position to work with open minded members of the School Committee and others, promote excellence in our public schools, and continue to provide Newton’s children with the widest possible range of opportunity.

Your support of Alderman Shapiro’s re-election means you’ll be keeping someone on the Board of Aldermen who understands how to effectively communicate the value of our schools to every resident in a way that reduces tension and builds community-wide support.