1/24/2010
Recently, the School Committee took a vote to authorize the Chair to sign a Memorandum of Understanding as provided by the Department of Education with the Teacher's Union President and also the Superintendent to compete for Race To The Top grant funds. After a lengthy and healthy debate, the Committee voted 4-1 in favor of the signing. I was the dissenting vote. This was not an easy vote for me to take. I spent many long hours researching this opportunity, and in the end, there were too many unknowns for me to in good conscience vote to authorize the signing. We could very well be in the position where the cost to fulfill the grant requirements may outweigh the actual benefit. All five members of the board took this debate very seriously, as many controversial approaches such as merit based pay for teachers were requirements in this competitive grant. After listening to several citizens of North Andover and taking a look at our current economic climate, I did not feel I was being fiscally responsible by signing on to something that had too many implications and not enough answers. We have a lot of work to do in our school system, and I look forward to tackling the challenges of our current budget season.