Sue Flicop

I’ll be on Ken Parker’s show, Common Ground, on Thursday evening, July 16th from 8 to 9 p.m.  Be sure to check it out!

Over the summer, I’ve been getting caught up on reading the pile of articles and assorted materials on my desk.  Today I (finally!) read the May 2009 report from the Special Commission on Municipal Relief from the State House and found it filled with both big and small ways to help cities and towns across Massachusetts be more fiscally sound.

Regarding education, the Commission basically made three recommendations.  The first is to look at and possibly change some of the reporting requirements that the State has.  According to the report, there are over 120 reporting requirements, “a new report every 1.5 school days.”  We’ve all heard about the reports, but the numbers really bring home the burden to communities.  By paring down the reports needed, more time can be spent working directly to improve education.  At the same time, there seems to be a lot of data available–just wondering if some of it can be used to help with internal assessments.

The second area is regarding Special Education.  Within this area, the Commission proposes several interesting changes, including:  changing the way communities are reimbursed for medical expenses they need to provide students; and asking the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop a set of “best practices for the purposes of providing quality, cost effective special education services.”  This would certainly align with the new study commissioned by the School Committee to evaluate our Special Education program and determine how to do things more effectively and efficiently.

The third area is one in which Newton has already been talking about and working on:  coordinating services with the municipal side and/or with other communities.  This is an interesting area to look at for budget efficiencies, and it is helpful to know that the State seems willing to assist.

For a look at the report, click here:  Special Commission on Municipal Relief, May 2009

Laurie Mokriski’s NewTV show, “The Local View,” features a debate between my opponent and myself for the Ward 7 School Committee seat.  It will air this Monday, July 13, at 6:30 p.m. on the  Blue Channel, Comcast channel 10, RCN channel 15, Verizon channel 34.  Be sure to check it out!

Apologies for my absence to those who are following my blog!  I was overwhelmed by the avalanche of recitals, portfolio viewings, and other end-of-the-year school activities, not to mention all those meetings that need to be “fit in” before the end of the school year.

In reviewing all the interesting meetings I went to in the last half of June, I realized that I have spent a great deal of time thinking about my visit with Neil Bernstein, a School Committee member in Swampscott.   Neil has been the driving force in bringing long-range financial planning to Swampscott Public Schools (SPS), and is an avid ambassador for extending this to other school systems.

Two years ago, SPS had a year-to-year budget, just as Newton does now.   However, SPS did not have actual budget updates, accurate numbers, or a line item budget.   Newton, with a far larger budget, does have accurate and regular reporting on the budget, and is therefore starting off in a much better position to develop a long-range system.   It will still require a great deal of work, especially since Newton’s budget is so much larger.

One appealing aspect of the SPS system is its complete openness.  There is a line item in the on-line budget for each staff person, making any proposed cuts very visible and, in a sense, personal.   Everyone, including the parents, teachers, union representatives, and administrators can see exactly how much each person costs the system, and can determine how any increases (COLA and other contractual increases as well) will affect the school budget.

I’m sure that many of you have wondered like I have, if it is possible for someone to tell from Newton Public Schools’ proposed budget line items how much of a COLA increase is included in school budgets, especially during the years when a contract is still under negotiation.  It is such a complex figure–I haven’t been able to do it, but it is possible that someone might.  This year was unusual in that the Superintendent made clear that there were no increases for COLA in the FY2010 budget.

Budget openness in Newton that is similar to Swampscott’s, with a staff that includes about 1000 teachers, would lead to an incredibly cumbersome spreadsheet for the public (and the staff) to maneuver.  One issue, then, is how to bring a similar openness to Newton’s budget and still make it manageable and useful.  I think that this will be a work in progress over the next year.

Be sure to mark your calendar for Sunday night, July 12th from 7 to 8:30 p.m! I will be debating with my opponent at the Newton Corner Branch Library, 126 Vernon Street (corner of Vernon and Centre Streets).  This event is sponsored by the Newton Corner Neighborhood Association and is open to the public, so plan on joining us.  Martina Jackson, co-chair of the Newton Democratic City Committee, will be moderating this event.

There is a lot of discussion about early release days here in Newton and whether or not they are worthwhile.  I’ve heard several comments lately from parents that the teachers don’t find them useful–but at least one teacher I know felt the opposite way.  Add to this conflicting information the idea that in-classroom professional development is more effective since it helps teachers while they are actually teaching.  So what do we do now?

First, I like the idea of a teacher survey that gets some in-depth information about professional development.   There may be differences among teachers about what method they find most useful; these could fall into categories by level of experience, subject area, elementary/secondary, etc. We can use this information to help determine what is the best combination of methods to provide effective professional development efficiently.  We might find that some changes need to be made in our current system that would be beneficial to all.

Second, I think we need to be sure there is accountability for early release days.  Since these days are written in the contract, we have every right to know what happens and how this learning helps our children.  Families make sacrifices to support the early release days (either time off from work, more after-school program expenses, etc.) and should feel assured that the time is well worth the extra effort.

Click here for my responses to the three Brown Middle School Candidates’ Night questions:  Brown MS Candidates Night Q&A.

The questions are:

1. What is your opinion on early release days?

2. Do you support academic ability grouping, even if it means that groups of students may move through the curriculum at different speeds?

3. Have you read the Citizen Advisory Group’s School Cost Structure Report? If so, how would you see School Leaders and the School Committee creating “a blue print that clearly outlines what is essential to maintaining a high quality educational system”? According to the CAG this blue print would require leaders to “make difficult decisions about the desirable and the essential.” Would you support student user fees to maintain access to “desirable” school services?

On Wednesday night, The Citizen Advisory Group (CAG) presented in more detail a method to evaluate our long-range financial situation here in Newton.   The spreadsheet lays out some of the variables that we can consider when talking about tradeoffs–a starting point for discussion.  Of course we can add variables to the model in the future.

As an example, one scenario involved reducing salary increases to 1.5% a year and reducing school staff by 3%, both changes each year for five years.   A 3% reduction means about 30 teachers laid off each year, for a total of 150 teachers over five years, out of about 1000 teachers and 1700 overall staff.

As I wrote previously, the numbers can inform our decision-making but cannot be the sole criteria.   We need to really delve into what these reductions would mean–what are the effects on class size?  on how we recruit and retain teachers, etc.?  How would education need to change with these reductions?  Are we willing to accept the consequences of such actions?

These are certainly difficult questions to consider, but we must address them as a community.  As the CAG presentation made clear, we as a community need to accept that there need to be changes–the current level of expectations and funding cannot continue.    And we need to elect leaders who are willing to address this situation.

I’ve recently been in touch with Neil Bernstein, a School Committee member in Swampscott, MA. Neil responded to my guest column in the Newton TAB about instituting long-range planning for our public school system. The School Committee and administration have recently done this in Swampscott, where information is posted on their website: Swampscott Public Schools Financial Information.

The planning model is very similar to the work the CAG did in this area. One of the most interesting results is that the Swampscott Superintendent has a five-year budget strategy—a natural outcome of a long-range financial planning document. This makes far more sense than the annual budget guidelines that our School Committee develops—which can be very different from year to year and not provide sustainable support for important programs.

The other interesting item is that even though there are 5 School Committee members in Swmapscott, there is a Finance Committee. As far as I know, there is no such sub-committee of the Newton School Committee. While it seems to me that all the SC members share the responsibility for keeping within the annual budget, I think a Finance Committee could be very helpful in designing, evaluating, and presenting a long-range financial plan. This could become a very important element in moving forward, especially if there is no agreement on hiring a Chief Financial Officer until a permanent Superintendent is in place.

It’s official!  I handed in my nomination papers last week, called the Election Office this morning, and found that I am now a certified candidate for Ward 7 School Committee.  Many thanks to all those who signed my papers.

An interesting note:  I needed to get 150 different certified signatures to be a candidate.  I thought it would be easy given that I attend lots of meetings and work with several different groups.  But I found that going beyond 100 different names required some effort, as I saw many of the same people over and over again.  To me, this is important because it means that I will need to continue to work hard to reach out to citizens and hear a wide range of ideas in the future.  It is too easy to stay within a small circle of people and opinions.