The Cambridge Education Association has issued a statement calling for the School Committee to halt its superintendent search process. As a Cambridge public school caregiver and a candidate for School Committee, I wholeheartedly support this call!
No committee member knows how the four finalists for the position were chosen. We also learned that the finalist interviews are still being planned. All of this in the context of a committee that is determined to be the body who makes this decision and is under an Election Day deadline to do so (“Rediscovery of rule gives superintendent search shortened deadline: Before city’s next elections,” Nov. 3).
I take issue with the way this committee has kicked the can down the road; it is true that they have held several meetings, but to no avail. At its April 29 meeting, I asked the committee to make sure the district does not end up with a leader by default. If this current search continues, that is exactly what will happen.
Here is what I propose:
The committee should stop this search.
The committee should use free resources available from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to begin a new search. This includes a suggested timeline that begins in September and makes the decision next year. Committee members should commit to this timeline understanding that they may not be reelected in November. They should do this because this decision is not about them; it is about our schools and our kids.
Candidates should watch the Oct. 15 meeting with Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, to learn about the process and be ready to go when a new session begins.
Some think this process has been a sham to make the current interim superintendent permanent. If David Murphy gets the job, I’m sure he could do portions of it well, but it will not be as a result of a robust, nationwide search.
The current committee lacks effectiveness, though, and therefore should not be allowed to fumble this search across the finish line.
(I have edited my original letter for brevity, you can read the whole thing here.)
Jess Goetz, Pemberton Street, Cambridge
The writer is a candidate for Cambridge School Committee.
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