Copyright The Boston Globe
Incumbents Tamika Olszewski and Alicia Piedalue and newcomers Jason Bhardwaj and Arrianna Proia are running unopposed. The four other ward-based seats are competitive. While it can sometimes be difficult to parse the differences between School Committee candidates, who tend to talk in similar language about education policy, in this case two fairly clear camps have emerged. Three of four contested races feature candidates who received the Newton Teachers Association’s endorsement: Jenna Miara, Mali Brodt, and Jim Murphy. In March, these candidates (along with Bruce Hedison, who failed to qualify for the ballot) announced their run in a single press release, touting a common vision. They generally opposed the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement and supported the teachers during a 2024 strike. The Massachusetts Teachers Association would not confirm whether it intends to spend money on behalf of all these candidates, but the statewide union has already sent out one mailer supporting Murphy. Their opponents — Ben Schlesinger, Jonathan Greene, and Victor Lee — declined to seek the union’s endorsement. These candidates were each endorsed by Newton City Council president and mayoral candidate Marc Laredo, Brezski, and many sitting city councilors. These candidates have generally been more critical of the decision to strike and more focused on finding ways to assess student achievement and improve academic rigor. The fourth contested race, between Christine Fisher and Linda Swain in Ward 2, has a different dynamic. Neither candidate sought the union’s endorsement, though Swain is among those backed by Laredo and a dozen councilors. Fisher is a businesswoman, civic leader, and parent who moved here two years ago. Swain is a longtime Newton resident and parent who has participated in school-related committees. Looking ahead, the School Committee needs members who can repair relationships with both the union and the public. Amid a contract dispute, the Newton Teachers Association shut the schools during an 11-day illegal strike in January 2024, dividing the community. This year brought a contentious budget debate between the mayor and School Committee, and debates about school funding levels are expected to continue. The candidates who sought the union’s endorsement consider it a step toward improving that relationship, while those who did not see it as a conflict of interest, since the committee has to negotiate and approve labor contracts with the union. Supporters of the union-backed candidates, meanwhile, say Laredo’s endorsement presents a conflict, since the mayor determines the school budget. If elected, the union-endorsed candidates will have to demonstrate that they are acting in the best interest of students, not just teachers, in contract negotiations and policy debates. The Laredo-backed candidates, should he become mayor, will have to demonstrate independence. The district also needs candidates who can regain parents’ trust after the strike and after struggles with pandemic-era remote learning. Newton was one of the last districts to return to fully in-person learning, a policy supported by the teachers’ union that upset many families and may have prompted some of them to switch to private schools. That is not the only reasons some parents have been worrying about the district’s rigor. There are also ongoing debates about the academic impact of multilevel classes, where students at different learning levels are placed in the same class, which many of the candidates oppose — and about how to assess students without the MCAS as a graduation requirement. While Massachusetts voters last year eliminated the MCAS graduation requirement, 56 percent of Newton’s voters sought to keep it. Newton is a wealthy, high-performing district where displeased parents vote with their feet. In the 2019-2020 school year, nearly 12,000 students attended Newton Public Schools, 80.6 percent of the school-age population, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. By 2024-2025, 77.1 percent of Newton school-age children attended local public schools — around 10,800 public school students, with more than 3,100 children in private or parochial schools. In Ward 5, Miara, a public interest lawyer, told the editorial board her experience working in law and running a nonprofit legal aid fund prepared her to repair relationships with the union, negotiate contracts, and build a responsible budget. She supports the superintendent’s efforts to improve student assessments. Schlesinger, a business executive who advises start-ups and a youth sports coach, said he’s focused on sustainable budgeting; measuring educational outcomes academically and in social emotional learning to build a data-driven operation; and reestablishing families’ trust in educators and administrators. He supports finding money for schools by lengthening the time it takes to fully fund Newton’s pension obligations. In Ward 6, Brodt is a former teacher who now works in school mental health counseling. She’s focused on improving student services, particularly social emotional learning. She wants to replace the MCAS with an assessment that aligns with Newton’s “portrait of a learner,” which could include project-based learning. She believes there are ways to do some multilevel classes well, but administrators must collaborate better with teachers. Greene said he wants to ensure academic excellence, a focus he believes diminished post-COVID, which includes measuring student achievement. He told the editorial board that School Committee members should keep the union at “arm’s length” to fairly negotiate contracts. He’s open to different options for increasing school funding, including soliciting private donations. In Ward 8, Murphy is a retired teacher and administrator who leads the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s education policy committee. His priority is increasing transparency in budgeting. He told the editorial board he supports focusing on a holistic “portrait of a learner,” rather than the “rote-heavy” education he said is embodied by MCAS. He supports legalizing teacher strikes. Lee has worked in corporate strategy, finance, educational technology, and as a fellow with the Arlington schools superintendent while pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership at Harvard. His priorities are improving schools’ rigor while seeking more stable funding. He supported maintaining the MCAS graduation requirement to collect comprehensive, standardized student performance data. The Globe is not making endorsements in these races. But this many vacancies at once is rare. After so many controversies, Newton voters shouldn’t miss the opportunity to read up on the candidates and vote — and have their say on the district’s future.
