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An
Open Leter to Mike Sullivan
First, on the subject of an appointed School Committee, that’s all well and good, only if we can come up with a failsafe way of appointing, otherwise, politics will once again rule the day and make for a weak Committee just as electing a School Committee by districts has proven to be. Electing by districts has resulted in what we have now, four out of the six members elected without opposition. In a perfect world an appointed Committee would work, but since we all know it isn’t, the power struggle between the mayor/ superintendent and the members of the School Committee would continue to be the focus of attention rather than the job that the School Committee was sworn to do! Which is to oversee the education of our children in Lawrence. Now, having said all this, the following is my recommendation for electing future School Committee members for the city of Lawrence. We have a wonderful opportunity here and we can’t afford to mess this up! We must take our time and do this right! Changing our city charter is serious business and the language we choose must be thorough without omissions. For example, on the city side of government, the charter states that the establishment of standing (sub) committees to help handle the issues that are brought to the City Council must take place. We must go to that same type of system on the school side of government. Plus, there should be an addition of two more members to the School Committee, making a total number of eight members. Six members were good for the ‘70s and ‘80s and early ‘90s. But in the last 10 years, the budget and student enrollment have almost doubled, so the addition of two more members would help with the oversight tremendously! So, for the election in 2008, we would have all eight School Committee members run at-large citywide, making the top eight vote getters winners for the School Committee seats. This gives us an elected School Committee by the entire city of voters. Since our schools and children are not divided up by district, neither should be the School Committee. Also, the terms should be for at least three maybe four years to allow for consistency, which our children deserve! The language for the city charter would be as follows: The Lawrence School Committee shall consist of eight members who are registered voters, elected at-large or citywide and their term shall consist of no less than 3 years, beginning January 1st, immediately following the elections in November. The Lawrence School Committee shall establish at least four, but not limited to four, standing (sub) committees that all issues shall be handled by before being brought to the full School Committee with the recommendations by the subcommittees. The following subcommittees shall be established: 1. Budget and Finance Committee. 2. Curriculum and Academics Committee. 3. Safety and Discipline Committee. 4. Building and New Construction Committee. Each subcommittee shall consist of two School Committee members with one being the chairman appointed by the mayor. Also two or three parents or guardians, or concerned citizens that are registered voters. The mayor shall be the chairman of the School Committee and have one vote, making 5 votes a majority. The chairman shall have the power to remove a School Committee member for missing an excessive amount of School Committee meetings without proper reason (health or family matters). In conclusion, I believe, as a parent and as a co-president of the PTA at Lawrence High School, that these recommendations should provide us a strong, viable, School Committee that citizens of the great city of Lawrence can be very proud of. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Peter Larocque is a former candidate for
School Committee in Lawrence. He submitted this column as
a letter to the editor in the local daily but was edited.
The Valley Patriot is happy to reprint the letter in its
entirety without editing for content. You can email
Mr. Larocque at pamelalarocque@hotmail.com *Send your questions
comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com |
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As we begin discussions on the subject of
how we as a city select it’s School Committee, here
are some thoughts that I have concerning this topic.