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The former head of the Lawrence teachers union, Gary Marcoux, is running for a seat on the Methuen School Committee. Marcoux, who was also head of the science department at Lawrence High School while being the teachers union president, held both titles when Lawrence High School lost its accreditation. During his tenure as the president of the teachers union, Marcoux was famous for defending bad teachers and went above and beyond the call of duty to put them back in the classroom. As head of the Lawrence High School science department, Marcoux was accused of purposely hiding science equipment when the accreditation team from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) evaluated the school. That accusation was made by then superintendent James Scully and eventually confirmed by two members of the school committee. Superintendent Scully, along with at least two school committee members at the time, toured the high school after the NEASC visiting team issued their report, claiming inadequate science equipment at the high school as one of the main reasons for losing accreditation. The Lawrence School Committee had purchased over a million dollars in science equipment before the school year began. The accreditation team from NEASC visited the school in January and issued a report to pull the school's accreditation, prompting then Commissioner of Education Robert Antonucci to announce that the Massachusetts Department of Education was proceeding with efforts to take over the entire Lawrence school system. It also prompted a politically motivated audit of all expenditures by Scully and the Lawrence Public Schools. Marcoux actively and openly sought to help Antonucci and John Silber (the head of the Massachusetts Board of Education) to seize control of the Lawrence school system, meeting with them frequently behind the backs of the school committee and the school superintendent. Marcoux told members of the teachers union at the time that their own interests would be served if teachers in the school system worked behind the scenes to advocate for a system-wide takeover by the state. Marcoux was open about his motives. He and Superintendent James Scully had been locking horns for years and it was Marcoux's hope that the controversy surrounding the loss of accreditation and a possible state takeover of the Lawrence public schools would prompt the school committee to fire Superintendent Scully. And that is exactly what happened. An audit conducted by state Auditor Joe DeNucci was conducted and several expenditures by Scully and the school committee were suddenly called questionable. And even though every single bill in dispute had been approved and signed off on by a majority of the school board, those members who had signed the bills and voted to approve the expenses suddenly turned on Scully to save their own political careers. Within days, Scully was accused of misappropriating money by the same school board members who had defended Scully's spending for more than ten years. Scully was eventually fired, but not before Marcoux lobbied members of the union to call school committee members advocating for Scully's removal. Scully eventually sued the school system and the city of Lawrence, receiving the bulk of the remainder of his contract. Upon the firing of Scully, Marcoux immediately began meeting with state officials and school committee members to lobby for a superintendent who would be more to his (and the union's) liking when contract negotiations resumed later that year. Once Scully was gone, Marcoux's antics became more frequent and more bold. Since he was an administrator (head of the science department) at the same time he was president of the teachers union, Marcoux was able to bully teachers who had been loyal to Lawrence High Principal Bill Carey and Superintendent Scully. If a teacher at the high school tried to file a grievance after being punished by Marcoux (as the department head), their grievances would go nowhere because Marcoux would refuse to let the union represent them. Now, Marcoux is seeking a seat on the Methuen school committee. There are six open seats and seven candidates running on the November 8th ballot. *Send your questions
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