It’s not illegal; it’s probably not unethical; but it sure feels unfriendly. When two parties are negotiating, trying to problem-solve and to arrive at mutually agreeable outcomes, it seems unfair for one group’s leader to announce that he’s taking a vote of his team, a vote he knows will go his way, and thus end the conversation.
The School Committee chairman (as reported in the March 5 Press article, “Budget stymies School Committee”) tried to vote out Superintendent Jefferson’s proposal to go a year without a world languages chair at Bromfield, an idea that Jefferson had put forth in response to an earlier request to “look at administration” for budget cuts. Further, Chairman Cheveralls accused Jefferson of making that cut “primarily to balance the books,” which I thought was exactly what the superintendent had been charged to do.
It is my understanding that the School Committee is authorized to oversee the budget, not to micromanage it. Their expertise is not as educators, and they are not as informed about curriculum and school structure as are the teachers and administrators in the schools. They should certainly question cuts, request Jefferson to come up with different scenarios. But to call for a vote to reject a proposed cut by the superintendent? That seems a questionable use of their power. It certainly stymies respectful negotiation.
It seems counterproductive to be clouding the budget talks with philosophical arguments about the ideal curriculum and structure of a school. I agree with Chairman Cheveralls that those conversations need to occur long before any talk of budget. Priorities need to be in place when school improvement plans are created, and that vision needs to guide the budget creation from the beginning. Now is not the time.
As a taxpayer and a former educator, I’m frustrated by what I see as questionable uses of responsibility and power by some members of the School Committee. I want to see the committee engaged in cooperative, respectful negotiations, always for the good of the teachers and students of Harvard.
Carlene Phillips
Oak Hill Road
