NewTV asked each of the candidates to come into the studio and record a 3 minute video statement to the voters. Here are the two Ward 2 candidates for School Committee.
Decision 2013: Margaret Albright from NewTV on Vimeo.
Decision 2013: Andrea Steenstrup from NewTV on Vimeo.
I listened to both candidates as they highlighted their vision for Newton students and their future education. Margaret has committed to a specific set of priorities which directly affect the well bring of children i.e. full day kindergarten, rethinking of extra fees and more emphasis on STEM curriculum.
I was disappointed that A.S. failed to discuss any of these issues. She emphasized her fund raising background but did not outline what funds she actually raised for Cabot School. She does believe in future overrides however and may be very good at raising homeowner taxes as the main answer to fiscal problems.
I am extremely concerned that Andrea Steenstrup who both in the Newton Tab and during the LWV Debate stated her concerns and issues with Data and Math Tutors. From her experience as a Former CPA and also with her mother being a middle school math teacher you would think that she would understand the importance of math and data. But evidently she doesn’t. And that fact that she is concerned about the kids not the Data (where does she think that the information about the kids comes from if not from the DATA) and is concerned that parents that use tutors are just making things difficult for the teachers ( obviously she has never heard about differentiated instruction) is not only concerning but alarming.
I guess she wants to use her background as a Former CPA to increase our taxes with another override rather than look at creative and innovated ways to improve our children’s education and our school system.
On the other hand Margaret Albright is very clear in where she wants our children’s education to go and also outlines the areas that are important- Full Day Kindergarten, STEM, Fee Reductions in the Music and Arts programs , and has already contributed to cost savings and Better Practices with CO – Taught Sped Classes in the NPS.
Margaret Albright is the clear choice in this Ward 2 SC race.
Question for Margaret: Did you support all three overrides this year? And, did you work to get them passed? Thanks.
It is irrelevant whether Margaret supported past tax ORs. What is more important is the future of tax increases for a school system that is already well funded for the education of its children. Andrea is the person recruited by J. Yeo and Claire S. to carry the torch for their agenda of spending and the old status quo for Newton Schools. They have a prescribed set of expectations for her. Ones she isn’t likely to challenge as a sitting voter on the SC comm.
Read today’s endorsement of her in the Tab. C. and J. want her to be elected as both leave the Board after term limits kick in.
@Gail, my mother was not well and passed away in March. I did support the override, but as you can imagine I was very preoccupied with personal issues.
Margaret –
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Please accept my most sincere condolences.
My condolences, Margaret. I can empathize. My father, who had Alzheimer’s Disease, passed away at the end of January just a few weeks shy of his 78th birthday.
Thank you Gail and Ted. I miss her very much. We were extremely close.
Margaret has my vote! I am concerned that many people are supporting the other candidate, because often I see them on the same page that I am on . . . .
I was UNDERwhelmed by Andrea. The math and science in elementary school takes a back seat to language arts. While I believe Language Arts is important, the math program stinks. There is no ability for kids to “master” anything and then they circle back a year later! The best thing my son’s third grade teacher do is memorize the math facts to the 12’s – addition, subtraction, muliplication and division. Her class was the only third grade to do it. My older one knows those facts.
Kids learn at different rates, and there is NO reason why you can’t help accelerated kids learn, while you help the at-risk kids. We spent alot of time “tutoring” kids as the MCAS approach in the elementary schools for English and math. How about just teaching the kids!!!!
You can have kids learn different things in the classroom. It is OKAY.
Margaret supports Full Day Kindergarten and not the current system of what Newton says is Full Day Kindy.
Vote for Margaret. As a mom of two kids who attend NPS, we need Margaret and her ideas!
The editorial in the Newton Tab by the 2 outgoing SC members (C.Sokoloff, J.Yeo) aims to paint a picture of Margaret Albright as having a long list of ideas “without discussion of how to cover the million of dollars needed”. This did make me pause and consider this point – but I quickly realized how deceitful this statement is because Andrea Steenstrup has not discussed how to cover the cost of her pricey priorities either. In Andrea’s NewTV statement above, she clearly states technology and building are her top goals – both of these require “millions of dollars” – but she does not discuss how to fund these!! In the LOWV debate, when she is specifically asked about funding technology (31 min into debate), she offers no clear view stating that she’s “open to anything” (so much for her financial expertise).
I was also underwhelmed by Andrea Streenstrup’s views & general demeanor in that debate and her background in comparison to Margaret Albright’s. I prefer SC members who can and will ask thought-provoking, experience-based questions and makes suggestions – the process of goal setting/prioritizing/budgeting will take care of implementation or not, but you can’t implement something that might be good for our students if it is never considered. In the professional world that I worked in, this is what a board of directors does and I see the function of the SC to be that of a BOD.
@Newton Mom of 2, I have worked in non-profits for 25 years and budgets are always constrained. I have never been in the situation where someone handed us $1 million and told us to start this or that program. I have been in countless situations, however, were we decided it was critical to start a program or service and then proceeded to find the money to start and sustain it.
Vision and mission drive the budget, not the other way around.
The vision is what is important, not the money. It’s up to the next Mayor and David F to reprioritize to get the money, not the SC. They only have so much power.
In my last 10 years, in Newton politics, there were 2 candidates that haven’t won, that the city is missing out on. The first candidate is Olivia Matthews. She was terrific and then the second is our own Margaret.
The city will absolutely suffer if they don’t vote for Margaret. She has everything one needs to be on the school committee.
Margaret, I’m sorry to hear about your mom’s passing
Ted, I’m sorry to hear about your dad’s passing
Gail, while Margaret may have supported the override, I believe Margaret’s willingness to emphasize the need to prioritize the Newton Public Schools budget will reduce the need for future overrides as well as reduce the amount of future overrides that will be asked for in future years.
Suzanne Szescila piqued my interest in voting for Margaret Albright around May. After weighing the “body of work” for each candidate, I decided to vote for Margaret Albright in August.
Newton Mom, Newton Mom of 2, Joanne and Colleen Minaker made great points about why swing voters should support Margaret Albright. And here is why I will be voting for Margaret Albright:
1. Margaret is interested in moving educational excellence forward and is able to articulate how to go about doing it
2. Margaret understands the need to prioritize our budget
3. Margaret brings a unique professional background and focus on education to the school committee
4. Margaret has a warmer, kinder personality than Andrea
5. Margaret was the hands down winner of the Ward 2 School Committee debate
6. Margaret has generated support from a more diverse group of Newton residents than Andrea
7. Margaret successfully advocated for fee-relief for Newton’s parents recently
8. Margaret played an important part in the co-taught special education pilot project
@Newton Mom of 2 –
Your analysis is spot on! Lets face it, the city employs excellent financial analysts who understand the ins-and-outs of the school budget. The school committee doesn’t reinvent the wheel when budget time comes around: they have the guidance of some highly qualified professionals. Our job as voters is to make sure that the board which directs the policies for our schools is well rounded and what we really lack right now is someone who has expertise in educational policy to help balance and round out that board. As for the Sokoloff/Yeo editorial, they pretty much followed the same script that all of her support letters are following and trying to fill in the huge gaps she left with a very poor debate performance. Hopefully voters will see through that, watch the debates on their own and draw their own conclusions.
Olivia Matthews was a superb candidate and a great loss for the children in our schools. I am also disappointed that Geoff will leave before his full term is complete.
As we have learned over the years, the real agenda of some of the powerful people in this city is NOT THE CHILDREN.
What is important to them is that real debate about our children’s future is not what counts.
Their agenda and its implementation is the core reason to win elections. I do not fault their beliefs. What I do question is the way they stifle opposition and alternative visions for our children’s well being.
Clearly the Village 14 community supports Margaret. In fact, across all of the posts in the past few weeks related to the Ward 2 school committee race, I don’t think I’ve seen *a single* comment supporting Andrea (other than Andrea’s own comment here — http://village14.com/netwon-ma/2013/09/poll-albright-or-steenstrup-for-newton-school-committee/#axzz2iZk8n6zM) .
However, driving around Newton it seems that Andrea’s lawn signs outnumber Margaret’s by a factor of 3 or 4, and the letters to the Tab supporting Andrea also seemed to outnumber those supporting Margaret (though by a smaller margin).
I’m nervous that the political machine behind Andrea will have it’s way in the end. Can someone talk me off the ledge? How can we best promote and support Margaret’s campaign (outside of this blog) over the next two weeks?
Newtongal, contact me at [email protected]
Newton Mom – You bring up two key points that I also tried to address while my children were in NPS K – 12. My wife smartly enrolled our children in Kumon specifically to learn the basic math tables and operations that were being downplayed in NPS. (The Japanese educational system understands and values the need for this knowledge and basic skills). I also pushed for the English teachers to include instruction on how to properly diagram sentences so as to improve basic writing skills. My sense at the time was that the teachers thought diagramming sentences was mundane with low value. They prefered having the students read and try to learn through the whole language method.
You also raised the issue of stretching students to different levels of attainment. NPS has an excellent person on staff to teach the other teachers how to do this. My children were quite fortunate to have Kathyrn Kubie as their teacher. Because they could finish their math assignments ahead of the class (thanks to Kumon), she would give them extra work to complete rather than just letting them sit and wait for the next group activity. The process is not hard; it does require commitment and interest by the teachers to accomplish this.
Either the teachers, as a group, do not have a high level of energy and interest in teaching, or the school system has a failure of leadership at both the administration and school committee levels. I believe the teachers would perform admirably given direction and encouragement by their leaders.
Patrick, you are so correct in your assessment of teachers and the administration of NPS. Yes the schools provide an adequate/good public education. My 2 daughters maintained good grades and thrived in college. Both my sons were bored with the curriculum throughout high school and underachieved. My oldest son did a PG year at Phillips Exeter and came out of there with a real zest for learning which was never realized in the NPS’s. He went on to college and thrived.
Newton children with their high levels of abilities allow the NP schools to appear successful. However they really are short changed by the mindset of the administration which believes that mediocrity is sufficient. They shove more tedious work at the students and think AP courses are the solution. This leads to very stressed out and vulnerable children.
Just look at the fee structure for after school programs. These important forums for creativity have been eliminated by a shortsighted vision of student’s real needs. What a fiasco. Now is the time to rethink how and what our children learn. The SC has some members who are capable of a revised direction. Let’s hope they realize their mistakes and allow more new discussion about re-energizing the education of our children.
Will do, Margaret!