My name is Matthew Miller and I am running for the School Committee seat from Ward 8. This is a city-wide election. On November 7th, 2017, all Newton residents can vote and make a difference.
My husband and I have three children in Newton Public Schools, both in special education and general education programs. I am running because I want to build on the quality of the Newton schools by making sure that every child has access to the same great experience that my children are having.
I am a proven and dedicated leader both in the public schools and across all of Newton.
As a gay dad, former foster parent and resident of Oak Hill Park, I will bring a fresh perspective to the School Committee.
I have a track record of partnering effectively and working within tight budgets to get things done.
I would like to discuss your ideas and hear your stories. Please feel free to email and/or call at any time.
I hope you will join with me to ensure a top quality educational experience for our children.
I had a long talk with Matt Miller a few weeks back and was deeply impressed by the thoughtful, compassionate and sensitive values he so obviously possesses and the dedication he brings to Newton and its schools. There’s a bit of humility, too, that I find refreshing. He doesn’t pretend to have the answer for every educational challenge the City faces, but he’s pretty clear about believing that the answers will be found from the collective wisdom of students, teachers, parents and other Newton residents he has done his best to work with over the years.
I knew instinctively when he met that he wanted to pick my brain for anything he hadn’t thought of or considered along the way. And we are many, many generations apart from each other. I appreciated this immensely and it tells me that he’s done enough of the ground work over the years to have a pretty firm handle on how to scoop all this knowledge up and employ it effectively.
Matt uses the term “fresh perspective” for the major quality he would bring to the
School Board, but I think he brings much more than that A better term would be a “free spirit” who is ready to work constructively with anyone but won’t be constrained by succumbing to any form of group think. Matt will be a great addition to the School Board and I hope everyone will get a chance to touch base with him in the months ahead. You will not be disappointed and you will go away knowing there is someone there who has the spirit and drive to move things in a positive and open direction. He’s a latter day Happy Warrior”. He reflects to much of what’s good in Newton.
I agree.
For someone to be a good leader, he or she must be willing to learn from broad/diverse groups and trust in others. What makes a bad leader is someone who believes they’re always “right.”
Effective leaders build consensus, shared purpose, and a collective sense as to what the issues are and how we all play an important role in solving them.
Whoever can do this best, if anyone, will earn my support as that’s what we need to move Newton forward.
A lot of people will have some things to say about his position on school issues, but I’ll just say some things about what I’ve seen in Matt as a person.
Matt is a truth teller who speaks his mind.He will be equally comfortable speaking truth to power and negotiating a fair and equitable deal.
Matt is a passionate advocate. He knows when to listen but he also knows when to lean in and fight for what he believes in.
Matt is also a loyal friend. In the relatively short time I have known him, he has always been there when I asked something of him.
I highly recommend him and will be helping him in his campaign.
Matt Miller has my vote. Bob Burke and Bryan Barash said everything I wanted to say as to why.
No slight intended for any candidate as I write this but I never understood why people commit to candidates so soon…unless they have a personal friendship or some other long time, deep connection.
There’s no way we know who else may be running. What’s the benefit of locking in your vote so soon (which has especially happened for Amy Masters, who seems to already have half the school committee and PTO leaders lined up)?
And it’s happening in the mayor’s race too. I get why the candidates want it but how does it benefit the contest?
Had a delightful conversation with Matt yesterday. Quick mind, energetic, compassionate, thoughtful, funny, listens, not stuck in the mud, full of ideas based clearly on his own experience as a parent and PTO president. A natural communicator and community builder.
Matthew. Should have said Matthew. I hate when people automatically shorten my name.
@Matthew– I’m glad you’re running. I’m going to give you the hard truth that most people don’t talk about for fear of offending. So here it is… There are aspects to Newton schools that are systemically abusive, and the School Committee has been far too slow in dealing with them.
Early morning start times have had tragic consequences for our high school students. Start times have contributed to epidemic levels of stress among Newton teens. That’s not just my opinion, it’s a fact supported by the school system’s own stress surveys. When the system is so broken that it literally makes kids sick, and the School Committee takes more than a decade to even address the problem, that is a complete failure of leadership. After all these years the School Committee has chosen to buy more time–by conducting more surveys, this time asking parent’s opinions on a series of options. This latest survey [which will yield inconclusive results], did nothing but perpetuate the problem, and cost high school students another year of lost sleep.
Sleep deprivation is not the only issue with significant health consequences for students that the School Committee has failed to address. In my opinion, tackle football is an inappropriate school sport. It’s been definitively linked to brain traumas and orthopedic issues that can [and often do] last a life time. The wisdom of allowing kids to play tackle football has been a hot topic question across the country, as parents have become more aware of the dangers posed by concussions in particular. This is a case where the Newton School Committee has simply lacked the courage to do the right thing, and end tackle football as a school sport.
Sadly, there are more instances of systemic abuse that the School Committee has allowed to continue. This city spent nearly $100M renovating Newton South about ten years ago. Left untouched in that renovation was a sheet metal building known as the “Shed,” which serves as classroom space for some of our most vulnerable students. It is an absolute disgrace the School Committee allows such a subpar structure that degrades and stigmatizes students, to be part of our educational infrastructure. To their credit, the School Committee finally addressed the issue of the Shed. But in typical fashion, they failed to take timely action, and the Shed is still currently being used.
I could go on. But I won’t.
I share Greg’s perplextion about endorsements so soon.
I have two reactions when I see so many of the power brokers already lined up so early:
Me as Pollyanna: “Isn’t it nice how many friends she/he has? And they’re helping him/her run too! That’s so sweet.”
Me as a cynical curmudgeon: “Well, looks like the power-that-be have chosen who they want as one of their own to fall in line with them.”
I can’t be alone in sometimes voting against someone precisely because of who has lined up to endorse them especially if the perception is that it will be the same ol’ perspective and approach if the same ol’ crowd shows up to backslap and raise funds for these folks.
Matt’s a great guy and an organizational powerhouse. Our theater just presented our first show in Oak Hill Park and Matt was our host as the president of the Oak Hill Park Association. He’s one of those people that makes the city a better place.
I tend to be involved in lots of different things at the same time but I can’t hold a candle to Matt – he’s everywhere doing everything. I’m glad to see him get into the race.
@Greg. To paraphrase your comment. You say you don’t know why people commit so early to a candidate when they don’t know who else may be getting into the race. That’s probably true most of the time, but there are instances when you just know that a truly unique candidate has come forward who has the spark and substance to promote much needed changes in the way things are done within the institutional structure of government. Matthew Miller is that kind of candidate. It is always possible that a candidate more suited for the times could emerge, but I just don’t believe that’s going to happen.
I don’t know anything about either candidate, but am delighted there are already two enthusiastic residents of Ward 8 willing to run! I hope all eight Wards have competition. I am not slamming any incumbents, but believe that candidates debating not only gets us the better winners, but exposes the issues that the public wants and needs to have discussed in open forums.
@Sallee — Couldn’t agree with you more, and with several of the mayoral hopefuls already saying they will vacate their city council seats, this should be a VERY interesting election season.
Regarding the early endorsements (personally I have not endorsed anyone yet) some endorsements may be who your friends. However in Mathew’s case he is involved in so many different things I think a broad spectrum of people have worked with him. I have encountered Mathew through my volunteer work with ptos and know other people who have met him through Destination Imagination or other things that he is involved in. He seems to work really hard at his various roles. I found his interest in gaining knowledge from those who had more experience than he did very genuine. He also seemed willing to step up and get involved. I have not met Amy but she did grow up in Newton so it is not surprising that she would have a base of people willing to support her.
I met with Matthew this past summer, and two things jumped out at me: First was a willingness to say “I don’t know that much about [an issue I asked about], but I’m really hoping to find out more about it.” (The next time I talked to him, he had done the research as promised and had formed an opinion.) Second, he has a strong belief in public services like education being available to everyone equitably, and so he’s looking into how we can best provide quality after school childcare to all our elementary students. The system is a bit patchwork at the moment, both in cost and how it is provided, as we discussed at the Ward 5 Newton Democrats meeting recently. I like it when someone can take a broad view of how society should work in general and then apply it locally. I’m happy to have endorsed him for School Committee, and I look forward to helping him get elected.
To Greg’s points: My main concern is less the timing of endorsements and more the fact that the first candidate to declare and begin seeking support did so, in my opinion, much farther ahead than was necessary. I did wait a bit, out of fairness, in case someone else planned to declare or in case the other declared candidate wanted to meet with me. (I had been told to expect contact, but I guess it slipped through the cracks.) Matthew also campaigned quite a bit for me in Ward 8 when I was running in the Sept 2016 primary, and I probably did as well as I did there because of his efforts; so I’m happy to return the favor. He’s a promising candidate whose views I tend to agree with, and he helped me, and I don’t think it’s surprising people in my position or similar would endorse a candidate early under those circumstances. Plus, I know firsthand as a former candidate, that it is sometimes frustrating to be waiting for endorsements that don’t arrive until much too late in the process to be useful.