Gov. Charlie Baker today appointed former Newton School Committee chair Matthew Hills to a seat on the state’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Wicked Local reports.
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Excellent choice by Gov. Baker and congrats to Matt Hills!
Congratulations, Matt! You’ll be such an asset to the Board, as you were to Newton’s School Committee. Great choice by Gov. Baker.
This could possibly be helpful to some Newton residents. At yesterday evening’s School Committee meeting there was addressed during the public comment period, local and national news accounts of the lawsuit which was filed last week against the School Committee, Mayor and Superintendent over Newton’s high school curriculum — over alleged antisemitism and bias against Israel. At that meeting, I understand that a number of Newton high school students got up and spoke, relaying that they were aware of the lawsuit, which is what gave them the support to speak up, stating that there is antisemitism (at least in their view) in the curriculum, one reportedly a senior, saying they were taught that the Israelis are committing genocide.
Most of the news accounts link to the actual complaint which I have read is comprised of 61 pages of 209 separate allegations, with a total of 469 pages including numerous supporting materials and documents, as exhibits. So some were perplexed that within a mere day of the apparent receipt of the complaint, the named defendants (including the School Committee, Mayor and Superintendent) issued a public statement on the lawsuit — appearing online in “Newton’s Wicked Local” (but for some reason not in the written TAB) — that they “strongly disagree with the accusations and stand by the message [they] shared with the [Newton Public School] community last fall” that “[T]hese baseless claims, often reliant upon materials and documents taken out of context, are misleading… .”
I’m not sure this has gotten to the attention of the State Ed Board, but just in case.
Excellent choice! Congratulations Matt!
Absolutely outstanding appointment. Congratulations Matt!
As the Newton School Committee Chair, Hills was a proponent of privatizing the public education system, cutting teachers’ salaries and union busting. Charlie Baker may view these as positive qualifications. My feeling is that it would be better to have individuals on the Board who support its mission to “strengthen the Commonwealth’s public education system”.
Geesh Shawn. Seems a little harsh, given that Hills (who has devoted himself to public education) is taking a seat that had been occupied by a charter school advocate.
(BTW, Ward 5 City Council candidate Bill Humphrey had the same knee jerk response. It’s one thing for the Democratic City Committee chair to stake that position but a ward council candidate?)
Greg; from my standpoint anyway, the appointment of charter school advocates to the state board of education is similar to appointing a coal CEO to the Environmental Protection Agency board. The charter school movement is generally a corporate-funded effort to privatize public education and all the public money that goes with it. Additionally, Hills had a clear anti-collective bargaining perspective while he was on the School Committee. Recall his controversial efforts to outsource the school custodians which resulted in a complaint by the state labor relations board. Since the state’s schools are run by public employees, I don’t think Hills involvement on the education board will be helpful.
Three professional journalists commenting on this thread, all praising a man who was cited multiple times by the Attorney General for hiding information from the press and the public. Go figure!
I agree with Shawn’s perspective on Matt Hills. Additionally worth noting, Hills was like a climate change denier when it came to acknowledging the health consequences of early morning high school start times.
Congratulations Matt! Well deserved.
Hills’ adamant refusal to accept basic science and the actions of school districts nationwide in having later school start times is ridiculous, but the fact that under his watch, NPS teachers literally had to work without a contract, is insanity. Very disappointed to see such a positive reaction here, talk to some NPS recent alums and teachers and I doubt you’ll get the same response.