Here’s the video from the Newton League of Women Voters/NewTV forum featuring the two candidates running for the Ward 5 School Commitee seat: Incumbent Steve Siegel and challenger Susan Huffman.
The city wide election will be held on Tuesday Nov. 3 (And, as always, thanks very much to NewTV for making this available to Village 14)
Watch the video then share your thoughts in the comments section.
Decision 2015: School Committee Ward Five from NewTV on Vimeo.
I respect the fact that Susan Huffman is willing to put herself out there as a candidate, but couldn’t figure out from watching this exactly why she’s doing this or what her passion is. I’m also not sure why she insists Bill Gates is a politician, but I digress (although it does prove that I watched the whole thing 🙂 ) Susan feel free to elaborate here if you’d like.
Steve Siegel, on the other hand, clearly grasps the complexity of our school system and challenges.
I’m a former supporter of Steve Siegel. I no longer believe he’s committed to changing high school start times. His track record indicates he’s incapable of making that change. And his comments about the start time issue in this debate, indicate that the School Committee [as currently constituted] is unlikely to take action.
I know Steve is likely to be reelected. He’s very personable and has a lot of fans. I give him credit for his regular participation on this blog. But I feel misled by Steve, because as a candidate, prior to his election to the School Committee, he indicated strong support for changing the high school start time. In the past four years he has shown me that his depth of commitment to the issue is paper thin. The result of his inattention is that 3000 high school students are sleep deprived everyday, thus unnecessarily exposed to increased levels of stress and its associated illnesses.
We all know life can be stressful. High school can be stressful. And being a teenager is stressful for most. So, does it really make sense that our school schedule should be designed in a way that substantially increases the stress levels experienced by these children?
Steve Siegel didn’t cause this problem. But in four years as a School Committee member he hasn’t done a damn thing to fix it. In fairness, the blame lies across the board with all the members of the SC and the Mayor. A competent and responsible School Committee would have dealt with this issue a long time ago. How many stress surveys and teen suicides will it take to get their attention?