Barbara Hickey, a mother of six school-age children, has one of the most politically well-known names in North Cambridge. She says that more attention should be paid to the grammar schools because they are in deplorable physical condition.
Joseph F. Thomas, the City's dog officer, has finished out of the money in each of the last three school committee races. He is unlikely to improve his finish, mainly because he must compete with Committeeman Fitzgerald for East Cambridge votes.
Roberto Garcia '75 says he bases his hopes for victory on the votes of Cambridge's fledgling Puerto Rican population; the small size of that group (under 3 per cent of Cambridge's population) and the large number of Puerto Ricans who are not registered to vote reduce Garcia's chances of winning. Garcia emphasizes the need to improve pupil reading scores and bilingual education programs.
Francis E. Murphy 3rd, a sophomore at MIT, is a life-long North Cambridge resident. Murphy says he would like to see the School Department replace funds cut off by the federal government for several local educational programs, including the Teens and Law program.
Olga C. Armstrong lives in the Jefferson Park housing project in North Cambridge, and is the only black candidate other than incumbent Pierce. She says the biggest problem confronting the school system is motivating students to attend classes, and advocates hiring more minority group teachers.
The Independents may have difficulty winning a third seat in addition to Fitzgerald and Maynard, primarily because none of their candidates from North Cambridge (an area which usually provides at least one Independent committeeman) are particularly well-known.
The CCA endorsed five candidates (at an open convention) other than incumbents Gesell and Pierce. (Two of these, Mary Ellen Preusser and Eric L. Davin, are examined in an accompanying article).
Alice K. Wolf, a former president of the Peabody School PTA, has called for equal educational opportunity for all students throughout the city. She stresses the need to revamp educational programs prior to investing $20 million in the soon-to-be-constructed Cambridge high schools, and she says that more community participation is needed in educational decision-making, in order to make schools responsive to community needs.
Orie L. Dudley Jr. '67, says that Cambridgeport (his area) has not received the educational facilities which exist in the rest of the city. The only candidate with a child in the Alternative Public School, he says he favors increasing the number of education options available to students. Dudley has strong backing in the Webster School area, where he is president of the PTA.
Timothy L. Callahan, a sophomore at UMass, says he hopes to relieve the frustration that he says many Cambridge students feel by hiring "exciting teachers" and by granting tenure to teachers only after they have been carefully examined by citizens groups.
Two candidates, Ruth Getts and Diana Travis, are running on the Socialist Workers slate. They support education controlled by students and teachers, and "a reoriented society which is run for the benefit of the majority.
Five candidates are running without the endorsement of any slate. Of these, Glenn S. Koocher '71 has the best chance of winning. Koocher finished ninth two years ago, drawing most of his support from mid-Cambridge. Koocher says that mid-Cambridge schools should be upgraded since they are inferior physically to those of the rest of the city. He supports Superintendent Cheatham and Cheatham's hiring policies "whole-heartedly."
W. Keith McCoy '76 sought but failed to receive CCA endorsement. "They didn't like the fact that I opposed tenure for superintendents," he said recently. In support of his view he argues that school committees should be able to re-evaluate superintendants continually and that administrators get stale if they stay in the same system for too long. McCoy says that high school students should be given a larger role in determining school policy.
Joseph L. Carson, who lives in Cambrideport, calls on Harvard and MIT to provide Cambridge residents with at least 25 full scholarships each. Carson has run twice for the school committee--the last time was in 1961. His career has included stints as a public school teacher and publisher of his own Cambridge weekly newspaper.
Charles H. Shuman Jr. says that after Watergate, America needs "dedicated politicians--and I'm dedicated." Shuman lives in East Cambridge and said last week, "I'm only running a marginal operation in this campaign."
Jonathon L. Olmstead lives in mid-Cambridge, has not campaigned actively, and has not made any public statements.
Many issues have been raised by candidates this fall; some certainly deserve careful consideration by next year's school committee. Yet, any policy matters which the school committee may consider are minor compared to its primary responsibility: choosing a superintendent. For it is the superintendent who selects the personnel and sets the tone of a school system. On Tuesday, the voters of Cambridge will determine whether Alflorence Cheatham will continue to set the tone of Cambridge's schools