Fred Fantini

1. Because of declining enrollments (costs too much to live in Cambridge) and increasing costs we had to consolidated some schools to achieve fiscal and, in the long run, educational stability. Had we not made the consolidation decision we would be currently facing significant budgetary problems for the next several years. 

2. Having a capable principal and a strong leadership team is important...We are in the process of completing a survey about school climate which will provide us with important information to act on.

3. The superintendent is reviewing our administrative structure and if in his view we are heavy in certain places than he will recommend reductions (as he should).  

4. Standardized testing is a way of life in public education. Federal legislation and state mandates require standardized testing. In my opinion, teachers can still be creative in how they implement our curriculum.

5. Outcomes should be consistent so that kids can transfer from one school to another and still be in the same place no matter what school they go to. Teachers can be creative as long as outcomes are achieved.

6. Universities have done and continue to do a lot. My hope is that universities would take a bold stand and pick one area (like reading) and make a public commitment to work with our schools to say achieve a goal that every child by the third grade will read at grade level.

Joseph Grassi

1. The School Committee by a 5-2 majority approved a consolidation plan that was needed to provide a stable grade structure and reduce over-staffing of our elementary schools. I am very proud of the stand I took to consolidate our public schools.

2. The only way to improve achievement at the high school is to improve achievement K–12...Common learning expectations and benchmarks need to be established at every grade. The curriculum needs to be consistent across the city.

3. A complete review needs to take place when all positions become vacant and before new positions are created. A review needs to take place on all non-teaching positions to ensure relevancy of the position as it relates to our goals.  

4. Role of testing is to gauge the alignment of the curriculum to the state standards. It will also focus on quality of instruction of teachers.

5. This is not an either/or question, but the success of our school system depends on both concepts working in conjunction with each other. Cambridge public schools need a consistent curriculum across the school system.

6. I would utilize these relationships to work in alignment with our goals. One such goal is we need to increase the number of minority teachers and administrators throughout the school system. Area universities can offer scholarships to students.

Ben Lummis