School Committee Ward 3 Questionnaire: Adam Sweeting

  1. What political or community activism accomplishments are you most proud of during your last term in office (or the last two years if you have not previously served)? What specific things do you want to accomplish during the coming term?

    Most of my community activism over the last several years revolves around schools and school-related issues:

    • I took a leading role during the 2005 Superintendent search process, often by drafting and circulating documents and letters to be shared with the community.
    • I testified at the Board of Aldermen meeting on the Mayor's Condo Conversion bill in order to highlight the fundamental connection between affordable housing issues and declining school populations.
    • I have been a consistent advocate for the central role of parents and guardians in schools.
    • I lobbied School Committee representatives to adopt a strong statement committing the School Department to increased staff and faculty diversity.

    Many of the specific things I want to accomplish are outlined in the responses below. The central aims of my term on the School Committee would be to:

    • Keep School Committee discussions open and full accountable to the public.
    • Attract and retain a talented and diverse teaching staff that reflects our city.
    • Strengthen our middle school programs.
    • Help forge a new understanding of the central role that schools play in our community not just for the roughly 12% of households who have children in the system, but for the entire city. Strong schools build strong communities!

  2. Pupils in Somerville schools come from diverse linguistic, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds, and bring a range of learning styles to the classroom. What can the City do to provide every child with access to a high quality public education, and what will you do as a School Committee member to further that vision?

    The City plays a central role in assuring that ALL children have access to high quality public education. Of course, much of that role stems from its budgetary power, and as a School Committee member I will work to assure that our schools are adequately funded.

    Beyond budgetary power, however, the Schools and the City can work collaboratively to bring School concerns directly to Somerville's diverse communities. We can not simply announce meetings, expect people to attend, and then say well, we've reached out.

    Such a process tends only to reach families who are already plugged into the schools or have the time to attend meetings on school grounds. Rather, we must make a commitment to, whenever possible, reverse the process so that school officials and Committee members go directly into the community to learn from and ask questions of all residents of the city.

    Thankfully, Somerville enjoys a range of social and community networks that we can tap into in order to reach ALL city residents. As a School Committee member I will work to utilize these networks.

  3. How will you create a town-gown relationship with Tufts comparable to that of Cambridge and Boston with their universities?

    There are many possibilities for fruitful collaborations between Tufts and the Somerville Schools that would go a long way to reduce town-gown tensions. Such collaboration, of course, requires a commitment to partnership.

    Our schools MUST be willing to ask for specific programmatic assistance (they have not always been so willing) while working with Tufts to expand its commitment to Somerville and surrounding communities through the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Some of these partnerships are already in place, but there is MUCH more that could be done:

    • Partner with Tufts to bring undergraduates into the community to serve as college coaches to assist high school students apply for college.
    • Establish a tutoring program much like the Boston University Initiative for Literacy Development (BUILD), which uses Federal Work Study money to support undergraduate tutors in city schools.
    • Establish models of educational collaboration in Somerville Schools to facilitate educational research and the exploration of promising new curricula while expanding professional development opportunities for our teachers.
    • Draw upon the expertise of Tufts Dental faculty to bring high quality dental care to Somerville children (Tufts already has such a program with Boston Schools).
    • Creatively interact with Tufts to enhance its role as a purchaser of city goods and services and an employer of city residents.

    Finally, we can lobby Tufts to commit to admitting a certain number of Somerville High graduates each year, regardless of their financial status. Each year, Boston University, where I have worked for 11 years, reserves 50 full-tuition scholarships in its freshman class to graduates of Boston Public Schools. If BU can reserve 50 such scholarships, surely Tufts can offer at least 5.

  4. What will you do to stop the flight of young families away from Somerville public schools?

    First, we need to understand who is leaving and why. Most likely, some families leave because they have concerns about our schools while others leave because of the extremely high cost of housing. A one-sized fits all response will not adequately address these divergent concerns. At the very least, the School Department should:

    • Continue its recent efforts to highlight the strengths of the public schools.
    • Partner with the City to reach out to young families whose children are not school aged.
    • Work with Tufts and social service agencies to reach out to the community to support families who might otherwise be priced out of Somerville housing.
    • Celebrate and commit ourselves to socio-economic diversity. We can't just say we value diversity. We have to go out and do the necessary legwork to demonstrate our commitment to retaining the kind of socio-economic diversity that makes Somerville special.

  5. What specific steps will you take to improve the graduation rate of Somerville students?

    I would begin by gathering information. We need to know who is not graduating and why. As a member of the School Committee I want to make sure that we understand who leaves at each grade level and for what reasons. Our Guidance Department also has a crucial role to play.

    Somerville High School offers a range of programs to meet the diverse needs of its students. Such a variety helps keep kids in school, and I will work to strengthen and diversify our offerings. Moreover, we must understand that the very things that keep some kids in school (art, music, sports) are not enrichment programs that can be sacrificed for traditional academic classes. They are essential to the education of the whole child.

    But we can begin even earlier than high school. We can, for example:

    • Examine the educational paths of our non-graduates to detect patterns in our elementary schools. If we find such patterns, they can be addressed.
    • Work to assure that the School Committee follows through on its long-range goal of strengthening our middle school programs. Recent research indicates a high correlation between success in middle school programs (6-8) and high school graduation. We cannot ignore such research.
    • Identify and address early indications that a child has a high chance of becoming a high school dropout such as excessive elementary school absence and failure to complete homework assignments.

  6. What specific steps will you take to improve the post-graduate prospects of Somerville students?

    These steps begin before students graduate from Somerville High School. We can begin by assuring that our Guidance Department is adequately funded and supported so that ALL of our students are able to explore the full-range of higher education possibilities. We must also continue to support the career aspirations of our vocational graduates.

    More importantly, I am committed to the notion that education for the 21st century demands that students become independent learners, critical thinkers, and adept problem solvers. Most will have several different careers over the course of their working lives; to succeed in this world they will need help developing the intellectual flexibility and curiosity that our knowledge-based economy demands.

    Unlike an MCAS score, critical thinking cannot be plotted on a graph. As an educator myself, I will bring my experience with curriculum and higher education to make sure that our students are prepared for the complexities of living and working in a world that is more dynamic and diverse than our current battery of tests might suggest.

  7. What specific steps would you take to reduce the waiting list for adult literacy and ESL classes?

    Any waiting for adult literacy and ESL classes is too long, although sadly most communities have them. Here in Somerville, waiting lists can extend as far as 12-18 months. To address these concerns we must be willing to:

    • Explore partnerships with ESL programs in other communities
    • Find creative funding support for SCALE and social service agencies
    • Examine and, where possible, replicate strategies adopted by other cities to reduce waiting lists.

  8. What specific steps will you take to promote pay equity in Somerville? (see http://www.mass.gov/women/payequity/payequity.htm#legislation)

    I am absolutely committed to pay equity in Somerville. And not just in Somerville. At Boston University I served on the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council, which supported a study of pay equity across and within academic disciplines. As a School Committee member I would work to assure that any information regarding pay inequity be brought to public attention.

  9. What else should we know about your candidacy?

    If elected, I will be the only member of the School Committee with a background in higher education. I know what it is like to stand in front of a room of students and teach day in and day out. I look forward to bringing this important perspective to the Committee.

    I also see myself as a bridge builder between communities in Somerville. In the course of my advocacy work on behalf of Somerville school children, I have built friendships and relationships of trust with people from across Somerville : long-time residents, newcomers, teachers, educational leaders, and political figures. Whenever possible, I have focused on the ideas and solutions that unite rather than divide. I believe the ideas outlined in the above responses and my commitment to reaching out to the entire City of Somerville will provide some of the necessary groundwork for a city that unites behind its schools.