Education

As a proud graduate of Angier Elementary, Brown Middle School, and Newton South High School, I'm committed to making sure we continue to have strong public schools in Newton. They are a big part of what makes Newton what it is today. Our schools are only as good as our educator talent, and I have been proud to support our community partners in the Newton Teachers Association union.

In Newton, education policy is controlled by the School Committee and Superintendent, and overall funding allocations are set by the Mayor alone, but the City Council plays an indirect supporting role in certain areas, primarily around school facilities (and financial decisions on facilities). I have called for increasing the annual allocation to NPS to add staff and programming and to support a fair contract for our educators, while also appropriately balancing that allocation increase without cannibalizing other essential city services like roads funding. We can make other changes elsewhere in our financial strategy to make this work.

Maintaining strong public schools means well-funded programs, staff, facilities, and more. We need to continue renovations and replacements of school buildings that have suffered from years of deferred maintenance, as well as properly supporting the maintenance of our athletic fields, and the City Council has a big say in these facilities and infrastructure improvements. As a member of the Finance Committee of the City Council, I have been a vocal advocate for making these long-term investments now to ensure Newton remains appealing to families, which in turn secures our city’s long-term fiscal health.