School Board Debate Focuses on Test Scores

This year’s Cambridge school committee candidates held a debate last night at the Cambridge Senior Center during a forum held by the Cambridge Town Meeting Association.

Ten candidates, including five incumbents, are competing for six spots on the school committee in the upcoming November 6 election.

The debate focused on disappointing MCAS results, a battery of state mandated tests, and poor performance among students from lower-income families.

According to incumbent Joseph G. Grassi, 74 percent of tenth-graders failed the language arts or math section of the MCAS test.

“I am disappointed with the present situation,” said Grassi, who attended Cambridge public schools himself.

The school committee recently implemented an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) for each student, which involves cooperation between faculty and families.

“Teachers work with parents to develop academic goals for the student,” incumbent Nancy Walser said.

Some candidates stressed the idea that parents should be an integral part of the student’s life, while others called for more teacher support and involvement.

Incumbent Susana Segat pointed out that teachers are presently forced to deal with social issues beyond the realm of teaching.

“The classroom has become a safety net for social problems; for example, students come to school having not eaten,” Segat said.

Many candidates said that these social issues primarily pertaining to students of lower incomc families complicate the problem of low academic performance.

According to candidate Alan Price, Cambridge spends more than $17,000 per student and “we do not know why we get such mediocre results for so much money.”

Incumbent Fred Fantini concurred, saying, “We have the money; we just need to get our act together.”

Candidates also responded to questions from Cambridge residents ranging from restructuring the high school curriculum to implementing a new vocational education plan for career-oriented students.