Jim Murphy

Questions and Answers

Question 1: What prompted you to run for School Committee? Was your motivation to run for office prompted by an issue that has personal resonance for you or your neighborhood?

I’m in this race because the School Committee needs educators’ voices on it. I’ve considered it for years, but I’m running now because NPS needs transparency and committed leadership. Our staff needs to know that good faith and true respect – qualities that have been in short supply lately – characterize its relationship with the committee. Newton’s students need parents, staff, and the School Committee to work as a team. I have the knowledge and background to help create that kind of cooperation, decades of experience, and time to devote to the work. What I need is your vote.

Question 2: What is your understanding of the role of the School Committee in the operations of Newton Public Schools?

The formal answer is that school committees hire and evaluate superintendents, develop budgets, negotiate contracts, and set policy. The formal answer, however, is insufficient because it doesn’t speak to its community role or the need to be a staunch advocate for public education. In Newton, SC members must first tend to the school community to mend the relationships frayed by a rocky past five years. In terms of advocacy, measures like the Fair Share Amendment and the redefinition of Massachusetts’ graduation requirements should be part of a School Committee member’s efforts. A narrow managerial approach is no longer enough, if ever it was.

Question 3: How do you define educational excellence in the Newton Public Schools?

“Excellence” is often used without explanation, generally referring to being very good at something. It’s an end result, and we use grades and test scores to signify it. However, educational excellence is also about the means, and in this century, pursuing it should entail offering deeper learning experiences. Students should to be able to identify themselves with their work (“I’m a researcher” versus, “I’m writing a research paper”), and they should have opportunities for academic choice-making, which spurs the growth of critical and creative thinking. A concrete emphasis on NPS’s Portrait of a Learner is the place to begin.

Question 4: In tight budget years, how would you prioritize funding allocations with respect to class sizes; funding of music, arts and languages; breadth of programming at the high schools; student’s mental health; and competitive salaries for teachers and staff? What other budget priorities do you think are important?

The question implies we’re not in tight budget years. I disagree. NPS has a growing structural deficit that has eroded support for everything mentioned in the question. Were our backs put to the wall, I’d work to maintain class sizes and in-class supports, especially at the lower grades. I’d also push back on efforts to curtail the arts and humanities because they are as vital to individual and civic success as STEM subjects. However, the real answer is a School Committee that understands that committing to advocacy and rallying public support for Newton Public Schools is as important as managing its budgets, policies, and personnel.