Teachers Want Gene

The throng of teachers crowded into the meeting room as several would arrive at the podium to deliver a simple and clear message to the Brookline School Committee Thursday night: We want Gene.

That would be Gene Thompson-Grove, director of professional development and special initiatives, whose position is slated to be eliminated in the 2012 fiscal school budget. The cut would save the school district an estimated $62,000.

Current plans have Thompson-Grove staying on a part-time consultant basis, but the crowd was there to plead that the full-time position will be reinstated before the vote on the budget April 7.   

“This particular cut disproportionately effects teachers, and in some cases administrators, on a system-wide bases,” said Mary Angione, a science teacher. “I feel this budget decision will take us backwards in our progress towards a truly progressive, standout professional development program that is benefitting our students.”

Kathleen O’Connell, a teacher, mentioned her personal research finding that a common thread in successful foreign schools, such as in Singapore and Finland, is teaching development and collaboration. She lauded Thompson-Grove for fostering that at the school district. As an example, O’Connell cited the fact the teacher mentoring program use to be paid “lip service” but is presently an impactful program.

The praise continued with Jill Samuels, another Heath teacher, describing her as “one of the best things to happen to Brookline” while Julie Boss, a Devotion educator, saying the district “might be losing a vital part of what makes it tick.”

Educators from several schools sent letters to be read, including the , which letter was signed by 40 teachers and presented via Melissa London.

“Gene has the unique capacity to make a person feel as if helping him or her is the most important thing she could be doing at that moment despite the myriad projects she is managing,” said London.