Framingham Teachers Union Questions Pick for Assistant Superintendent

Tuesday, Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott announced his finalist for assistant superintendent to replace Mark Price, who left the public school district after one year.

Scott said his pick was Building Excellent Schools COO Matthew Brunell.

Tuesday night, Sarah McKeon, one of the co-presidents of the Framingham Teachers Association questioned Scott’s choice.

“We do not know the exact purpose for bringing in someone mid-year at such a large salary, especially given that the money could be better spent on schools and programs that need it. Shouldn’t this money be directed to where it is most needed, if we are making decisions in the best interest of our kids?,” said McKeon.

“The appointment of Mr. Brunell, while he might be qualified, is very concerning,” said McKeon.

The hiring of an assistant superintendent requires a vote by the Framingham School Committee. The Committee took no vote last night.

Prince was paid more than $125,000 as Assistant Superintendent. He stayed for about one year of a 3-year contract.

Editor’s note: when McKeon was speaking before the School Committee Tuesday night, many at home viewers could not hear her, due to technical reasons with the cable feed. For that reason, she submitted her full text to Framingham Patch, upon request. It is posted below.

**********************************************************************

Love Framingham Patch? Sign up for our daily newsletter, by clicking here.

**********************************************************************

FTA co-president statement:

I am here for 2 reasons tonight: First, I would like to publicly thank members of the school committee and our FTA eboard for their attendance at our joint meeting on December 17. We spent nearly 3 ½ hours discussing concerns and asking questions in a forum that was mutually respectful and collaborative, and I thank you.

Second, one of our biggest concerns shared at the meeting is how the district spends its money, and furthermore, how it is decided that the money will be spent. We, as an association and as educational professionals, have been told repeatedly how decisions are made in the best interests of our students, and we have had to swallow some hard lumps when we have disagreed with some of those decisions.

However, we cannot and will not remain silent on issues that are important to us.

Today’s issue of the Framingham Patch featured an article about our potential new assistant superintendent, Mr. Matthew Brunell. We do not know the exact purpose for bringing in someone mid-year at such a large salary, especially given that the money could be better spent on schools and programs that need it. Shouldn’t this money be directed to where it is most needed, if we are making decisions in the best interest of our kids?

The appointment of Mr. Brunell, while he might be qualified, is very concerning. He is, and I quote, “the COO of Building Excellent Schools, which supports entrepreneurs to design, found, lead and sustain excellent charter schools in underserved communities nationwide.”

Entrepreneurs are not educators. Charter schools are not the same as traditional public schools. Furthermore, when you research the Building Excellent Schools group, you will see that it is very closely connected to Teach For America. For those of you who are unaware, Teach For America is a program that takes mostly business undergrads, gives them less than a year of education and so called training, and then sends them into our neediest underperforming schools, often replacing veteran, experienced teachers who have been removed from their positions. However, these so-called entrepreneurs rarely remain in their positions after the required 2 years; most often, these people leave their classrooms after 2 years with a nice new entry on their resume as they attempt to move up the corporate ladder. So much for consistency and dedication to our neediest schools and students.

A second part of this is the connection to charter schools. If you have paid any attention to the news media recently, you will know that there have been ongoing concerns regarding charter schools, in terms of money management, schools operating as businesses, decision-making, how students enter into and remain in these schools, and student performance.

In addition, this speaks to our concern that our district is turning into a business. We are not an assembly line of car parts or plastic products. We are educational professionals with years of experience and dedication, and we work with young learners. I for one am tired of hearing school described in business terms, and I definitely sick of hearing business people tell me how to do my job. Is this where our district is headed? Are our public schools going to be yanked out from under us and replaced with charter schools, like in New Orleans? Are our lower performing schools going to be taken over and their staffs replaced with Teach For America graduates, who on average get less than a year of training and leave the profession within a few years?

There is already a relationship between Mr. Brunell’s group and Teach For America; is it really that far out of the realm of possibilities?

Dr. Scott, you were quoted as saying, “I look forward to working with Matt and his systemic approach to organizations and his different experiences in addressing educational leadership and management challenges.”

This statement does not address what experience Mr. Brunell has had with teachers and other educational professionals. If his experience has been primarily at the leadership level, then I worry that he will not identify with teachers and other educational employees, and furthermore, coming from a charter school company, that he will not understand the realm of public schools. Public schools and charter schools run very differently, and will he truly understand those nuances? Mind you, part of those nuances is working with a union.

I respectfully request that school committee members carefully consider all of this and find a better way to use this money. Our district has serious needs that are not solved by adding yet another=administrator. And frankly, we don’t need to build any excellent schools; we already have them and they deserve our support. NOW.

Thank you for your time.