Does the L-S School Committee Have a Plan B for L-S?

After having voted for nearly every override in town, I am extremely disappointed at the continued failure of our political leadership to get the town and schools funded correctly. Funding correctly does not necessarily mean passing overrides every year. It means we have a long term, sustainable plan to have the BEST schools in New England. Unfortunately, we don’t have a plan that is working as evident by the continuous failed overrides and the slow decline in services  in our schools.

L-S School Committee, Selectmen and Sudbury Public School Committee – do you have a plan B? If not, here is mine:

• First, stop with the spin.  Attributing the L-S override to special education did not ring true with many people. Daniel DePompei’s editorial in the Town Crier “Are we paying twice” (http://www.wickedlocal.com/sudbury/news/opinions/letters/x31865401/Letter-Are-we-paying-twice#axzz1PAInxBza) nicely summarized the fallacy of the override blame being placed on special education. FINCOM commented that "While the significant growth in Special Education costs would certainly qualify a major change, the reality is that there are other factors, namely healthcare, that are helping to drive the increased funding requirements in the LS budget..."  Shoot straight with the voters and the results will be better.
• Return Selectman Haarde as L-S Liaison. He voted at town meeting against the L-S override. If you can convince him the next time that an override is needed, his vote for an override will mean a lot more with the fiscally conservative voters in town than Selectman O’Brien’s vote who recently took the liaison role from Haarde.
• The L-S School Committee should enact a code of ethics that bars committee members or their children from accepting scholarship money from not only the L-S Teachers Association, but any of the various scholarship entities as L-S.  The school committee members need to avoid all potential conflicts of interest and the resulting fallout that can occur, weakening support for L-S.
• Ask the L-S Teachers Association to reconsider their raises now that the override has failed. They certainly don’t have to, but if forgoing a raise keeps all their members employed and class sizes at an acceptable level, that could be an admirable step to take despite the voter’s reluctance to support the override. 
• The SPS and Lincoln-School Committee should enact a code of conduct that keeps their boards apolitical especially during elections. When I proposed this to an SPS member, I was told “We get to have a say in who we work with.” That is exactly the wrong attitude. The SPS Committee and L-S School Committees should represent a coalition of the town’s voters. A coalition will drive the needed compromises required to support the schools.
• Enough with the special elections. Special elections cost too much and we want the same fiscally conservative voters who show up in droves for the override elections to also vote on selectmen and school committees. This will force the elected members to pay more attention to all the voters, not just those who show up at town meeting.
• Restructure the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional Agreement – Lincoln pays in 15% of the LS budget. Give them 15% of the committee, or one seat. Not two, and certainly keep them out of the election for all seats. Their 800 block votes decide nearly every election. On a per voter or per household basis, Lincoln pays less than Sudbury for L-S, yet their votes are worth the same. Fix the agreement to either align Lincoln’s 15% payment with their committee representation or have Lincoln increase their financial contribution to match to their voting rights.
• Lincoln won’t voluntarily renegotiate the LS agreement, so stop voting for the chosen L-S School Committee Candidates from Lincoln or their Sudbury surrogates. The only way to accomplish a new agreement will be if Lincoln loses all representation on the L-S committee. This is a draconian step, but I see no other solution. Next year, a Lincoln candidate is up for re-election as is a Sudbury candidate. The Sudbury candidate actually lost Sudbury in 2009 but won due to the Lincoln voting block. Nominate, back, and support Sudbury candidates which should force Lincoln’s hand to restructure the agreement.
• With a new agreement, we could implement recommendations of the BRTF and form a K-12 system. If you take the revenue that Lincoln pays in each year to L-S and subtract out the waste it creates in Sudbury from having two school districts and two administrations, the contribution from Lincoln is even smaller.  
• Town meeting doesn’t work. At Town Meeting, my estimate was that nearly 95% of the hall voted this year for all three overrides. This was clearly not representative of town opinion. We should explore a representative town meeting form of government.
• Look at recent collective bargaining law changes in Massachusetts to get all our town employees onto the GIC to lower our health insurance costs.
• Finally, union contracts are up for negotiation next year. Somehow we have to arrive at a solution that fits within the town’s budget, provides competitive wages for top talent and requires overrides only under unusual circumstances or to dramatically increase capabilities. This may require revisiting many of the tenants of how we run and organize the schools.

That’s my plan B. I realize many of these ideas would be difficult to implement. But we need a plan beyond just pushing another override next year and hoping it will pass.  

What is your plan B?