Next Tuesday is Election Day, an opportunity for the voters of this city to choose what the direction the city will take for the next two years.
There are important votes to be made Tuesday – and the bulk of them concern the School Committee race.
If you are an Everett family with children in the public schools, you must ask yourself – are you comfortable with the type of high minded, high quality, experienced representation you are receiving or do you want to drop all that for a slate of people whose interest is largely political?
This is the question voters must ask themselves before casting their ballot for school committee next week.
In addition, you must ask yourself – does the composition of the school committee need to only change for change’s sake,?
The present school committee is composed of a wide variety of Everett people with lifelong interests here, who have themselves graduated from Everett High School, who hold multiple college degrees, whose children have graduated Everett High School and who have gone on to fine universities and to professional careers.
By comparison to other school committees in surrounding cities and towns, Everett’s committee shines.
The schools are perhaps the best working significant public effort ongoing day in and day out for the 6,000 public school students in this city.
While the vote itself on Tuesday is political, the votes of the school committee are not.
The present school committee led by its chairman Lester McLaughlin and Richard Baniewicz, Vice-chairman, brings to the city years of experience and show a genuine interest and care about the public schools.
In this same category are Alan Panarese, David Ela, Jr., Joseph Guiliano, Alexander Sandro Colarusso, Frank Parker, Robert Carreiro and Stephen Smith.
We contend that a perceived slate is being run against the membership of the school committee so that one member of the school committee can establish a political base to make a future run for mayor a possibility for him.
We endorse good government with a working and thoughtful public school system that delivers clout for the children and the taxpayers of this city.
The choice is simple as we see it.
Will you make the right choice?