David M. Ela Jr. announces his candidacy for School Committee, the following is his statement:
Providing educational programs to our students today is a complex issue. My name is David M. Ela Jr. and am I announcing my candidacy for re-election to the Everett School Committee representing Ward IV. In my years as an elected member of the Everett School Committee, I have seen various changes, which have allowed our students more opportunities to succeed when they graduate from the Everett Public Schools. My goal is to continue working for Everett’s students to assure adequate school funding, to continue to advocate for our students receiving Special Education Services, and to support legislative changes to improve educational programs.
My wife, Nancy, and I live at 19 Henry Street and we believe that providing children with a quality education is important. All three of our children attended and graduated from the Everett Public Schools. Additionally, they all graduated from college, two from Boston University and one from The College of the Holy Cross. I graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy and from Framingham State University with a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration. I am employed by Winchester Hospital as the Supervisor of Inpatient Rehabilitation Services. My wife, Nancy, is a Registered Nurse at Cambridge Health Alliance Everett Hospital. Two of our four grandchildren have already started their educational journey.
As a member of the School Committee, I serve on the following subcommittees: Finance, Contract Negotiations, Legal and Cafeteria. This year I was elected by my colleagues to be Vice Chairman of the school committee. I am one of the two school committee representatives to the Everett School Finance Review Commission. Since 2007, I have been Everett’s appointed representative to Shore Educational Collaborative and have been Chairman of the Board of Directors for the past seven years. In 2004 and 2005, I served as Chairman of the Everett School Committee. Since 2002, I have served as Everett’s Delegate to Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and in 2007, I was honored to receive the All State School Committee Award.
Funding for Education in Massachusetts is at a crossroads. The Foundation Budget Formula is undergoing legislative change focused on amending the formula to improve funding for Economically Disadvantaged students, Special Education, and employee health insurance. The State Senate recently passed the Student Opportunity Act and this bill addresses comprehensive changes in the Foundation Budget formula with proposed changes scheduled to start in Fiscal Year 2021. I would like to thank Senator DiDomenico for his perseverance and support of this bill. This bill requires further approval by the State House of Representatives and Governor Baker. I know that Representative McGonagle is supportive of changes to funding education and I will request his support of this bill.
Special Education services funding, both in and out of district, is based on the number of students enrolled in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Providing services to these students can have a detrimental effect to other programs throughout the district due to the amount of needed funding. We need to continue our Pre-School program for 3 and 4 year old children and focus on literacy, while also providing the therapeutic services these students may need. We also need to continue providing Social and Emotional Learning Programs to provide a safe environment for our students so they can learn and succeed.
As a member of the School Finance Commission, my colleague Frank Parker and
I have been able to express our ideas about the school department budget with Mayor DeMaria, members of his administrative team, members of the City Council and School Department Administrators. We understand that municipal revenue changes will affect future budgets and how resources are allocated. My knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Budget Formula will be an asset in developing these future budgets.
The Everett School Committee has a goal to have a new Superintendent of Schools hired by the end of this year. I am honored to be a member of the Superintendent Search Committee and I want to be able to work with our next Superintendent of Schools to explore innovative changes to enhance our current programs and develop new programs and opportunities for our students.
I ask you for your continued consideration and support on Election Day, Tuesday November 5,2019. Please consider, David M. Ela Jr., for School Committee Ward IV. If you have any questions or would like to assist me, please contact me by phone at (617) 921-0456 or by email at [email protected].