NORTHAMPTON — A routine candidate forum this week featuring the two candidates who want to represent Ward 2 on the School Committee ended with a last-minute bang.
During the final forum of this election cycle on Tuesday night at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, and in the very last minutes of it, challenger Angela Wack said that the mayor, school committee and other school representatives should apologize to the families and students who have had their individualized educational plans (IEP) services compromised in the schools.
The comment angered incumbent Anat Weisenfreund.
“To blame the School Committee for the IEP failures is rich,” she said, drawing a few claps. “We have been the most outspoken advocates on the School Committee, and we have … begged the mayor to fix it.”
During her answer, Weisenfreund shared an interaction she had with the superintendent and mayor as she was joining the committee.
“I was told by the superintendent that I shouldn’t take those parents so seriously because they’re just a tiny fraction of parents in this community, and they’re being egged on by NASE (Northampton Association of School Employees), and it’s not true, and some of those kids don’t even belong in our district,” said Weisenfreund. “And the mayor sat there. “
Weisenfreund said she asked the superintendent where these students should go. “That’s when I knew what was going on in the city,” she said, concluding, “With all due respect, do not blame the School Committee for these failures. These are failures of funding by the mayor and a distortion of fact.”
Before the night began, attendees were instructed to only applaud at the end of each forum. But that was momentarily disregarded after Weisenfreund made this comment, when a brief and somewhat toned down applause came together from a fraction of the 50 or so people in attendance.
Wack did not respond to these comments or acknowledge them in her closing argument that took place moments later.
Originally a fifth grade teacher in Gainesville, Florida, Wack moved to Northampton three years ago. She became board president of one of the largest elementary schools in Gainesville, and is now on the Northampton High School school council. She also has two kids currently in Northampton public schools.
The challenges she sees for the city schools include turnover rates among administrators, including four superintendents in five years and several principals. Wack also advocates for more up-to-date learning techniques and training for teachers to administer science- and evidence-based teaching methods — points she brought up many times during the forum.
Weisenfreund spoke about her extensive experience with families and children and also with budgets. During a 16-year stint as Head Start director for Community Action Pioneer Valley, she oversaw a $12 million budget.
The first question of the night was how to address the shortcomings of services for students with IEPs.
Weisenfreund said that a lack of funding and a lack of communication and trust between school personnel and families are contributing to the shortcomings.
“We don’t have enough funding to reliably provide all the services that we are required by law to provide to students with disabilities,” she said. Shortly after she added that, “I think that the Northampton Public Schools really do not have an intentional family engagement policy.”
Wack sees the issue tied to retention of staff, using the example that there have been three principals in three years at John F. Kennedy Middle School. She also cited a lack of funding, and again mentioned the need to invest in science-based curriculums.
Then the conversation turned to funding.
Wack said the schools have been “chronically” underfunded at both the federal and state levels. She said only 18% of the entire budget is covered by the state, which is a “huge issue.”
“Education in the United States has been chronically underfunded from the beginning,” she said. She said initially the federal government was supposed to cover 40% of education costs, but that number has never risen above 18%. She said the state’s Chapter 70 money has not gone up to keep up with inflation.
Wack praised the way Northampton has been able to make ends meet.
“It is amazing to me that our city has been able to fund the schools like they have,” she said, adding that she would advocate for more money from the city should she get elected.
But Weisenfreund does not think a root problem is a lack of funding from other sources. Calling Northampton a “relatively wealthy city,” she takes issue with the fact that Northampton schools spend $8,000 less per student than Amherst does.
Candidates were asked what qualities they want to see in a new superintendent, with Bonner leaving at the end of this school year.
Weisenfreund said the situation is complicated, especially with the mayor serving as chair of the School Committee and the superintendent’s boss. She said there needs to be somebody who is able to navigate and “maybe even go head-to-head” with the mayor.
Wack said a new superintendent should bring new ideas, innovation, and be someone who is willing to stay long term.
NASE, the school union, won praise from the two candidates.
Wack said NASE is “vitally important” and helps provide stability, garner raises for staff, and advocates on their behalf. Weisenfreund, who is endorsed by NASE, called for teachers to be respected. She said that salaries are not a reward, they are a wage.
One question also concerned the threat of book bans.
Weisenfreund said she supports the honest teaching of history, and believes the country is currently living under a fascist government.
Wack experienced book banks firsthand while in Florida. She said that’s partly why she left the conservative state, noting that she would not accept federal curriculums under the present federal administration.