I have been a Northamptonite since 1983. My spouse has worked for the Northampton public schools since 1991. My three children completed their K-12 education here. I substitute taught in the district in the mid-’80s, was a member of the Northampton Education Foundation and the Leeds & JFK school councils. I also served on a city committee assembled to do long-term planning for the district.
Over the last six years, I have been a fifth-grade teacher for the district. I view the Northampton Public Schools as unique and to be of unusually high quality (given its size and the resources committed to its sustenance). We are by no means perfect, but by many informal and formal measurements, the district is successful in pursuing its missions. I also believe that, generally; students, teachers, administrators and the community at large are content and even proud of our schools. These sentiments are not unanimous, and they never will be, but a significant majority of stakeholders seem satisfied. I attribute a significant percentage of the success of our schools to a spirit of goodwill that exists amongst the district’s stakeholders. Having taught in five other area educational settings over the course of the last four decades, I can state that this goodwill is uncommon.
My main concern with the city’s negotiations with the Northampton school employees center around their impact on this goodwill. It’s a difficult variable to measure, but I believe it has a significant impact on the quality of our children’s education. I fear damage to this goodwill has already begun, and I predict we will experience measurable declines regardless of the outcome of negotiations. I urge all involved to keep this idea in mind as negotiations continue. Let’s seek resolution quickly, in as civil a way as possible, so we can repair damage already done, and get back to working together for the good of Northampton’s students and the community at large.
Putnam Goodwin-Boyd
Florence