Last week, our community was jarred with the sudden resignation of our school superintendent who made clear that he was doing so because of a dysfunctional school committee. At the time, two committee members were up for re-election and were running unopposed. With two young children of my own and a desire to see them thrive in the strong public school system for which Marblehead is known, I decided to pull papers to be included in the upcoming election.
By Monday at 5pm, I and two other candidates had obtained the necessary signatures to be included on the ballot for school committee. In the days that followed, I spoke at length with both Meredith Tedford and Jennifer Williams to discuss our reasons for running and compare our vision for the future of our schools. I was struck by the roads each has traveled to get to this point, their thoughts on the current standing of our school committee and their ideas for moving us forward toward a more collaborative and productive school committee.
However, with only two seats up for re-election, I fear that three ‘outside’ candidates will end up splitting (and diluting) the votes of those in favor of change. I would hate for the end result of our collective campaigns to be three more years of more of the same. It is with that in mind that I respectfully rescind my paperwork and end my campaign for school committee. I wholeheartedly support both Meredith and Jennifer and hope that the community can galvanize around their campaigns to right the ship that is our school system.
Thank you to all those who heeded my call to action in that first weekend with voices of support and offers to volunteer their time to make a change in our schools. I feel fortunate to live in a town in which such a strong community spirit exists.
Sincerely,
Eyal Oren aka ‘Wednesdays in Marblehead’