McDaid for the schools news

Hi...

As you may have heard by now, the voters of Portsmouth have chosen a new school committee, with Republicans Cynthia Perrotti, Jonathan Harris, and Thomas Vadney the leaders, followed by Democrat Dave Croston (Full results: http://www.ri.gov/election/results/2010/general_election/portsmouth/). I congratulate them, and wish them well as they guide our schools through the challenges of the next four years. The time for politics is over; now, the focus can return to our schools, our kids, and their success.

To all of you who helped me in this campaign: thank you. I am honored by your trust, and I shall continue to do what I can to pay that forward. Portsmouth is our home, the work goes on, and tomorrow, we move forward from here.

I am deeply grateful for the support of so many people. Thank you, all.

Best,

-j

The following appeared in the Monday, Oct 25 Newport Daily News:

To the editor:
As a candidate for Portsmouth school committee, I am deeply concerned with school funding, and urge Aquidneck Island voters to consider local budget implications when evaluating candidates for the state legislature.

Last year, the state passed an education funding formula which will mean over $2M in cuts for Portsmouth, $207,000 a year, beginning in the 2012 budget.

I testified before the House Finance Committee last spring, opposing this formula as inherently unfair to all East Bay communities. My argument was that municipalities were being presented with contradictory laws: the funding formula, which explicitly states that Portsmouth has additional  taxing capacity available to increase our contribution to education, and the S3050 tax cap which prevents towns from complying with this mandate.

If elected, one of my priorities would be to go back to the legislature and seek resolution to this paradox. And that's why, in this session, having a delegation attuned to this issue is critical.

In the Senate, Chuck Levesque (11) has been a strong supporter of education, and recently said in the Daily News forum that the formula was "inherently unfair."

By a 57-43% margin, the voters of Portsmouth defeated the referendum question which would have restored $765K cut from the school budget by the Town Council. Turnout was strong, with 3,888 votes cast, and the proposal to restore the budget lost by substantial margins in every precinct. Obviously, this is a very disappointing result.

Portsmouth Patch has the full breakdown: http://portsmouth.patch.com/articles/referendum-fails-by-508-votes

I want to take this opportunity to thank Dave Croston and all the Save Our Schools volunteers who waved signs, carried petitions, honked horns, talked with neighbors, and, most important, kept telling the truth. We can hold our head high knowing that we did our best, and we took the high ground.

This was an amazing display of participatory democracy — the first referendum in Portsmouth history — and we should acknowledge and celebrate the work we all put in. I'm proud to have been part of this effort.

The voters of Portsmouth have spoken. Today, we begin to move forward from here.

On to November.

"Be just, and fear not." --Henry VIII, Act 3, scn 2

Dr. Christina Martin, recently retired principal of Hathaway Elementary school, announced her support  for John McDaid in the Portsmouth School Committee race. The ten-year veteran of Portsmouth's schools issued the following statement:

"John McDaid is a perfect candidate for the Portsmouth School Committee. He is truly schooled in the strengths and challenges of the school department, the sort of in-service training that all school committee members need to make informed decisions."

"During the last four years I have seen John's commitment to the education of his son, Jack, a student at Hathaway, and to all Portsmouth students."

"He is a proven communicator who has covered Portsmouth on his local news blog, where I've often read his coverage of school committee and town council meetings."

"John is a knowledgeable and committed participant in the process of leading our schools into the future. He was a participant in the Future Search workshop -- held at Hathaway -- which developed a strategic vision for the schools. As an appointed member of the facilities committee, he came to Hathaway with the engineers and we toured every corner of the building as they were developing their recommendations."

The drive to collect signatures in support of a school budget referendum crossed the finish line over the weekend, according to Save Our Schools organizer David Croston. As of Sunday night, volunteers had turned in sheets with nearly 1,800 names, a comfortable margin over the 1,290 required.

The signature sheets will be delivered to Town Hall where the Canvasser's Office will start checking the names. Assuming  enough registered voters are certified, a date for the budget referendum will be set, probably in mid-September.

Thanks to everyone who walked, and signed, and rallied. This was an amazing effort by everyone involved  to get this done in ten days, in the middle of the summer. Thanks to the citizens of Portsmouth for working together for our schools and our community.

I've had the chance to meet many of you over the last few days at the rally and the Sign and Drive events, and I thank you for everything you did -- signing the petition, holding banners, waving to drivers, honking your horn, and just being there. Now is the big push -- we have just until next Wednesday to collect the final 500 signatures on the budget referendum petition.

Please talk to your friends and neighbors and share your story -- let them know why you support the schools and urge them to sign. I've found it helpful, when talking with people to remind them that does not mean approving the budget, just giving all the people of the Town a chance to vote on it.

Volunteers will be at the PHS Sign and Drive tonight from 4-7pm

Tomorrow, there will be volunteers at the Transfer Station and Sandy Point Beach in the morning.

Keep an eye on http://sosportsmouth.blogspot.com/ for updates. Thanks for everything you do for our students.

The Portsmouth Town Council will be taking public input (finally!) tonight on the proposed 2011 budget, and its $1.2M cut to the school department. The meeting will be in the Portsmouth Middle School at 7pm, and you'll want to get there early. The folks from Save Our Schools will be outside with fliers, so please stop by and say hello.

Please remember the Town Council budget hearing is next Wednesday, July 14 at the Portsmouth Middle School.  This will be the opportunity for the community to provide their input on the proposed budget and its $1.2M cut in school funding. Hope to see you there.