Why Patty Nolan #1

This page summarizes why you should vote # 1 for me, on the issues*. I have accomplished a lot, and am quite proud that I have had a positive impact in precisely the way and areas I had hoped. I recognize, and know firsthand now that I've served, how critical it is to work with other people. It is precisely because I have been able to work with other people that I can proudly assert that I have earned your # 1 vote.

* You can also vote for me not on issues, but because I'm really nice, my kids have helped design wonderful campaigning materials, I am a strong environmentalist, I live my values — or any other reason. I'll take # 1s from anywhere! I also acknowledge that I'm not perfect (to my children's chagrin, I am NOT Mary Poppins, who's practically perfect in every way.) But, I do understand my failings, and try to address them.

The one sentence summary:
I have been an independent voice and a force for positive change, working with people across the district focused on one goal: Cambridge as the best school district in the state.

I believe that since I am running for re-election, you deserve an answer to the question "What has Patty Nolan been able to accomplish?"
My work has centered on:

• Unwavering commitment to high standards, excellent management practices, intellectual honesty and analytically-based policy-making.
• A commitment to quality instruction, and to resources at work in our schools, where research shows it matters the most.

What difference have I made?
My leadership, encouragement of public participation, asking the right questions, hard work and a focus on high expectations define me and have made a real positive difference

A few examples (and why I should be re-elected):

1. Facing a multi-million dollar SURPLUS for the third year in a row, I publicly spoke about the surplus, and proposed giving our principals additional resources to help meet School Improvement goals.

   Result: Success. Working in collaboration with my colleagues, we allocated additional funds this year to schools — almost $1 million from the surplus.

   [NOTE: Half the surplus, $1.7 million, was put away for future use. Another $720,000 remained unspent and was returned to the city. Good for the city, unfortunate for our teachers and schools who were told there was no money for field trips, etc. and did without.]
   
   
2. During debate on our Kindergarten assignment policy the administration-recommended policy struck me as misguided. It reduced options for low income families, risked having too few seats for some kids and was developed with no public input. I worked diligently to review and synthesize the information related to this complex issue. That work confirmed we needed a better solution, so I worked collaboratively to develop one.

   Result: Success. Together we reversed a vote and passed an alternative policy that increased options for BOTH middle class and low income families.

   Our role as overseers of the district and the importance of my independent eye were keys to this better outcome.
   
   
3. A defining campaign issue for me last time was doing comprehensive market research.

   Result: Partial success. The project happened, and has yielded some solid data and valuable information.

   We commissioned a market research project. In focus groups and surveys, we sought answers to why people leave our district, why people don't try our schools, what parents in them (like me) think and what incoming Kindergarten parents perceive. For example, the results show clearly that: many people leave our district because of teaching to the test, classroom behavior and bullying and that uneven quality of teaching are concerns for many parents. I look forward to using the data we do have in future policy decisions. (see my website for a summary I wrote for the Chronicle.)
   
   
4. As former head of an environmental company, avid recycler, and consistent advocate for energy efficiency, I led the charge for greater environmental responsibility.

   Result of my initiatives: the School Committee passed a new environmental practices policy, has reviewed more energy efficiency options for both the War Memorial and CRLS renovation projects and looked at ways to reduce school bus emissions.

You can count on me to celebrate our achievements and improvements, and be honest about our shortcomings. You can count on me to seek out relevant data, assess it honestly, and share it openly. I have stood up for accountability, respect, transparency and excellence. I am acutely aware that if we don't acknowledge our problems, we lose credibility, and worse we won't address them effectively. If re-elected, I will continue to be a positive and constructive change agent.

Has all changed? NO. We still spend an astounding $22,732** per student, twice other Massachusetts districts of similar enrollment. Yet we are not (yet) considered the best district in the state in all areas. And, while I am proud of achieving the goal of conducting real market research, excluded from the survey were many families who never tried our schools (!). By leaving them out, we lost an opportunity to develop more effective recruitment plans.

**$22,732 is an apples-to-apples financial comparison figure from the DOE; we spend $25,000+/student if you include out of district tuitions and transportation costs.)

As your representative, I hold Cambridge to the highest standards, encourage community input, raise the bar on environmental responsibility and push for more resources in our classrooms. I believe that I have earned your continued support. Our district's on the move. Please help me keep it moving UP.

For more information, please see my brochure, an Acrobat file suitable for printing. (Get Acrobat Reader, free from Adobe.)