Miriam Gennari, former Green Party candidates for the Arlington School Board, and active Arlington parent and advocate for sustainability and progress in Arlington Public Schools spoke at the School Board meeting on June 17, 2011:

I want to begin by thanking [School board member] Abby Raphael for attending last night’s concert to save the planetarium, granted she is running for reelection, but I was under the impression Arlington Public School’s Children’s Spanish Chorus and the planetarium had a few friends on the school board, I have no doubt that each of you will find time for the ribbon cutting when the renovations are complete.

Today I would like to grade you school board members on your own initiatives.

Mr. Landers: you talk about community partnerships, long term vision and energizing parents. Well James, you have exhausted me and many others here today. Thousands of women and man hours have gone into educating this board about the importance of environmental literacy as it relates to motivating our children and still you remain on page one of the text. Your grade, T-talk.

Ms. Garvey: you talk about a sustainable economy, employment, energy efficiency and preparing our children to thrive in the global 21st century, yet you have spent your time on this board squandering our schools most valuable resource, parent volunteers. As you move on to higher office, your grade is “I” -incomplete.

Ms. Sanchez: you want to make our schools student centered, the way to do that is not by building that look like government offices, but by teaching the fundamental values of stewardship and resource management. We can’t even build an outdoor classroom teachers can use to teach hands on learning of the SOL’s because this board has blown the budget on theatre equipment and remote controlled sunroofs. Your grade is “W” for waste.

And Ms. Baird: we sparred on the campaign trail over recycling and conservation. You spoke vividly about raising minority achievement, health wellness and building cultural competence. And yet your own administration contacted us to find out what sustainability means. Have you not even done a google search on what experts are saying about how to achieve your goals? Your grade is “P” -politics.

Abby Raphael: you need to decide, it is pass or fail. Are you going to make sure that Sustainability, Stewardship, Environmental Literacy find their way into Arlington Public Schools Values or will you too need a challenger to put words in you mouth. Tell these parents, because there are several very qualified citizens who are able to lead Arlington Public Schools in a direction that will raise achievement, bring value to the community and ensure a successful fulfilling future for our children. There is urgent work to do.

As John Grunsfeld of NASA told the children last night, at the concert most of you missed, “You must be prepared for the unexpected.”

Now, I have some homework for each of you. I will let you look up the sources, because if I printed it, I doubt you would read it. Good luck with the Strategic Plan. I have done everything I can, this is your opportunity to seize or neglect.