To the editor:
I, Alvin Schmertzler, am pleased to enter the election for School Committee.
I have been a member for eight years, during which time we have chosen a new superintendent, Ms. McFall, and worked diligently to develop plans for restoring the school facility and bringing it up to 21st-century standards. We are still hoping to develop a plan that will gain the support of two-thirds of the Town Meeting and hopefully one that we are in a position to submit to the MSBA for financial support. To inform the town’s citizens of the variety of options that have been developed and to obtain their questions and ideas, we have increased and expanded outreach to the citizens. We hope it has been and continues to be helpful.
Working with the administration team, new education goals have been developed that will guide the schools toward continued progress in educating all out students to the best of their abilities. We are continuing our efforts to develop ideas and plans to close the achievement gap for underperforming students and we continue to enroll METCO students from the inner city. Working with the Department of Defense, a new middle school is under construction at the Hanscom campus and a plan for a new lower school is awaiting final approval.
I am asking for your vote so I may continue to work on these and other tasks as they arise.
Respectfully,
Alvin Schmertzler
142 Chestnut Circle, Lincoln
als1reg@verizon.net
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I read the letter of Jean Palmer, et al., regarding the proposed constitutional amendment to “to affirm, (1) that rights protected by the Constitution are the rights of humans only, not corporations, and (2) that Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and spending.” The first proposal would deprive corporations of the right to jury trial, indictment by grand jury, compensation for taking of property, free speech, protection against double jeopardy, unreasonable searches and seizures, equal protection of the law, and due process of law. This would affect not merely Exxon Corporation, but also the ACLU. All corporations, for-profit and non-profit, would become outlaws.
The second proposal would permit Congress and the states to effectively prohibit advertising and publications on political issues by limiting expenditures on those topics to zero, or to amounts so small as to make publicity ineffectual. In other words, limitations on political spending would repeal the First Amendment right of free speech on “political” topics (and what topics are not “political” today, given the vast scope of government?), for how can we exercise that right if we cannot join with others to spend money to support, oppose, or influence the policies of the government? Again, this would limit not only Exxon, but also the ACLU. Is that what the proponents of the amendments want?
Sincerely,
Michael R. Coppock
214 Aspen Circle