The Education Reform Act (1993) significantly changed the role of school committees. School committees are responsible for establishing educational goals and policies consistent with state law and standards, the budget and employing the superintendent. In discharging these responsibilities, the committee serves as a fiduciary to our community and our students. We must ensure that the educational process serves the best interests of students.

Curriculum decisions rest primarily with school administrators. The committee, in its policy making role, has oversight responsibilities. Courts have consistently held that the right to determine curriculum rests with management. Teachers do not have a First Amendment right to deviate from the curriculum and to invite speakers into their classrooms without any oversight including relevance to curriculum. Neither policy nor curriculum decisions are mandatory or appropriate subjects for bargaining. The committee and the superintendent forsake their responsibilities by bargaining these matters.

In Andover, policy and curriculum decisions are the product of collaboration and input from teachers, students, parents and community members. The threat of litigation by a union against its own members for participating in the collegial process of determining policy and curriculum creates a chilling environment that inhibits the academic freedom of teachers. It also thwarts needed change and progress...