Editorial: A teachable moment

Published on March 21, 2008

What started out as a tense rift between the Amherst Committee for Excellence and the school system is turning out to be a good dialogue.

ACE, a group of concerned parents and others who want a more rigorous curriculum for all students, came on the scene last year because its members felt that Amherst's students were not being pushed to their full potential in school. ACE drafted a letter outlining those concerns to school officials, and read it aloud at a School Committee meeting.

Since then, Superintendent Jere Hochman, Amherst Regional School Committee Chairwoman Elaine Brighty and Amherst School Committee Chairman Andrew Churchill have met with ACE members in an effort to allay their fears and explain what the system is doing to push students to achieve across the full spectrum of aptitudes and abilities. Among the programs that district officials highlighted are math and science fairs, geography bees, junior engineer competitions and world language contests.

Hochman acknowledges the district could do a better job of trumpeting its achievements. At the same time, though, this dialogue between ACE and the district will be truly valuable if it works both ways. School officials need the feedback from the community to determine if they are, in fact, meeting the needs of all students and motivating them to achieve academic excellence.

In an era when public schools are facing competition, it's important for the district to meet public expectations. If parents believe the district is slipping, Hochman and school officials may one day find themselves watching the enrollment ticker go off the charts at places like Deerfield Academy, the Bement School and Northfield Mount Hermon while the attendance in Amherst dwindles.

Catherine Sanderson, the co-founder of ACE who stepped down to run for School Committee, expressed pleasure with Hochman's response. Another ACE co-founder, Steve Rivkin, said that even if ACE doesn't agree with all of the system's methods for achieving academic excellence, members were still enthusiastic about the district's efforts.

What's most important about ACE coming forward to express itself and the district responding is that both groups began talking. The result, if the positive efforts continue, will be a better education for all students.

Further, the experience will serve as a model for the future when parents and other members of the community feel that issues need to be addressed by the school system. It's what some in the system would call a "teachable moment."