But "incompetence in the senior ranks of teachers cannot be tolerated either," Fantini adds. Encouragement must go hand in hand with strict management, he says.

Glenn S. Koocher

Glenn S. Koocher '71 says there are only two main issues in this year's school board election for the Cambridge School Committee. The first centers around what Koocher calls "the fundamental differences" between Independent candidates and Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) candidates on the issue of how to dismiss teachers.

A veteran of the school committee since 1974, Koocher is endorsed by the CCA; while Independent candidates favor layoffs according to seniority alone, he says, the CCA is in favor of layoffs according to seniority "within specific areas of qualification."

Under the plan, younger, less experienced teachers (who are also often minorities) accrue seniority within their particular department or field of teaching and cannot, therefore, be bumped from their jobs by teachers who may be more senior, but teach in a different area.

The second issue, Koocher says, is that the school committee will have to fight for its budget and defend its programs in front of the city council now that it has lost "fiscal autonomy" because of Proposition 2 1/2.

In the light of cuts that will have to be made, the election for school committee becomes a matter of electing people who will be effective in arguing for programs, Koocher adds.

Roxanne C. Leary

Roxanne C. Leary considers the Cambridge School Committee's dispute with the Cambridge Teacher Association to be contractual matter: the school committee should honor the contract and dismiss teachers according to seniority alone.

If elected, Leary says, she would work to insert a clause into the new teacher's contract (due to be negotiated this coming spring) that would hold teachers accountable for their positions "so that the school committee would not be holding on to people strictly according to seniority."

Leary, who has taught in the Cambridge schools, worked for the Massachusetts Department of Education, and holds a law degree from Suffolk University, says it is too early to tell what additional cuts will have to be made because of Proposition 2 1/2 and whether efforts on the part of Cambridge to override the tax-cutting measure will be successful, but adds that the school committee will have to work with what resources it has.

Endorsing "the idea of neighborhood schools," Leary adds that many parents have told her they did not want their children riding buses if there were schools nearby. Dealing with busing, thought, Leary admits, is a sticky problem from a legal standpoint since the city is using it as part of a voluntary desegregation plan.

Maryann McEachern

Maryann McEachern has based her campaign on seven points. First and foremost, she is in favor of "maintaining the diversity of the schools and programs." At the same time, she says, the school committee must consider consolidating administrative and clerical costs.

McEachern says she will push for the establishment of a committee of parents, teachers, and administrators for the express purpose of "collecting information, confirming it, and distributing it throughout the system," and adds the committee could be used to help improve the strained relations between teachers and the school committee.