News
Don’t let the Garden City wither – a call to protect Newton’s schools
Fig City News Letter to the Editor - Published April 16, 2025
On April 2nd, the School Committee correctly approved Superintendent Nolin’s recommended Level Service Plus budget proposal – a compromise plan to maintain our schools’ quality amid rising costs. Mayor Fuller’s current allocation of $293 million, however, falls up to $4.5 million short of this bare minimum budget. It is imperative that the Mayor close this funding gap with support and encouragement from Newton stakeholders, including the City Council.
When we look at recent per pupil expenditures, Newton lags neighbors like Watertown, Wellesley, Dedham, and Brookline. Historically, Newton has refused to settle for mediocrity, and now is no time to start.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Newton must strategically leverage part of the Education Stabilization Fund and a portion of its Free Cash reserves to bridge the existing budget gap. These are not long-term solutions, but they are needed now. They would provide critical temporary breathing room for a new School Committee to rethink and address the structural budget challenges.
Longer term, Newton needs innovation and a new legislative and community engagement approach to fund our schools sustainably. Partnerships with Newton businesses might help generate supplemental revenue. Advocacy for Chapter 70 funding formula modifications to reflect NPS’s significant commitment to Special Education are warranted. Deep engagement with all Newton stakeholders – including seniors and families without children in NPS – will also be essential if a Proposition 2 ½ override becomes necessary.
Education is about investing in Newton’s future. Fully funding the 2025-2026 budget allows NPS to focus on progress – not just survival. Without it, we risk forcing our schools into a cycle of cuts that will weaken the system for years to come. Now is the time for leadership that will ensure our schools have the resources to preserve and protect NPS’s reputation as a premier district we all can be proud of.
Victor Lee Enters Race for Ward 8 School Committee Seat
Lee was raised in Newton and moved away until about a ten years ago when his first daughter was born and he and his wife decided Newton was where they wanted to raise their family. They now have two daughters, and Lee is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a superintendent fellow with the Arlington Public Schools administration.
“I think Arlington does a really good job, quite honestly—their superintendent, their School Committee and the unions,” Lee said. “And watching what’s happened here over the last few years—the strike, the COVID operations—there’s just an opportunity to do things a little better.”
Incidentally, Ward 3 School Committee member Anping Shen, who’s prohibited from running again because of term limits, is currently the only one on the committee with a PhD in an education-related field.
Lee would bring more than a degree to the committee, though. He’s worked for the past 10 years at HMH, a K-12 educational technology company that helps shape and modernize curriculum.
“So I kind of know what makes for a really effective curriculum, what makes for a good assessment, what makes for good professional development,” Lee said. “Those are things that I’ve worked on, and I think Newton needs a refresh of the curriculum. There hasn’t been a real extensive review in decades, I think.”
Lee, who has an MBA from Wharton School of Economics, wants to focus on budget efficiencies because costs are rising and the NPS budget is in perpetual crisis.
“And I know the School Committee has some limitations in terms of what they can actually do,” he said. “I do like Mayor Fuller, I just think she’s wrong on this issue. We need to do ‘level services-plus,’ at a bare minimum.”
Does that mean Lee supports the idea of a Proposition 2 ½ tax levy override in the future to shore up the NPS budget for the coming years? Maybe. He’d like to try some cost-cutting and revenue-building ideas first before going to an override.
“I don’t think it’s necessary yet, but we need to prepare for that possibility and building a case for why people should agree to it,” he said. “I would never rule it out, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.”