Arlington, a nearby Town with a fine school system, has 38 Latino staffers in a school system with a subpopulation of 365 Latino students.  Watertown has one Latino staffer in a system with 392 Latino students.   What progressive young teacher prospect - of any background - wouldn't be concerned by those numbers?

Craig Hardimon is the personnel person for the Watertown schools and he has a tough job.* He serves a beautiful community with a general population that is very progressive in state and national politics.  Watertown is next to Boston and Cambridge.  It has great restaurants and is close to theaters and recreational attractions.  It should be attractive to the best available teachers.  However, historically, the people who participate in town politics tend to be more conservative or timid.   The peculiar dichotomy has been apparent in political events over the years.   The first vote on the Community Preservation Act failed with a low local voter turnout, but then passed overwhelmingly with an additional 14,000 turnout in a Presidential cycle.   On issues like diversity hiring, METCO, Watertown Housing inclusion, and even local traffic citations, there have been odd patterns over a few generations.   Some of that really goes to the old demographics of the town.   Watertown was ethnically, but not racially, diverse.  However, Watertown has changed.  That change is apparent in our school population.  The schools in Watertown are the intersection of an old culture and a new one.

Mr. Hardimon did an admirable job in attracting an outstanding pool of candidates for the vacant Superintendent's position in 2017.   Indeed, two of the prominent stars of Massachusetts education applied.

 Dr. Yvonne Spicer, who as Vice President at the Museum of Science spearheaded a National Technology Literacy initiative, had the kind of STEM education background that addressed the perplexing struggle of Watertown to improve its performance.

Dr. Laurenco Garcia is the national award winning principal of Revere High School which has out-performed Watertown in key areas of need.  

Neither was invited to the public interviews.    So Watertown did not even get the benefit of their insights.   However, the sensitive issue really involves the historic embarrassment of a staff profile that is so different from the student population that it raises cultural, language, and symbolic issues.

The issues are not candidly acknowledged in public.   That failure is a less than subtle indication that Watertown isn't truly ready to commit to the kind of dynamic leadership needed to shatter a different kind of ceiling.  Until dramatic action is taken at the top, Mr. Hardiman's challenge will continue to be immense.

And to put it bluntly - the numbers are simply unacceptable.   When Arlington has a 9:1 Latino student:staff ratio and Watertown's is 392:1, there's no polite way to put it.   The tragic consequences extend beyond the kids who need role models, advisors, and translators in their schools.   Every kid is deprived of a richer cultural experience that helps to prepare them for life beyond the Town borders.    We need to introduce all our kids to a more diverse set of relationships and perspectives.   We can only do that by acknowledging the problem.

*Mr. Hardimon recently announced his resignation from the Watertown schools.