New School Committee, Mayor Set to Act in Jan.
By Josh Resnek
I have received information that at the first meeting of the new school committee in January, Superintendent Priya Tahiliani’s future here will be seriously compromised.
Of course, it is widely known in school department and political circles that the mayor wants Tahiliani gone. If all things are equal, he will have his way.
Some observers claim, and rightfully so, “It is the worst kept secret in the city.”
In fact, at that first meeting of the New Year, a source who wishes to remain unnamed informs us that Tahiliani’s position and her contractual right to hold on to it, will be questioned, and if the source is correct, will be acted upon.
“The new school committee members and the Mayor have been sharing that since they know Superintendent Tahiliani will not accept a buyout they plan to call for her firing under “Good Cause,” a source wrote the Leader Herald.
“At the first meeting of the New Year they plan to call for a vote to give her 30 days notice. Their plan is to use small items such as cleanliness (which has been dealt with for some time) as a means to fire her,” the source added.
If such a scenario takes place, it is the beginning of the end for Tahiliani.
The end of the beginning for Tahiliani began many months back.
The mayor’s difficulties with Tahiliani, has its roots in Tahiliani’s reluctance to act submissively and to do as she is told.
Tahiliani is assertive and bright. She is collaborative. She has an educational vision.
Tahiliani has chosen to rely on her judgment to do what she believes is right for the public school children of Everett.
Under her administration of the schools, the EPS have entered a new era which is called the 21st Century.
There is some resistance here to the outside coming inside.
Tahiliani is a quintessential outsider. She wasn’t educated here.
She didn’t grow up here. She doesn’t live here.
Is an outsider right for Everett?
The mayor doesn’t seem to think so.
School committee members under his control will tend to agree with him rather than to incur his wrath.
Tahiliani has never cared much about what the mayor thinks.
After all, he’s not an educator.
She’s never been disrespectful, other than to hold her own view when confronted by the mayor.
The mayor’s mantra is about control more than it is about educational modalities and the success of the public schools.
At his victory party recently after winning re-election, the mayor said he had raised a lot of money and that “I’m going to go after a lot of people.”
Tahiliani is one of those people.