Superintendent Candidate Endorses Salem Mayor

SALEM, MA — Some Salem residents are using a Facebook group for Salem Public Schools parents to question a comment by one of four finalists for the superintendent's job during a public forum Tuesday. Erin McMahon, who is currently National Chief Academic Officer for the KIPP Foundation in New York City, appeared to endorse Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who also chairs the school committee that will ultimately decide which candidate to hire.

"My goal would be to (work) with the mayor — and let's keep electing her — to go through this change over time," McMahon said, according to Salem News coverage of the forum. "By Salem's 400th birthday, in six years, we'll get to meeting and exceeding expectations... And I'd like to carry that through."

The fourth and final forum, where residents can meet Brookline Public Schools Interim Superintendent Ben Lummis, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Saltonstall School Library

"Superintendent (Herb) Levine made the mistake of endorsing a candidate for Mayor. Not a wise action for a Superintendent," a group moderator posted on the Facebook group Salem Parents for Public Schools Superintendent said in reference to a former district superintendent. "Candidate McMahon apparently did the same thing last night. This (egregious) entry into local politics should disqualify her!!"