LETTER: O'Neill Has Earned His Vote To Shawsheen School Board

To the Voters of Tewksbury:

You have an important decision to make this election year regarding the future of education in Tewksbury.  The Town of Tewksbury has had an agreement for many years with the Shawsheen Valley Regional Technical Vocational School District (“Shawsheen Tech”), to educate our children who are seeking to learn a trade.  While technological advances have caused the types of trades that are in demand to change, the basic underlying agreement between the Town of Tewksbury and Shawsheen Tech has not.  The mission should be the same - to educate our children who are seeking to learn a trade.

There is no question that Shawsheen Tech provides a first-rate education to those students who need an experiential, “hands on” type of learning environment. Of my eight siblings, four of them attended the High School and four of them attended Shawsheen Tech. 

With the advent of MCAS, however, Shawsheen Tech has changed its admissions policies and now actively recruits college-bound students.  The result being that there are not enough seats for many of our students who truly need the “hands on” education that Shawsheen Tech provides.  As a former Tewksbury School Committee member for 15 years, I would often receive phone calls from distraught parents whose child was not admitted into Shawsheen Tech.  These were students who had difficulty in a traditional classroom but who could excel in a “hands on” learning environment. 

This election is not about the personalities of the candidates.  They are both well-educated, experienced, and committed to education.  I consider them both to be friends (which I hope remains the case after this is published.)  But the truth of the matter is that only Rick O’Neill has the commitment to the founding principles of our agreement with Shawsheen Tech.  That is to provide technical and vocational training to our students who truly need an experiential, “hands on” learning environment.  This is why I am voting for Rick O’Neill for the Shawsheen Tech School Committee and I urge you to do the same.  Thank you.

Scott J. Consaul, Esquire