To the editor
I am writing to introduce myself as Candidate for the Wellesley School Committee. I encourage you to visit my campaign website www.electcave.com to see how you can volunteer to help.
I am running for School Committee as I believe that I can be of service to the Wellesley Public Schools based on my 57 years of experience in public, private and parochial education K-16. I hold a B.A. and three advanced degrees—one from Harvard. I have
taught or served as an administrator in some of the top schools in the Boston area.
As a 52-year Wellesley resident, I am intimately familiar with this community, its unique nature and its current needs.
I am familiar with the history of our public school system over the past 50+ years. I can apply this knowledge to addressing our present-day challenges.
I have taught hundreds of Wellesley public school students and understand their unique capabilities and their educational needs
I have spent my entire adult working life preparing for this role. I have been both a teacher and an administrator during this 57-year period. I can view and analyze issues from both perspectives.
I now have the time and focus to devote my full energy to the vital work of the Wellesley School Committee.
I have been a negotiator of collective bargaining agreements in the Medfield and Needham school districts. I have been a public relations coordinator for Wellesley High School in the 1970’s, and an advisor to the sophomore class during the same period at
Wellesley High School. I have studied the budgeting process and have assisted with building and advocating for a school budget.
Since leaving Wellesley in 1980, I have experienced firsthand the many different approaches to teaching and learning, school governance, and budgeting that remain current throughout the Commonwealth. As a teacher in Wellesley in the 1970’s, as a teacher and administrator elsewhere between 1980 and 2023, and more recently as a substitute teacher once more in the Wellesley Public Schools K-12 between 2023-2025 I gained valuable insight into the strengths of our public school system, as well as areas which can be improved.
As a School Committee member, I will support the continued excellence of our schools. I will ensure that our teaching staff—the backbone of our excellent system—has the resources needed to serve the needs of all our students to the best of their abilities. I will
meet decisively the many challenges that will face us in the coming years. These are: declining enrollment, reduced funding, and increased state and federal mandates. We also face resurgence in private school options at all levels K-12. Religious affiliated and non-sectarian private schools are building attractive new campuses very close to our borders. All have the potential to draw enrollment from our very fine elementary and secondary schools. Contracts of all our teaching and administrative staff will be re-negotiated, and increased costs of medical benefits loom.
I will find an equitable balance between these fiscal demands, the legitimate needs of our teaching staff and the taxpayers of Wellesley. To this end, I will advocate for policies that stress the primacy of the teacher above all other considerations.
I will promote the robust dialogue between School Committee and management needed for better decision making.
If elected, I pledge to dedicate every waking moment to the cause of public education in Wellesley. I will have no other focus.
As a teacher in the many schools where I worked over the past 57 years, I often encouraged my students to take on a new challenge, to try things they didn’t believe they could handle.
I often helped my students in their time of need just by listening to their concerns.
I’m Mike Cave, Candidate for School Committee.
If elected, I’ll be there for your child.
I need your vote on March 3rd.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Robert Cave, Ph.D., Candidate for School Committee
mcave10@gmail.com
