Dear Newton Beacon,

Recently, the head of the Newton Teachers Association reminded educators to take a lunch break.

Unremarkable as this was, a Boston-based right-of-center Substack with ties to influential Newton politicos twisted the “put your oxygen mask on first” reminder into a smear, claiming teachers don’t put kids first and implying that several School Committee candidates would not either.

A local group whose funding has not been made public, “Newton Needs Change,” then amplified the piece by emailing it to thousands of residents as if it were credible reporting.

Even more troubling, two School Committee candidates—endorsed by Marc Laredo, several right-of-center City Councilors, and sitting School Committee members—supplied quotes to the blog, echoing its narrative and stoking suspicion of anyone in a teachers’ union, which includes nearly all public educators in Massachusetts.

This episode highlights a serious threat to our local civic life. Public servants are being defamed through anonymous funding and anonymous channels to advance political careers. That should alarm anyone who values honest, democratic debate.

We must expect more from our leaders. They should defend public servants, reject the use of untraceable money, and withhold support from candidates who traffic in smears or tolerate smears. If Newton is to remain a community where public service is respected and civic trust is preserved, our leaders must adopt a clear standard: no tolerance for disinformation and no role for unaccounted-for money in shaping local politics.

Sincerely,

Lindsey Gulden
Newton Centre

The writer is the treasurer for School Committee Candidate Mali Brodt.