Caffyn brought to Beacon Hill a strong and varied background in local government. She served on the Board of Selectmen in Mashpee for eight years prior to her election to the House and served as mayor of South Windsor, Conn., in the late 1970s. Caffyn also served as an officer in the Massachusetts Selectmen's Association. As a selectman, she traveled across the state in 1996 and 1997 as a member of Foundation Budget Review Commission to hear testimony from municipal and school officials on the newly enacted school finance law. Cahill has demonstrated a commitment to local government concerns throughout his career, especially for his leadership on the issue of special education.
Few issues can match the emotional intensity of special education.
For the past 15 years, serious reform of our special education system has been deadlocked over the issue of the definition of the standard for educating special needs students. Those seeking reform stated that without a change to the federal standard, meaningful and comprehensive reform would not be possible, yet many parents and interest groups strenuously resisted any change to the standard, fearing a decline in service. Cahill helped break the logjam on this issue, playing a key role in securing passage of the first comprehensive reform of special education since 1972. In front of hundreds of onlookers opposed to reform, he testified eloquently before the Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities regarding the need to change the standard to bring fiscal stability to the system. He said he would not recommend the change if he believed it would reduce services to the students who crowded the room that day.