School funding, staffing and the aftermath of a 15-day teachers' strike featured heavily on Decision 2025. Studio guests, school committee members and voters described lingering academic and social-emotional impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and said those challenges heightened pressure on the schools and on municipal budgeting.

Former and current officials on the broadcast said a failed operating override has produced fiscal constraints felt across departments and in the schools in particular. Several panelists argued that, without an override or other new revenue, school staffing and programs could remain limited. "There's no magic pill," one guest said; others said any future override requires "lining things up" with voters and communicating priorities and trade-offs clearly.

New TV reported multiple unofficial wins for school committee candidates in several wards during the broadcast; the station advised that these were not certified results. Current and former school committee members on the program urged full support for the new superintendent's curriculum and program reviews, while urging better negotiation dynamics to prevent another strike.

Speakers quoted in this article spoke on New TV's Decision 2025 broadcast (studio panels and field interviews).