Guest Column: Let’s Work To Move Seymour Schools Forward

On Sept. 25 I had the pleasure of attending MSNBCs Teacher Town Hall at Rockefeller Center where I had the opportunity to hear the voices of teachers — uncensored and unrehearsed — as they shared the rewards and challenges of being an educator in America today. Here are some key takeaways from the event: 

  • Education is a dynamic and ever-changing field where innovation is happening in classrooms everyday
  • Teachers are the lynchpin to student success…and teachers know this and embrace it
  • Communities (parents, non-parents, government leaders at all levels, etc.,) need to work with educators to create the best environments possible to help students achieve at their highest levels

Watching us struggle as a town during what seems like every budget cycle — especially the last two where I have been involved as a Board of Finance member as well as a parent — it is easy to become disheartened by how difficult it seems to be to get people to listen to each other’s points of view in supportive, collaborative ways. But when I listen to teachers like I did on the 25th, when I interact with our teachers here in Seymour, and most importantly, when I look at my three children and their classmates in elementary school, I know that fighting to keep moving our school system forward is worth every bit of effort any of us could put into it.

I was surprised that some people have questioned why I have supported our school system while having my two oldest sons attend Catholic high school. 

My family’s decision to send them to Catholic school was very personal — with a long list of pros and cons. Part of the decision was that we did not know then (in 2006/07) if Seymour would be able to provide all that we wanted for our kids since the school system did not seem to be receiving the financial support it needed. I can say now that I believe our schools have taken impressive measures to become more efficient, to do more with less, and to direct money to the areas where they feel the biggest impact can be made. But the next few years are critical in making sure we pick up the pace of academic progress.

A Board of Education (or any board) can only be as good as the people who are elected or appointed to it. And by good” I do not mean they have to be the smartest or the most vocal, or the one most likely to challenge (or agree with) whatever ideas are placed before them. 

What I mean is that I believe board members must be informed, willing to listen, willing to learn, and willing to make hard decisions. Then they need to make a concerted effort to communicate the mission, policies and needs of their board to the community. I am ready to do those things and would be honored if Seymour voters would give me the opportunity!

The author is a Democratic candidate for the Board of Education in Seymour, Conn.

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