LTE: Educational Common Sense, A Populist Solution

Greenwich CT

01 November, 2021

3:26 PM

Description

The following letter to the editor was submitted by David Lancaster Greenwich is at a crossroads with respect to its Board of Education. The voters have an opportunity this election to begin to revive its school system by changing the Board that is failing by many measures particularly in academic achievement, curricula and transparency. The Democrats and Republicans have provided us once again with a slate of BOE candidates that differ only in degrees and unlikely to offer solutions desperately needed for parents and their children. One boldly and honestly (to her credit) says parents should have no say in curricula (Kostin). One claims to be a Republican but sees nothing illogical about financially supporting Joe Biden and defends SEL, a tentacle of CRT, saying any discussion of eliminating SEL is "unserious"(Mercanti-Anthony). One is a young financier seeking to diversify his life experiences who thinks the BOE should be about budgets and school fields and not messy issues like SEL (Kittle). Megan Galletta, a Republican, is the only candidate with an authentic, populist voice. She was the lone outlier at the recent BOE debate. She spoke to parental concerns without the "we know better" attitude of the other candidates. She went to the heart of the issues: poor scoring, poor curricula, poor learning environments. She was genuine and spoke as a successful mother of four who has been immersed in the school system for years. She is also a successful businesswoman in her own right as a VP in the technology industry. While the other candidates snickered, shook their heads in disapproval or stared blankly as she spoke, I believe the voters were listening. It's unfortunate Kara Philbin, an unaffiliated candidate, was not allowed to participate in the BOE debate. Kara is also a mother of four, and a successful businesswoman in the fields of real estate, finance and technology. Her mother was a pioneer in passing Title 9, and Kara shares her mother's passion for education. Kara has been able to bring about positive change for all students by ensuring all families in GPS have access to their right to an Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) and for GPS to provide more autonomy to families seeking IEEs. She, like Megan Galletta, will be a strong and articulate voice for your children and a defender of teachers. The choices are clear for those who are tired of the establishment politicians. Voters are intelligent. They know something is amiss in our schools and want improved results and a return to fact-based fundamentals in education – a new educational populist movement that will replace "Feminist Fridays" with "Monday through Friday Fundamentals". If the social engineering in our schools is not stopped test scores will continue to fall and our children will growing increasingly ignorant, depressed and angry. Studies are already proving this. It will also have a long-term effect on the budget of the town, taxes and housing values. Solving this issue with common sense solutions has broad appeal across all party lines. Megan Galletta and Kara Philbin will be the trusted voices for your children. On November 2nd I ask that you seriously consider voting for Megan Galletta and writing in "Kara Philbin" for the Board of Education for the sake of the children, teachers and parents of this great town.