NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letters. (We will publish letters of endorsement for the 2021 municipal election through Sept. 30.)
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Being a member of the Board of Education is a great privilege requiring immense dedication, time, and effort. All those that sit on the BOE and those that seek a seat should be treated with respect, gratitude, and admiration.
I have read with great interest the discussion of input into and transparency of the curriculum process of our school system.
I sat on the BOE with Jim Kucharczyk, Penny Rashin and many other fine and dedicated members. When I began the first of my eight years, of what was an overwhelmingly positive time on the BOE, we had input into the curriculum. It was unquestionably my favorite part of the job. We didn’t desire nor did we consider ourselves qualified to write the curriculum but when it was being formed, we had a seat at the table to both opine on and see the process in person. We got to know the administration and teachers on a level that was deeper and more valuable than we otherwise could have. We built a mutual trust that served us and the district well. The New Canaan school system was then, as it is now, one of the best in the country. Our input was sought and welcomed. It did not degrade the process, nor did it lower the districts scores and rankings. It did, however, give us the ability to report back to our fellow townspeople what we knew, which was where things were headed because we had firsthand knowledge.
I don’t know when the district got away from welcoming the boards participation, or why members of that very board that eagerly and constructively gave their input now feel it should be unwelcome from the new members, whomever they maybe be and from whichever side of the “aisle” they sit, by the current administration.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott A. Gress
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My wife and I came to the US in the late 80s as refugees from the Soviet Union, grateful to a land and a people willing to let us assimilate and become productive members of society. A key component of that process was free, rigorous, public education in science and mathematics.
These days, even abstract fields are being infected with political ideology. Advanced courses are threatened if grades partitioned by fashionable categories are not equal. Feelings and emotional “safety” are destructive trump cards. Heterodox ideas, fundamental to the advance of science, are frowned upon in the interest of the above. And every year the views on these matters align more and more with political party.
So we write to support the Republican slate for Board of Education in New Canaan. Not because we support Republican policies in general, but because they agree free and rigorous training in the sciences and mathematics cannot endure incursion by extremist movements, not unlike those our families experienced in the USSR, that seek to bend study to the service of ideology.
We cannot forget that countries like China and India are increasingly strong competitors in an international market our children will be forced to navigate. And these days it is they who are ironically less hindered by ideology in technical fields. If you agree that science and math education is key to our children’s success and thus freedom, join us in voting for Julie, Dan, Phil, and Hugo.
Andrew Moroz
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Whether considerable or minimal and regardless of political lens, one can find truth in the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”. Before you cringe or cheer or question the irony of a Letter endorsing a nominee for the Board of Education Republican Slate that begins by citing a saying that inspired a 1996 book which stoked everything from praise to fear based on one’s view of the author; I ask for two minutes of your time. So here we stand 25 years later preparing to vote for candidates that because of election constructs, must affiliate with a party. However if we all collectively exhale, most agree that neither party has a monopoly on great ideas or people. Phil Hogan, nominee for Board of Education is one of those great people with great ideas. It indeed takes police, nurses, clergy, coaches, grandparents, teachers, moms and dads and everyone in between – each playing an integral part in raising our children. From that neighbor the kids fear hitting baseballs into their yard or window, to that same neighbor cheering on those kids’ baseball team, we all share in a major responsibility and hope in our children’s futures.
Phil Hogan, who I’ve known for over 15 years, represents the kind of leadership that promotes such hope and recognizes the fine balance among our educators and the family when raising tomorrow’s leaders. My wife and I recently moved to New Canaan from NYC where I first met Phil as a work colleague, and we are so grateful for how welcoming the town is and how spectacular our children’s experience at West Elementary school has been thus far. The biggest factors in moving to New Canaan were the quality of schools and great community – both inextricably linked. It is refreshing to see the flag in classrooms and having kids say the Pledge, both something that unfortunately had been deemed “too controversial” at the NYC private school world we left behind. This, combined with many examples of either educational overreach or the resultant unfocused and counterproductive outcomes that follow, is in part why so many parents are acutely focused on not seeing misguided agendas exported to the suburbs. The teachers in New Canaan are outstanding, so let’s continue to empower them to continue doing their extraordinary jobs in educating and demanding a foundation of respect for self and others from the children, while also continuing to demand parents still be the parents versus outsourcing that to a classroom.
Phil Hogan is not only a devoted husband and a father of four children, but also an active member of the New Canaan community that as a staunch advocate for his kids, will work tirelessly for that crucial balance between classroom and family. Whether coaching baseball, soccer, softball or flag football as he’s done, being a concerned neighbor or putting his civic interest into action running for the Board, Phil is someone you want in that village advocating for parents, your kids and teachers alike. Phil is that parent and community member that will further strengthen the unparalleled classroom standards New Canaan has built and challenge himself and others to not rest on success to date. As a husband, parent and now youth soccer coach here in town too, I am greatly excited at the prospect of what Phil Hogan will bring to the Board of Education and our town’s future and believe you would be as well. Thank you.
Matt Sparacino
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