To the editor:
The Niche survey of schools across the country ranks Westport as the number one school district in the state. We also have one of the top districts in the nation, and Staples consistently rates at or near the top in state surveys.
If we want to keep Westport No. 1, then we want to keep the leadership that brought us here.
For several years, incumbent Board of Education members Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips have led the schools on the path of continuous improvement in and out of the classroom. Their steady, considered leadership makes a difference and sets a tone for every stakeholder in the system.
Among their many accomplishments are: expanding the breadth of academic and extracurricular offerings for students; supporting comprehensive special education services; building new outdoor spaces across the district; developing a new technology plan that keeps Westport on the leading edge, and dramatically enhancing mental health services for students.
The consistent theme of their work is that Lee and Neil understand each student’s unique needs and are focused on success for every child.
Please join me in voting for Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips for the Westport Board of Education on Nov. 7.
Michael Gordon
Westport
__________________________
They listen to Westporters of all viewpoints
To the editor:
If you want to preserve Westport’s status as the top school district in the state, you must reelect Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips for the Board of Education.
So many of us chose Westport because of our excellent schools. But that status doesn’t happen by accident or simply by spending lots of tax dollars. It requires dedicated and experienced Board of Ed members who know how to prioritize and make tough decisions on behalf of students and families. Fortunately, Lee and Neil have already demonstrated their talents and commitment to assuring every child gets a quality education. Watching them in action at board meetings should give us all confidence in their abilities and good decision-making.
I’ve known Lee and Neil for years. Their passion for educational excellence and creating a safe and enriching school environment is unparalleled. They truly listen to Westporters of all viewpoints and consider all the ramifications of their decisions. They work collaboratively with school administrators, teachers and PTA parents. It’s a hard job that they do very well and we’re lucky to have them.
Votes on the Board of Ed are not always partisan. But I’m extremely concerned that the Republicans running against them espouse a national conservative agenda intended to disrupt our school system through divisiveness and fear-mongering. They threaten all that makes our schools great.
Ultimately, this vote is about our kids’ futures. We all want to prepare them to prosper in a chaotic and challenging world. As a graduate of Westport schools myself, as are my three daughters, I care deeply about maintaining our superior schools. I know Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips do as well.
Vote for Goldstein and Phillips on Election Day. Your choice will determine the educational future of all Westport’s children.
Jonathan Steinberg
Westport
__________________________
An admirable track record
To the editor:
I would like to express my very enthusiastic support for Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips for BOE.
Sometimes we feel we don’t have enough information with which to choose the best candidate. That is not the case this November!
Anyone who has followed Lee’s and Neil’s work on the BOE can vote for them with 100 percent confidence. If you missed the meetings, you can watch the recordings or ask around about their admirable track record.
Lee and Neil have consistently demonstrated professionalism, intelligence and fairness. They show great character and small ego, using their seats at the table not to push their own views, but to help keep our excellent school system excellent. Lee’s honest, responsible leadership of the budget process has resulted in consistently approved budgets.
Lee is an experienced educator. She has a love of learning and wants the same for Westport’s students.
Neil is a trained mediator and it shows. He builds collaboration in an unbiased way that reduces conflict and guides the process to resolution.
Lee and Neil respect parents and are dedicated to students.
Finally, they are committed to ensuring that our schools are not just an excellent place to learn, but also to work. When my spouse and I were looking for a preschool for our children, we wanted a school where the teachers really loved their jobs. We knew that, more than anything else, our children would thrive with happy, secure teachers. That remained true until they graduated from Staples.
Every student deserves to go to a school run by adults who want to be there and teachers who love what they do. I trust Lee and Neil to take good care of the Westport school system and ensure that it is a place where students can thrive.
Danielle Teplica
Westport
First investigate what DEI and SEL policies promote in the schools. Then look into Ms. Goldstein and Mr. Philips stand on those policies. They may tell you this is having a positive effect on education but what exactly are they teaching. Maybe your kid can get an A on a paper about the “1619 Project” and other such “scholarly” works. This is the type of nonsense that DEI promotes. Jamie Fitzgerald and Camilo Riano have no such underlying agenda. They want your kids to have the best possible education so they are prepared for the real world. That happens through math, history, science, civics,etc. not “Introductory Pronouns” courses and the like.
Interesting Sharon… Westport has high rankings because of how it teaches the core subjects of : math, history (real) , English and science, in addition to having excellent services for Special Education and caring for the whole chold mentally . If we were not excellent in these areas, colleges would not be accepting our students and our rankings would not be so high!
I am so sorry you are so bothered by and consumed with pronouns.
I want to thank Lee, Neil, and Tom for their unwavering dedication and service to our children and schools! Keep our schools excellent by voting for Neil and Lee!
“…Lee and Neil understand each student’s unique needs and are focused on success for every child.”
As a Mom, I just love that.
Once again a leftist exhibiting “projection”. I am not consumed by pronouns, you are. I am also not bothered by pronouns. They serve a very useful purpose in communication. That is, until now when we don’t even know who or how many people we are talking to or about with this ridiculous nonsense. In fact, Westport parents, let’s just think about that for a minute because it is emblematic of how Social Emotional Learning manifests in the schools; pandering to troubled kids or just kids desperate for attention and forcing others to go along with it.If the statistics (easily manipulated) still show Westport is the best school system that’s great. Jamie Fitzgerald and Camilo Riano are dedicated to keeping it that way, minus the leftist ideologies that people are being forced to accept in school. Keep it at home if that’s what you want to teach your kids.
This is disappointing but not surprising because democrats seem to prefer to engage in name-calling and attacks on character rather than focusing on the important issues confronting the educational needs of children. I encourage anyone reading this to dig in and review the plans to in effect dismantle the educational approach that has made Westport a high-performing district to this point. Every parent deserves a full and clear explanation as to why Westport is making such a radical change to what seems to be a successful blueprint for educating young people. One might infer there are other agendas at play, but at least the democratic candidates ought to explain against the principle of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
You write that “name-calling and attacks on character” are bad. On September 24, you donated $250 to the campaign of Camilo Riano, who has called Westport’s superintendent of schools a “groomer.” Whatevs!