To the editor:
The Democrat candidates, Lee Goldstein and Neil Phillips, have portrayed Jamie Fitzgerald and Camilo Riano as extremist, far-right candidates who are not representative of Westport values.
They have implied that the Republicans’ concerns about DEI and SEL policies are misplaced and that, in fact, they are totally necessary to the education experience. That certainly begs the question as to how were the schools successful prior to the implementation of these policies?
Now let’s take a look at the fruits of some of the policies … a huge increase in transgender identifying teens demanding pronouns changes be honored or else.
Children learning that they have implicit bias and their country is racist.
Micro-analyzing of every thought and feeling they have as described in the Yale developed RULER program. Look it up; I did and thought at first it was a parody, but no, they are completely serious. At that point, it just became scary.
We live in a dangerous world and parents, teachers and all concerned adults want to prepare children to navigate that reality in the best possible way.
If you spend the time to look into these progressive policies you may come to the same conclusion that many parents have. That is, that this should not be practiced in the schools. Not only is it not helpful, it is harmful.
Good teachers have always been tuned into children’s emotional health and should be. We have depended on teachers who spend more time with our kids than any other non-family members, to alert us to problems they may notice such as bullying or depression. At times they may have to alert the authorities if they think there is abuse at home in order to protect children. This has always been the case.
SEL, as in many progressive leftist ideas, takes something good and carries it to an extreme in which it becomes unhealthy and counterproductive.
When you vote for Jamie Fitzgerald and Camilo Riano you are affirming the focus of academics in schools and not the promotion of left-wing progressive ideologies. Please think about it before you vote.
I was a Democrat once, too, but the more informed you become you will begin to see that voting purely out of party loyalty can be a dangerous thing.
Sharon Wylie
Westport
thanks Sharon.
I wonder if any sitting / elected Republican in Westport are going to endorse either of the two Republican candidates.
So far I have seen zero.
One current Republican board member ?
One Republican sitting on a commission ?
One Republican from the Selectwoman’s Office ?
Any former Republican elected representatives ?
Anyone ?
Maybe because vicious leftists who attack like rabid dogs intimidate them. I assure you I think they should have the courage of their convictions. Or they are rinos like you who espouse no Republucan views but for some inexplicable reason identify as such.
Good Lord. You do realize Donald Trump may be incarcerated some day soon for crimes against our nation? (Oh, that’s right. It’s a Deep State conspiracy).
I have frequently spotted around town a big black car sporting a big Q sticker. Yours?
How about the Hague for crimes against humanity? But wait does valuation of real estate qualify or is it just those really egregious crimes like questioning elections and keeping classified material. I guess Hillary, Al Gore, Stacey Abrams might be in trouble too huh? And Joe and Mike Pence in even more trouble since they never had the right to keep classified materials in the first place. Keep dreaming Toni.
If neither Riano nor Fitzgerald can earn a single endorsement from any Westport Republican office holder, maybe Westport voters should consider writing in Jill Dillon… a candidate who seems to have attracted quite a bit of local support.
https://westportmoms.com/meet-jill-dillon-board-of-education-nominee/
Yeah, local support from Goldstein and Phillips
I know our sitting Republican elected representatives and I don’t think are weak or are intimidated by people to the left of them.
I might be wrong and there could be a flood of sitting Republican elected representatives, and former elected representatives that won the Westport Republican Town Committee nomination that will come forward and explicitly support the BOE candidates.
Well that certainly settles that! You, of course, know what all these people are feeling at any given time, Well then they must be rinos like you, leftist but identifying as Republican. Just for the record what are your favorite leftist policies? Abortion up to the due date, mutilating surgeries on teenagers, maybe kid glove treatment of criminals, low income housing sinking our property values and overburdening the roads, schools, and the latest, euthanasia on demand, not just for the terminally ill but for the financially challenged ? This is what you will get more of when you vote Democrat.
Sharon, what are your favorite right-wing policies? I LOVED the one where more than a million Americans died of Covid because the MAGAsaur-in-chief dismantled the early-warning system. Hard to beat that one, huh? In terms of sheer mortality, it’s a standout!
More people died from Covid in Biden’s first year, with the vaccine developed in the Trump administration than Trumps last year. Check your facts. As for conservative policies I like? How about low taxes,a secure border, energy independence, support for police instead of coddling of criminals, a military focused on producing the best warriors in the world instead of laughable woke nonsense like transgender recruitment videos, competent handling of the economy instead of skyrocketing inflation and interest rates that are causing fewer people to be able to buy a home and of course focusing on academics in schools instead of the implementation iof progressive socialist policies. How about that for starters?
Sharon – no i don’t know what they are thinking. They are their own independent people. We will see over the next few days if any current Republican elected officials OR former elected official or Board members will come and endorse Camilo and Jamie. They can’t all be RINOs surely?
They can’t? From what I’ve seen they certainly can.