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Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Vote for Keith Miller

GOP Board of Education member supports fellow Republican for the slot up for runoff election on Nov. 24.

Kira Goldenberg, Neighbor
Our recent municipal election proved that every vote matters. Upon learning that the vote for one position on the Board of Education ended in a tie, many regretted not voting. The good news is that there will be another opportunity. This time, it is imperative to exercise your right and support the candidate with BOE experience, a track record for getting work done and who has the support of the other elected officials.

The Republican Town Committee brought forward a slate of experienced candidates to lead our town including, Keith Miller for the BOE. Keith graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins and the Wharton Business School. He was a General Manager at GE Aircraft Engines, leading Business Planning and Development and a Managing Director at GE Capital, leading venture capital investments in software. He also worked for a top management consulting firm. Across all of this work, Keith built and restructured businesses for continuous improvement. But giving back to the community is also important to Keith, and so he served two years as chairman of the BOE.

We know that our schools are not businesses, and we don’t want them to be treated as such. However, the BOE must do everything within its power to help our educators succeed. Towards that goal, we were fortunate that during Keith’s leadership, the BOE:  
 
1) upgraded the management of our schools with a new superintendent, assistant superintendent, directors of special education and information technology, and several principals;
2) restored civility, collaboration and communication with the Boards of Selectmen and Finance to produce, for the first time in years, a school budget they found affordable;
3) began much needed closure of the school “bundle” of projects;
4) got the resource officers back to the high school and K-9 Zeus on campus;
5) implemented a new elementary math program and augmented elementary math resources;
6) began taping and televising board meetings so that those with busy schedules could see what we do; and

7) fought unfunded state mandates.

There is much more to be done. We need to make sure educational dollars go toward improving our students’ minds and not towards the schools’ overhead. Our AP programs need to continue to expand participation. We need to continue to build on classroom inclusion and differentiated instruction to help our special education students. We also need to ensure that in helping these students we don’t lose sight of the many other students in our district. We need to balance our educational program to ensure that it touches all students and not just the few who passionately promote the programs of most value to them. And, in this tough economic environment, the BOE needs to do this work mindful of the town's financial capacity. 

Keith Miller has demonstrated the ability and experience to advocate for our children and community. This time, please make certain that you vote. And when you do, raise the bar for our schools and our children—Vote for Keith Miller.

Russell Katz

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