Arlington Candidate Profile: Dmitry Vasilyev For School Committee

ARLINGTON, MA — The town election is fast approaching on Saturday, March 28 and the School Committee race is one of its most contested.

Arlington Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles leading up to election day

Dmitry Vasilyev is running for School Committee in Arlington.

Age

49

Position sought

Arlington School Committee for one year

Party affiliation

Independent

Family

Married, with three children

Education

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MIT), MS Physics (Polytechnical University, St.Petersburg, Russia)

Occupation

Data Scientist

Previous or Current Elected Office

None

Campaign Website

sites.google.com/view/dmitry-vasilyev/

Why are you seeking elected office?

I want Arlington schools to better serve students, focus on meeting students’ needs and raise academic standards

The single most-pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is __________ and this is what I intend to do about it.

Schools being accountable primarily to the grown-ups (e.g. electorate, teacher unions, school administration), which distracts from students’ issues. I am planning to bring focus on children as a primary function of schools. For that, I am proposing having regular surveys for students to assess pace and rigor of classes, and also will push for replacing outdated and ineffective curricula, starting with math.

What are the critical differences between you and other candidates seeking this post?

I am a follower of Janusz Korczak, a world-famous educator who taught that educators should focus on meeting children’s needs. He died in Treblinka, voluntarily following his students until the end. I am heartbroken that educators here never heard his name!

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Current Arlington curriculum is very weak at elementary and middle-school levels. I want our schools to listen acutely to children. It is not OK to say “no” to children who ask for harder curriculum and more challenge. It should be OK to offer children to skip grades. It should be OK to accept out-of-school credits. We need to offer challenge across the ability spectrum of children. We need to meet children where they are. Schools should administer exit surveys for families who pulled out their kids into private schools or homeschooling.
I am here also to raise awareness of the current mental health epidemic among our children. A lot of children and teens suffer from anxiety and depression. A significant factor contributing to that is academic boredom. If the curriculum is too simple or confusing for them, children become disengaged. Lacking the “good dopamine”, children turn to bad dopamine: addiction to screens, doomscrolling and disruptive behavior. Kids need a sense of purpose, the challenge - and we need to provide challenge to kids, involving in-class challenge work, and also opportunity to accelerate, based on kids’ desires, accommodating kids.

The best advice ever shared with me was __________

“Without love, neither the physical nor the intellectual powers will develop naturally.” - Johann Pestalozzi, another greatest educator.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am running for this position only because I can contribute to the School Committee in a very unique way, being an accomplished data scientist, an educator and a parent. I believe that I can make difference in our schools serving kids better.