Newton Candidate Profile: Galina Rosenblit, School Committee

NEWTON, MA — There will be several contested races in this fall's election, including for school committee, which is a citywide vote. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

There are eight seats, one from each ward, up for election to the school committee. There are only three contested seats - in Wards 4, 5, 6. And there are 11 candidates vying for eight two-year term seats on the ballot.

In Ward 6, Galina Rosenblit, 69, is running against the School Committee Chair Ruth Goldman.

Rosnblit moved to Newton some 16 years ago with her husband Gregory Gitman.

She has a bachelors in Electrical Engineering and a masters in engineering pedagogy. She taught in public schools and in colleges in the Soviet Union for some 16 years before moving to the US and teaching here in public and private schools across the commonwealth, including four years at Westfield High School and nine at Brookline High School. For the past 19 years she's worked part-time as the private math tutoring school RSM in Newton.

She took some time to respond to Patch questions. Her answers have not been edited.

Read this, too: Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election

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Are you running for office in Newton? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing our (city, schools, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Academic achievement in Newton Public schools is solid, but can be even stronger, if several important problems are addressed.I’ve been working with NPS students at RSM, the Russian School of Math, a private tutoring school, for the last 19 years and I know very well there are ways to enhance the achievement of our students in math.

Thousands of Newton children turn to private math tutoring to offset the shortcoming of NPS math education. Indeed, the thriving RSM math school contributes substantially to relatively good overall NPS test scores in the subject. However, many parents cannot afford private tutoring and all students deserve the benefit of excellent math programming without needing supplementary instruction.

The drug and substance abuse epidemic and high suicide rate are also problems that need attention. Children spend more time with teachers than with their parents these days, so the drug problem is also a school problem.

The Schools need to change their drug and substance abuse education practices. Existing measures are not working as effectively as is needed. Providing students with drug awareness classes should be reinforced with proactive drug prevention policy and practices in which every teacher is educated and engaged to fight this epidemic.

I know how much a trusted teacher can help students and how the excitement of learning can be made more attractive than the excitement of drug use.I want to become an active member of this committee and to apply my knowledge and extensive in-class teaching experience to address and solve these problems.

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

All my professional life I have dealt firsthand with children’s problems as their teacher, mentor and trusted friend in class and in after-school settings.

For many years, I was a single mom holding three teaching jobs to provide for my two daughters, so I can relate very well to the needs and problems of the teachers.

I believe I have unique experience and knowledge compared to other candidates and this background would be very complementary to the school committee in establishing goals and guidance for the school administration and students to make the educational process more effective.

My diverse life experience and working knowledge of both public and private schools would also be helpful to advocate fairly for Newton taxpayer’s position in CBA negotiations.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)? If you're an incumbent, what is still on your to-do list?

Newton School Committee sets educational goals and policies for the schools in the district, accepts ultimate responsibility for all facets of school operations, the committee is the body which shall address and solve these problems.

Newton has a diverse population holding different views on a lot of critical subjects the school committee is dealing with. Check the voting record of any political and public body representing the general population and you will see the variety of opinion and split votes. (Supreme Court, Congress, etc.) But Newton school committee during last several years always voted unanimously.

This means to me that Newton voters are not properly represented and their diverse interest is not well advocated

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

• Replacement of a passive drug education with a pro-active drug prevention program which requires every teacher and counselor to become a pro-active drug preventer.
• Making learning math an exciting journey in which students will be inspired and grow to love math (instead of fearing it).
• Raising student enthusiasm and love of this country through a better education curriculum, without fear of indoctrination; protecting children from being targeted.

What accomplishments would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I came to this country 30 years ago with two degrees but no English knowledge. My Russian and German (foreign languages I took in school and college) were not really helpful. Two

children and $620 in my pocket was my starting point in this country. It took me less than two years to learn English while cleaning offices and working in a dry cleaning shop and to get my first teaching job, get my teaching licenses to teach math, physics and social studies in public schools of Massachusetts.

I have worked in several public and private schools during the last 28 years and was fortunate to win the loyalty and respected of my colleagues, students and parents.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Always be sincere and treat children and adults the way you wanted to be treated as a child and as an adult.

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

I have no conflict of interests to advocate for Newton residence interests. I have no children or grandchildren in the NPS system and never worked or plan to work for NPS. I simply want to give back to Newton, which I call home last 16 years my time and experience to improve NPS performance.

If elected, I am not planning to hold a committee seat for more than one term because I believe that as more qualified people participate the more independent and productive I hope school committee will become.

Your public social media info (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)

Facebook : G.Rosenblit

My favorite aspect of this city is...
People. Newton has very diverse population speaking many languages. You may meet people from different parts of the world without crossing Newton borders. During my life in Newton I have met and become friend with many such neighbors.

What's your take on the development projects across the city?

The NPS system should weigh carefully the impact on our schools of increasing development and be ready to accept and welcome new children if this is an outcome of the changes underway. We should be prepared to provide them excellent education.

More on Newton Elections:

• Newton Election Calendar 2019: What To Know About Election
• Ward 5 Residents To Head To The Polls Sept. 10
• Humphrey, Winters Win Preliminary Election In Newton's Ward 5
• Rick Lipof Is Running Unopposed
• Mark Laredo- unopposed
• Becky Grossman, At-Large Ward 7
• Got A Newton Election Related Letter To The Editor?

More candidate profiles:

• Kathryn Winters - Ward 5
• Bill Humphrey - Ward 5
• Rena Getz - Ward 5 (write in)
• Andreae Downs - At Large Ward 5
• Deb Crossly - At Large Ward 5
• Brenda Noel, Ward 6
• Vicki Danberg - At Large Ward 6
• Emily Norton (Incumbent)- Ward 2
• Bryan Barash - Ward 2
• Jake Auchincloss(Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2
• Susan Albright (Incumbent) - At Large Ward 2
• Tarik Lucas -At Large Ward 2
• Jennifer Bentley, At Large Ward 2
• Ruth Goldman - School Committee
• Kathleen Shields - School Committee
• Bridget Ray-Canada -School Committee