Meet The Candidate: Jeffrey Liao For Princeton Board Of Education

PRINCETON, NJ — Four candidates are vying for three open seats on the Princeton Board of Education in the upcoming November elections. Jeffrey Liao will be challenging incumbents Betsy Baglio and Brian McDonald, and newcomer Mara Franceschi.

Raised In East Brunswick, Liao recently moved to Princeton with his family. He aims to become more involved in civic engagement and help build a more inclusive society.

Read below to learn more about Liao and his platform for the upcoming Board of Education elections in Princeton.

Name: Jeffrey Liao

Office Sought: Princeton Board of Education Member

Age (as of Election Day): 42

Party Affiliation: None

Family: Wife Kelly and two children, 7th grade and 1st grade

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?: No

Education: Johns Hopkins University, B.A. Chemistry; Harvard Law School, J.D.

Occupation: Intellectual Property Attorney, 17 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: None

Campaign website: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyLiaoPPSBOE

Why are you seeking elective office?

To increase the inclusion of Asian Americans in the institutions of American civil society and to serve as a role model for other Asian Americans, including the next generation, to become more involved in civic engagement as well. In so doing, I would like to help build a more inclusive society for all through increased civic participation and civic inclusion.

The single most pressing issue facing our board is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

My No. 1 priority is to ensure that Princeton Public Schools remain open for in-person learning despite the ongoing pandemic by ensuring that adequate, up-to-date, science-based precautions are taken to reduce the risk of outbreaks in our schools and to minimize their effects should they occur. Only by continuing such precautions as long as is necessary can we ensure that traditional, in-person learning can continue with minimal future disruptions to our children's educational, social, and mental health needs, as well as the childcare needs of working parents, without endangering the health of our students and district staff.

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

As a relative newcomer to Princeton, I am not steeped in the way that things have always been done in Princeton Public Schools, and am actively engaged in speaking with and listening to a broad range of community members to educate myself regarding the real issues, and suggestions for improvement, seen from many different perspectives among the Princeton community. As such, as an outsider, I believe I can be a more active agent for change where change is needed and be more responsive to the concerns of the community as a whole by proactively creating open lines of communication between the community and the Board, rather than governing our schools based upon a top-down, the Board-knows-best approach. In addition, as my life experience as a second-generation Asian American in the U.S. is necessarily different from the other candidates (as well as the current Board members), and one's views and decision-making are necessarily influenced by one's own life experience, I believe bringing more diverse perspectives into the Board's decision-making processes will also better serve a broader range of the community as a whole.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

In any school district, resources are limited and public funds must be spent wisely based on a reasonable ordering of competing priorities. I believe it is important to distinguish higher-level from lower-level priorities and to secure reasonable value for dollars spent, without unnecessarily overburdening taxpayers. As a PPS parent, I am personally invested in ensuring that we can continue to maintain excellence in public education in Princeton in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner.

While maintaining excellence in instructional quality in our schools is certainly important, student success also requires a supportive, nurturing school environment that is attuned to the social and mental health needs of our students, especially in light of the additional stresses that have arisen during the ongoing pandemic. The Board and school administration should proactively seek out and listen respectfully to student input in order to be more aware of the realities that students face at school, so as to be able to make better decisions that address students' needs and concerns, broadly defined.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Being a member of any Board requires a lot of genuine listening and respect for different perspectives. While it is not possible to make everyone happy all the time, developing a reputation for fair-mindedness with humility will win you the support of many, even if they do not necessarily agree with you on every issue.

In anticipation of the upcoming election, Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns. We will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

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