Education
A high-quality public education is the greatest gift we can give our children and communities.
As parents and taxpayers, a quality public education is essential for our children and families to thrive and for the health and growth of our communities.
I served as a school board member for 12 years and am the past-President of the Campus and Community Children’s Center at SUNY Fredonia.
I support our community-based public schools and a public education that:
Helps all our children get the best start in life
Provides every student a valuable life-time foundation
Supports well-qualified, well-trained teachers
Preserves our schools and public libraries as centers of our communities
Encourages more of our schools to collaborate, share resources, and contain costs
COVID laid bare the need for and value of hands-on quality instruction and educational experiences, as well as the valuable socialization and development that occurs in our schools.Â
A strong public school education requires well-qualified, well-trained teachers who are encouraged in their work, continually supported, and fairly compensated.
Given the ongoing shrinking of student enrollment in our Assembly District and concerns over teacher recruitment and retention, I will work with our Boards of Education and superintendents, Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Board and Superintendent, and teachers, staff, parents and other stakeholders to develop ways to combine our various districts' resources—much in the same way districts are currently combining many athletic teams among various districts.
Our purpose will be to maintain—and strengthen—the quality of education in our various districts and communities.
I will strongly support early childhood education, continue supporting our elementary and middle schools, and consider with the stakeholders above more regionalized high schools and high school experiences, including vocational skills training.
Transportation and the time involved in traveling in our rural county is a hurdle. As a school board member, I was interested in how we might extend our teachers inside and outside our districts to bring more educational opportunities to more students. I imagined more and better distance-learning options that could link more of our Assembly district’s schools together to help accomplish that goal. Although there are limits to the value of remote learning, I believe there is a role for distance learning, one that is limited to certain topics and students’ developmental needs.
I will bring state support to our Assembly district and partner with families, our schools, and our communities to give every child the opportunity to succeed.