Iam writing because I am supporting Scott Sargent for the Jackson Board of Education. For far too long, the school board and administration have become too comfortable and too complacent with one another to make any real changes in the district and this has gone on long enough.
I firmly believe in change. It seems to be the theme for 2008. Change in people, ideas and attitude can only benefit the town and the students.
In speaking with Mr. Sargent, he has expressed to me that his priorities as a potential school board member are to improve the quality of education while cutting the administrative costs that have crept into the system over the past 12 years.
I was shocked to see how bloated our administration is and what a large chunk of the budget is dedicated to administrative costs.
I believe that if our priority is truly the students of the district, then we should be dedicating every available dollar to their benefit and not to the benefit of administrators.
Nor should we waste a single dollar of the budget. Keen oversight is essential. After six years of defeated Board of Education budgets by the taxpayers (the people footing the bill), that keen oversight and scrutiny is long overdue.
More importantly though, Mr. Sargent expressed to me his desire to emphasize education in critical thinking; instead of telling students what they should believe he would rather see our children taught how to think for themselves.
Armed with that important skill, our children will be able to think for themselves and can figure out how to tackle important issues on their own, instead of waiting around for someone to tell them what to think.
That struck a chord with me. What better can we do for our children than to prepare them for the real world? That is why I will be voting for Scott Sargent on April 15.
Catherine Genovese
Jackson