Before anything else, I want to thank everyone who made my election to school committee possible. Thank you to my family for putting up with the campaign and supporting me the whole way. Thank you to the most amazing campaign team ever: Marie, Sharon, Judi, Mary, Nora, Brian, Judy, Josh, Lisa, Annie, Christine, Kathryn, Carol and Mary. Thank you to everyone who held coffees or signs, to those who sent dear friend cards or emails and to everyone who contributed so generously to my campaign. Thank you to everyone who gave me advice (whether I followed it or not) or spoke to me about issues, concerns, ideas, and Arlington. And thank you to everyone who cast a vote for me. Your support is overwhelming and humbling.

I am excited to begin and I hope you are as well, as this has to be a community effort. I may be the one elected, but I will rely on you to keep talking to me and to continue the many conversations that began during this campaign. We need to keep the lines of communication open if we are to work together for our schools and the students who attend them. There is a mountain of work ahead of us, but I believe that if we pull together, we can meet each challenge head on and find solutions to the problems that confront us. I am honored to become the newest member of the school committee and I look forward to using my energy, problem solving skills, and commitment to education to further strengthen the work of this committee.

Local races can be won or lost by as little as 1 vote, so to make your voice truly heard the best you can do is to vote in a local election. We need everyone to come out and take the 5 minutes required to vote on Saturday. The polls are open for 12 hours, from 8 to 8, so hopefully everyone can find a time when voting will fit into their schedule.

Whatever the outcome, the past 8 weeks have taught me an enormous amount about Arlington and the wonderful people who live here. I have enjoyed getting to know so many and hearing from many others electronically that I have yet to meet. It would be an honor to represent this town as an elected official, but whether I win or lose, my commitment to the schools and the children who attend them will not waiver.

I truly believe that the children of Arlington are our future and the smartest investment that we can make is in their education. So let’s teach them the importance of the civic duty we have to vote. To make our voices heard, we must take part in the system on which our country was founded, democracy. I am proud to say that I have never missed an election and I can guarantee you that I will be out to vote tomorrow. I hope to see many of you at the polls!

I have always been active in the PTO of my children’s schools and am still the co-chair of the Ottoson PTO with my friend Sandy Stergiou. As I run for school committee, I have attended many PTO meetings and dozens of PTO sponsored fundraisers over the past 8 weeks. This has introduced me to hundreds if not thousands of parents and renewed my sense of wonder at the money raising machines these organizations are for our schools.

But even more than that, these events bring our community closer together. I have found that it is possible to have a fun night out just about every weekend by attending a fundraiser for one PTO or another. These are a great way to get to know the other parents in town and support the schools at the same time. But what we need to do is cross pollinate. All too often word does not get out to other schools and into the community about the fun goings on at other schools or get to the pre-school parents in town.

I am not sure if it is possible, but I have often wanted to have a town-wide school calendar where social events like these could be posted for everyone. For me, it has to be in calendar format so that I can superimpose my schedule on what is going on in town. Not only would this get the word out, but it would help us to avoid conflicts or at least be aware of them. It would also help us keep more of those entertainment dollars in our town and in our schools and build an even stronger community.

It is at the coffees where you can have actual dialogue and even do a little problem solving. They are intimate settings where there is no stage and the attendees are not so much an audience as a group of concerned citizens. You meet new people as well as reconfirm old friends and acquaintances. In big houses and small, you are welcomed and if you pay attention, you learn a lot.

I hope that whatever the outcome of the election that these small in house meetings can continue. I find them an excellent way to gather information and get real discussions around ideas and concerns. I think that the school committee could benefit from having neighborhood coffees on topics occasionally. With no stage, no cameras and no set agenda, it is amazing what we can learn sitting in each other’s living rooms with a cup of coffee.

I have a much better sense of Arlington as a town instead of just the parts that I was a part of before the campaign. I have found that people who live her have a real passion for the town. If possible, I am even more proud to live here and be a part of this community than I was before the campaign started. Even with those I don’t necessarily agree, I find a common caring and commitment.

A week from today the voting will be done, the signs gone from the yards, but I know that the wonderful sense of community will still be here. I have enjoyed being a part of this process and getting to know Arlington at a much deeper level. With any luck, I might even be elected to serve this great town as an elected official, but either way, I have a renewed sense of what Arlington is and what being a part of it means to me.

As we all made our way out of the board room, allowing others to move into the room and claim many newly vacated seats, there was a wonderful sense of optimism. Although this was a baby step in the process, Thompson had at least moved closer in the direction of getting the funding it needs to be refurbished. As we rode down the elevators and congregated on Board Street outside the impressive building that houses the MSBA, we started asking each other about the next steps.

Next comes the feasibility study and the determination of what level of funds and rebuilding the state will recommend for Thompson. Now is also the time for the town to find its share of the funding and start figuring out projected enrollment numbers for the Thompson for the next 5-10 years. Fortunately in 2010 we have the census data coming in which will let us know how many babies and potential students Thompson needs to be prepared to handle.

While many questions and steps lie between today and a new school, the Thompson community and those who have been tirelessly advocating for this should feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Their efforts have pushed the school closer still to the day when the outside building will finally reflect the wonderful community and learning that goes on inside. Now is the time for the entire Arlington community to be asking, “What can we do to help make this a reality?” It is time for full equity in our elementary schools and the realization that while their tax dollars have gone to rebuild the other 5 schools, now it is their turn to reap some of the rewards of those dollars as well.

I encourage anyone with ideas on how to move forward to find the funding in town for these rebuilds to help take part in the planning. Let’s all ask ourselves how we can be a part of helping the Thompson and eventually the Stratton to cross the finish line and be shining examples of the commitment Arlington has to its schools.

My own story of activity in the public schools begins with Sue. I was a new parent at the Bishop and I worked in high tech. with a degree in electrical engineering. I had met Sue briefly as another Bishop parent and when she found out my profession, she immediately recruited me for the Bishop science committee. The previous year they had held a large auction with much of the proceeds going to fun science at Bishop and this committee was charged with helping to spend and oversee those funds. It was a great group of dedicated parents, all of whom I remain friends with today.

Needless to say, I became active in that group and from there, well I found additional places to use my talents and time and here I am today running for school committee, in the same seat that will be left empty by Sue’s departure. Sue has always been there for anyone who wanted information or training. She has mentored several school committee members as well as active parents in various roles throughout town.

And if I know Sue, we have certainly not seen the last of her. She is already busy preparing for this year’s Japanese exchange program and I am sure that she has many other things waiting in the wings that we will find her busy organizing. Just a word of caution, if you stand too close or prove your proficiency at something, it will not go without notice. If Sue is involved she will be sure to pull in those who are interested and get them active. I love that about her as she continues to mentor and prepare anyone and everyone for a role.

Sue truly believes in our community and in everyone taking a part in that community. I look forward to whatever Sue pulls me into in the future and I wish her the best as she pursues her next round of making Arlington a tighter knit and inclusive place to live. She has expanded my world and engaged me in my town that would not have been possible without her. I thank Sue from the bottom of my heart for her years of service on the school committee and all of her wonderful endeavors.

The Gardener Auditorium in the State House was packed to capacity and we heard loud and clear the call to action not just from other STAND members, but from our legislators as well. It has to be us as parents and citizens who help take up this call. We must work together with our legislators to give cities and towns the tools that they need to fund education. That means better health care options, local revenue sources other than prop. 21/2 overrides and helping them fix the revenue situation in this state so that it is fair and finds a way to fund education long term. 

We delivered over 7,500 postcards to 152 senators and representatives that sends this message to them and asks them to work with us on this together. None of us has to go this alone. We need to stand together and work together to ensure a complete education for every child in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

Of course that starts right here at home. We need to ensure that we are electing local leaders who will get in there and do the work needed. Who will not be afraid to make their voices heard. I was proud to be sitting with school committee members, previous school committee members, town leaders, and our superintendent of schools in that auditorium today. And even if I am not elected to the Arlington School Committee on Saturday, April 4, I will continue my commitment to education.

The first debate was hard because we only had 1 minute to reply and we only had 1 minute to give a closing statement. This was really short and I have to admit that it took some actual practice getting my answers that short. I don’t have a tendency to ramble, but it turns out that 1 minute is really a very short amount of time to get out a full thought. Tonight and Thursday’s debates allow for 2 minute responses and 2 minute closings, which really seem like enough time.

I have to really thank both Joe Tully and Jeff Thielman for their support during that first debate, as they were (and still are) veterans. They gave me advice and told not to worry, which I did anyway, but it was nice of them to say it. I think that some good questions were asked in that first debate and it led to some good discussions between us. So tonight instead of only worrying, I actual look forward to more conversations.

For informational purposes, here is some information on the 3 debates:

• Debate 1 – 3/12 – closed to the public, but broadcast on ACMI channels
• Debate 2 – 3/23 – open to the public, starts at 6:30 at JamNJava. Will be on ACMI at some future date.
• Debate 3 – 3/36 – open to the public, starts at 8 at Town Hall. Will be televised live and also shown at future dates.

I am constantly amazed at the level of dedication, hard work, and true community caring that is evident at these meetings. While each school has their own character, the common theme is improving the educational experience for the children of Arlington who attend that school. Whether they are discussing fund raising, the science fair or the budget, they have a common goal and set of priorities that keeps them moving forward and that is the education of the children.

What most don’t see or understand is the amazing discrepancies between the PTOs in the amount of funds that they can raise and on what they spend those funds. I have to admit that I was blind to it as well, until recently. In our 7 elementary schools, we have some with much larger populations than others and some with wealthier populations than others, enabling some schools to raise far more money. In addition, we have only a few elementary schools with Title 1 student populations and they have to spend a higher percentage of their hard earned PTO dollars on enabling students to take part in things that their families cannot afford.  And how is it that the Ottoson PTO budget is close to 1/3 of some of the elementary schools when it has over 1,000 students and growing?

When I came to this realization of the inequities in our town, I started wondering what could be done to even out the playing field for our students. Would it help if PTOs got together and planned enrichment together so that we could get discounts and deals on performances that could be passed on to schools? Could PTOs get together to have fund raisers and then distribute funds to all those who helped plan and execute? Should the PTOs band together and have a town-wide PTO that serves all of the schools?

I don’t know what the answer is to these questions, I simply put them out there to start us thinking. I know that people are more apt to give when they see the results go directly into the school that their own children are in, but can we really as parents feel good about the fact that there really isn’t educational equity in our town? Is it really fair that schools that can raise the private funds for new playgrounds get them and those that can’t have to stand by and watch their playgrounds deteriorate and become unsafe?

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge believer in PTOs and the great work that they do. I like the sharing and camaraderie at the current town-wide PTO meetings, but I think that we could do better. I encourage others to talk and think about this and see if we can’t figure out a way to provide equitably for the school children of Arlington.