Sign Theft Season

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Selective sign theft seems to be going on again in Vernon.  While both parties have undoubtedly lost some signs, yesterday there was a mass strike on Democratic and Independent candidate signs.  Dozens disapeared in the course of a few hours.  In some cases Republican signs on the same yard were left alone.  Kinda suspicious…

I get kids stealing signs.  I did worse once upon a time.  But this wasn’t just kids out for fun.  Overwhelmingly the signs stolen were NOT Republican.  When the pattern is that clear, it makes it feel like there is an agenda.  It’s just a shame that anyone is so wrapped up in their political beliefs that they are willing to commit crimes to try and stop a democratic election from occuring.

Letter to the Editor From the JI

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The last 2 years I have been privileged to serve on the Vernon Board of Education as a Democratic representative.  It’s been an incredible learning experience and one I will always treasure.  I came on to the Board thinking I understood what I was getting myself in to.  What I found was a wealth of information, process and terminology and that honestly took a good year to understand.  There are still plenty of things that I have to ask for clarification on simply because I’m not a teacher by trade.  And I’ve enjoyed almost every minute of it.
 
I’m running again, this time for a 4 year term.  I’m proud of what I was a part of accomplishing in my term.  With a lot of help from the unions we have negotiated contracts that are good for both the town and staff.  We have made good strides in terms of technology in the classrooms and have begun an audit of our entire Information Technology infrastructure.  We want to make sure our schools are up to date and our students are learning 21st century skills.  We’ve completed major renovations at our schools thanks to the bond packaged passed several years ago under Mayor Marmer and tried to equip our maintainers with equipment to keep the schools clean and safe for the students.  We have maintained all programs at our schools and updated our text books and curriculum.  Perhaps most importantly we’ve brought in a permanent Superintendent who knows and loves Vernon schools and is doing a fantastic job.  And we’ve done it all with a realistic view of the economy and the impact of any budget increases.
 
Yes, there are some challenges.  Test scores continue to suffer in some of our schools.  Everyone from the Board down is concerned and looking for ideas to help improve them.  Dozens of kids still choose to go out of district for Magnet schools, or transfer within district to other elementary schools.  We want to find out the reasons why.  What isn’t Vernon providing that maybe we should be?  Where can we make improvements to keep kids in their local public school?  What can we do to bring the school/parent/community partnership closer together and working towards a common goal?  These are issues that I will continue to address as a Board member. 
 
Perhaps the best thing I’ve experienced however is an up-close view of how hard our staff works.  As a parent of younger students I know you are often focused on one teacher or one school.  I’ve gotten to go into all of our schools and watch so many of the staff teaching and interacting with the kids in ways that you never see otherwise.  I know how hard they work and how dedicated they are.  Teachers have an incredibly difficult job and often literally have our children’s future in their hands.  It is gratifying as a parent and a Board member to watch them.  And I know that regardless of my status, my children would be getting the same care and attention they receive today.
 
This November you will have choices.  I’m asking you to send me back to the Board of Education for 4 more years to keep working for all our children.  I promise to continue to bring passion and a parent’s point of view to everything we do.  Thank you for your time and your vote.

Teaching September 11th in our Schools

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I am incredibly fortunate.  No one in my family was directly affected by September 11th, though most of them live and work in the Northeast.  The closest I came was an Uncle that regularly flew on one of the two flights from Boston that hit the Towers.  He was lucky… it wasn’t one of his regular travel days.  I was working in a hospital in North Carolina and we all crowded into the maintenance room where they had a TV to watch.  It was stunning and so very sad.  My sister and her friend were in Germany at the time and I remember my parents called her and asked them to please find a major town and just stay put for a few days.  Grief and uncertainty.  That’s what I remember most about that day.

The question has been raised by everyone from NPR to my wife about how we teach September 11th.  It’s a very good question.  We asked our kids what they knew, and they said terrorists that hated America had attacked us.  We asked them what a terrorist was, and they couldn’t explain.  These are 5th and 4th graders!  Somewhere along the line our educational system has decided to be vanilla about the attacks.  There’s no talk of extremism or what could have motivated the attackers.  My son and his friends think we are still at war with Iraq and Afghanistan, not understanding that what we are trying to do is help them have peace.  I tried to correct them and was basically looked at like I was crazy.

I don’t have all the answers.  I’m not a teacher.  I am a parent however, and I WANT my children to know and understand.  Not to scare them (although I admit I was afraid in those dark days) but to teach them.  The famous quote “Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it” is just as valid today.  Terrorism doesn’t go away just because we don’t acknowledge it no amtter what the source.  Teaching sanitized versions of events doesn’t spare feelings, it under educates our children.  And that is something I’m just not going to be in favor of.  So I’m going to ask what our curriculum is, and why.  We’ll see what kind of answer I get.

I could use a few good lawns :)

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If anyone is interested in hosting one of my signs for the political season and accruing the fame and glory of having a genuine Paul Stansel for Board of Ed sign in your yard (or, you know, just feels sorry for me!) please let me know.  I can always use good sign locations that get me some eyeballs. 

The VDTC is also looking for donations.  Asking for money is something I honestly hate doing, so this will be the first and last time I do it.  If you are interested in making a donation you can do it online or by contacting me.  The online donation form is here:

http://vernondemocrats.com/donate-to-us/

Helping Irene Victims in Other Ways…

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Hurricane Irene devestated many parts of the Northeast.  In upstate New York and Vermont for example entire towns have been wiped out.  One of the things often overlooked when trying to recover from these types of disasters is simple ways to help.  There is a desperate need in many of these communities for basic school supplies so that the children can get back some sense of normalcy.  So when you are buying that extra bag of groceries or bottled water to help out families in need, consider tossing in some pencils and notebooks.  This time of year they are available at amazongly cheap prices, and a little money can go a long way towards helping a school district.

First Day of School Memories

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There’s a great thread on the “You Know You Went to Rockville High School If” facebook page talking about what you remembered about your first day of school.  I have a terrible memory for my own elementary days.  I’m always amazed at people who can recount every teacher they ever had, everyone who was ever in their class, and everything in general about their school careers.  I have problems remembering people I graduated with :) . 

I do however remember my children’s first days of school.  Its amazing to realize they are now in 5th and 4th grade when I could swear they just started kindergarten.  So this week (and now with the hurricane next week!) I urge every parent to take a moment to think about your child and their first day.  It is, hopefully, something you will remember for the rest of your life.

CMT Results and the Effectiveness of Open Choice

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One of the most interesting things that came out of the conversation on CMTs at the last BoE meeting was the discussion around the School Choice program.  Schools that have failed NCLB requirements for multiple years in a row have to offer students the chance to go to a different school in town.  Currently there are almost 70 children that take advantage of the offer and go to Lake Street and Center Road from Maple Street and Northeast.  The majority of new requests this year were from Kindergarten parents who, I have to suspect, aren’t as invested in the neighborhood school as they might otherwise be.

Let me start by saying I completely agree with the parent’s right to do this.  It’s the law, and we will follow it.  The test numbers however seem to indicate pretty clearly that it doesn’t make a difference.  Your child will continue to perform almost identically to where they would have performed in their neighborhood school.  Simply moving them to a different school does not increase or decrease their academic success.  So what does that mean?  We are paying roughly $65,000 in transportation costs to move students in district when, academicly speaking, it doesn’t make a lick of difference.

So while I respect your right to move your kids, and even understand why you would want to, please don’t do it assuming they will get a better education.  We want to educate every child in every school as well as we possibly can.

I’m Running Again!

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Paul

My two year term on the Vernon Board of Eduation is almost up, which means I’m getting back into campaign mode.  I won’t lie and say campaigning is my favorite thing in the world.  In fact I am very happy to be running for a 4 year term this time around.  Assuming the voters are nice enough to put me back on the Board I won’t have to worry about another campaign until 2015.  Believe me, that’s a plus!  With that said though I have to work my butt off to get elected. 

This year is a pretty stiff race on the Board.  I’m up against 2 incumbent Republican members in Dean Houle and Laura Bush.  Can’t (and won’t) say a bad thing about either one of them.  We have different idea sometimes on the right way to get things done, but the one thing the last 2 years on the Board have taught me is that ultimately we all want the schools to succeed.  We may have different measures for success, and we may have different ideas about how to get there. 

But I’m incredibly thankful to be on the Board where the atmosphere is civil as compared to other areas of town government where it isn’t.  You didn’t elect me (I hope) to yell and scream at my fellow Board members.  That doesn’t mean I haven’t taken a stand sometimes (and once or twice even won!) and I won’t hesitate to argue when I think we’re in the wrong.  But I’ve grown enough in the last two years to also learn that I’m not always right ;)

The Vernon school system is a complex, sprawling corporation.  I’m very happy with the selection of a new Superintendent that we made, and I think Dr. Conway is implementing some great plans to help us steer the Vernon school system to success.  It is our job, as the elected Board, to be your voices.  To set policy that ultimately leads to the development of every one of our students.  I will do my best for every student of our school systems to make sure they get the absolute best that we can provide.  And if we are failing at that, I expect to be held accountable.

So please, reach out to me and let me know your thoughts.  Good, bad indifferent… I need to hear them.  You elect me to be your voice.  We won’t always agree, but I’ve never yet hung up on someone.

What I Think We Need…

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It’s always good to be out campaigning and get asked what I really think we need to do.  Too often people just smile and nod and take the campaign lit and then probably forget about me :) .  So if I’m knocking on your door and you are interested PLEASE ask me questions.  If I can’t answer them I’ll get you answers.

Now… what do I think we need?  We need to work on Pre-K and K education.  Too many of our children start off their school careers vastly unprepared with just the basic skills.  Ask any Kindergarten or 1st grade teacher and they can all give you horror stories about kids who don’t have any idea how to read, write, or even know their alphabet.  They start so far behind the curve and there is just no way in classroom sizes like we have now that they will ever catch up.  I want to see full day kindergarten offered again at all of the schools.  I think it was a serious blow when it was cut, and we should work hard to restore it.  And I think the existing Pre-K program needs to be expanded.  Right now it is bursting at the seams and cannot accept more students.

But let’s not put this burden solely on our teachers.  We NEED more parental involvement.  If you are involved with your PTO in any significant way, you know that by the time May roles around those 25 eager parents you started with are down to the same four or five who end up doing it all.  We need volunteers not just for the PTO, but to actually come in to the schools and do simple things like read to our children.  All of the elementary schools have guest reader programs, but so few people volunteer.  You don’t have to be a parent to be involved!  Get out to the PTO events, volunteer to help in a classroom, whatever you can.  A half hour every week can make a significant difference in the school system.

And on that note, I want to get our Middle and High School students more involved with community business.  We have a wealth of current and retired business people here in Vernon.  Let’s bring in guest speakers to the classrooms, run more internship programs with local businesses, and just generally make a commitments as a community to make our schools a priority. 

I want to stop the drain of students and resources to the magnet schools, not by forbidding it but by addressing the concerns of those parents who choose to take their kids out.  Why are the Vernon schools not meeting their needs?  It is far cheaper for us as a town to figure those problems out than to send our students to other school systems.  Let’s find the issues, fix them, and keep Vernon’s children here in our own schools.

Those are just some quick-hit thoughts on my top issues.  Please, if you have specific questions, ask me.  And I hope I can get your vote on November 3rd.

-Paul

Thanks for Visiting

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my website.  In the run up to the election, I am going to be using this as a means to distribute my views.  But more than that I really want to hear from you.  What are your issues?  What concerns do you have?  Where do you disagree with me?  We all need to elevate the discussion in Vernon politics beyond simple rhetoric and to a place where we can have honest discussion.  Difference of opinion is fine, but argument just for the sake of arguing is a waste of our time.

In towns across Connecticut, voters are feeling the economic pinch.  I know this is an issue, and maybe your primary issue.  I understand that people worry about advocating for school reform because it inevitably leads to higher taxes.  I want to work with you and any interested person to change that.  I want to see much more community involvement in the school systems.  We need more volunteers to help out in the elementary schools.  More parents to be involved in the PTO.  More people to come to Board of Education meetings and make sure all opinions are heard.

We will not always agree on the issues.  But I promise that regardless of our disagreements I will be fighting hard for a quality, affordable education for all of our children.  Thank you for your time.

-Paul