Submitted by Jon Redmond, District 11
For seven years, now Senator Ryan Fazio spent his Saturday mornings volunteering as a tutor for middle school kids in the Bronx and philanthropically supporting a network of inner-city public charter schools to help low-income students thrive.
When he first ran for office, in the summer of 2020, Ryan discovered that several Democratic state senators, including his predecessor, were lobbying the governor and state education commissioner to close schools in the fall of 2020. He publicized this news in our district and spoke out for opening schools in person to reverse the COVID learning loss. Now, with tens of thousands of Connecticut students falling below grade level in math and reading, we see why Ryan Fazio spoke out.
When CIAC, with the backing of the state government, cancelled fall sports in 2020, Ryan joined student athletes and parents in protesting to keep sports going. Everyone knows the importance of sports for adolescents’ physical and mental health. Now, after the US has seen obesity rates skyrocket by 30 percent among adolescents and mental health problems by similar magnitude, we see why Ryan spoke out.
When Senator Fazio arrived in the Senate and the governor sought a sixth extension of special executive powers, Ryan made his first long floor speech against it. He calmly and thoroughly defended our constitutional system of checks and balances and local democracies. He trusted parents and local education officials to make policy judgments about their kids rather than strict policies on high from Hartford.
When students, dads, and, especially, moms around Fairfield County began to speak up against extending the statewide school mask mandate into 2022, Sen. Fazio was among the strongest and first voices in the state Senate to support them and mask choice. Eventually, the administration followed that lead.
And, finally, with the rise of mental health problems in schools, Sen. Fazio co-wrote legislation to examine and provide long-term solutions for students’ well-being, focused on smart phones and educational programming. That legislation was included in a larger bipartisan bill and passed into law. One prominent social psychologist called the intervention a “first-in-the-nation” effort.
Sen. Ryan Fazio’s heart and actions have always been focused on the next generation. Please vote to re-elect him on Nov. 8th.