Submitted by Anne Wichman
There are multiple forces attacking our public schools today. There’s the damage caused by the Covid pandemic, a mental health emergency, and yes, the continued battering by Republican candidates for state office.
Connecticut is in the three top highest rankings of school systems in the country. The Greenwich school system ranks third in the state. Our schools are the main reason why families move to Connecticut and a big draw for companies moving to the state. Not only do our schools help companies attract workers, but a well-educated population is vital. In that case, one would think our state legislators would do everything in their power to promote and fortify our schools. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Instead, our GOP appears focused on undermining and defunding our schools, which is also a national strategy. They favor vouchers for private schools, which only serve to gut our school system. They leave out special needs students. They fail to make the necessary investments for upkeep of our public schools and wait until a ceiling collapses or a school building is condemned before they act. They complain about indoctrination, cause disruption, and argue for “parental rights” over curriculum.
What our GOP candidates really want you to believe is that our schools are failing our children. Of course test scores went down during the pandemic, as they did nationwide. This is used as an excuse to push the voucher program agenda. They want to control what teachers can teach, what books can be read, and enact curricula in line with their ideology. This means banning discussions on subjects like race, racism, and gender.
The effect all of this is having on our teachers is painful. Last year, nearly 100 teachers marched to protest the harassment they have experienced. There are threats to our Board of Education members, administration, and teaching staff. They have even created a “tip line” outside of the school system to report teachers.
Our elected officials need to act as representatives of what their constituents want and not their own or their party’s agenda.
Senator Fazio sits on the Education Committee, so he should be a strong advocate for public schools. However, he voted “yes” on only one bill out of nine that came to the floor, and that bill was to fund charter schools. In fact, Fazio received the second lowest score in the Senate from the Connecticut Education Association.
Fazio was only one of two who voted against expanding mental health services for students, He voted against funding for paid family leave, funding for HVAC systems in schools, against safer gun laws, and against free TECH schools for CT residents. He has essentially voted against our children’s best interests. No bill is perfect. They all involve compromise, but there always seem to be excuses why legislators like Senator Fazio vote against these bills. We elect candidates to compromise and actually pass legislation that will be for the good of all, and not the few.
There is a mental health emergency going on in our country that is having severe detrimental effects on our children. We need to be devoting more, not fewer, resources to this crisis. Who could be more suited to help address these issues than Trevor Crow, a mental health professional running for the State Senate? Trevor is uniquely qualified to address the services so needed by our youth to put them on the path to success. She will work to support and fund both our public schools and our teachers.
A democratic society does not ban books and censor ideas and speech. We need legislators who will support our students, allowing them to learn in a nurturing environment and not a combative one. We need a State Senator like Trevor Crow.