Maciel (a current WSESD School Board director), Schoales (a former director), and Davis (a former director) all live in Brattleboro. Nolan, a former Brattleboro Town School Board member, lives in Dummerston. The four collectively add that their views here "are entirely our own and do not reflect any official opinion of the Windham Southeast [School] District School Board. School board affiliations are noted for identification purposes only."
As past and current school board members, we have all shared a commitment to creating and maintaining a school district that is both fiscally responsible and educationally sound. We have all focused on supporting our teachers and staff and ensuring that all students in our district are offered a high-quality educational experience.
This is why we enthusiastically support the re-election of Emilie Kornheiser to the Vermont House of Representatives.
Thanks to Emilie's uncanny ability to bring opposing parties together for the common good, the Legislature passed a bill (H.887) that funded our school budget at a level approved by the voters while also bringing down our property taxes to a more reasonable rate.
We are well aware that serious challenges to our public education system lie ahead, and that is precisely the reason we need her to continue her work. She has demonstrated time and again the ability to collaborate with others to arrive at pragmatic, creative, and long-term solutions to the complex problems facing our state educational system.
There is good reason that Emilie is endorsed by the Vermont-National Education Association, the largest teachers union in Vermont. Both are committed to public education at a time when it is attacked not only by far-right extremist groups, but even by our own governor.
At a time when Gov. Phil Scott was advocating for larger class sizes and pushing for teachers to pay more for their health care, Emilie was working to provide more affordable housing in Vermont, thus making it easier to attract and retain new teachers to our area when competition for quality instructors is harder than ever.
Today, more families than ever before in Brattleboro have access to early childhood education thanks to Emilie's sponsorship of a foundational child-care legislation (now Act 45).
As chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Emilie also championed the largest state-level child tax credit and earned-income tax credit in the country.
The struggles of single-parent households with young children are not simply abstract notions for Emilie. Her tireless work to support families in need is borne, perhaps, from her own firsthand experiences as a young mom who once relied on public assistance and support from friends and neighbors. Today, she continues to give back to her community in countless ways, most notably by her extraordinary work in the House.
Emilie's many successes as a legislator - last year she was named Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) Legislator of the Year for her thoughtfulness and creativity in championing socially responsible businesses - are rooted in personal values and principles that deeply reflect those of her community.
These include a belief that government is better when citizens from all strata of our society are not just informed about but engaged in decisions that impact their lives. They include a sense of humility that opens her up to the opinions of others as we have seen in her town meetings in Brooks Memorial Library, neighborhood barbecues, and open sessions at school board meetings.
Work ethic is another value our community embraces and anyone who knows anything about Emilie Kornheiser knows that few, if any, legislators work as hard on the job as she does.
We all want our high school graduates to become honest, responsible, and engaged citizens, and Emilie provides them the perfect role model.
We also understand that Emilie's viewpoints may not appeal to everyone. Perhaps her plan to expand affordable housing with a 3% income tax surcharge on households with annual incomes over $500,000 (H.829) is not appealing to some of our state's wealthiest households. But we believe it is the kind of bold, progressive, and fair stratagem that addresses the growing income gap that is so detrimental to students and their families in poverty who struggle on much less than a $500,000 annual income.
For all of our teachers and staff, for our students and their families, and for the good of Brattleboro and our state, we ask that you cast your ballot for Emilie.
Tim Maciel, David Schoales, Andy Davis, Thomas Nolan
Maciel (a current WSESD School Board director), Schoales (a former director), and Davis (a former director) all live in Brattleboro. Nolan, a former Brattleboro Town School Board member, lives in Dummerston. The four collectively add that their views here "are entirely our own and do not reflect any official opinion of the Windham Southeast [School] District School Board. School board affiliations are noted for identification purposes only."
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
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