I will vote for Gayle Goldin because I believe she has the experience, commitment, and capacity for thoughtful, fair decisionmaking that we need in the Rhode Island General Assembly. I say this carefully, because also know and respect her primary opponent, Maryellen Butke. I am gratified to see a contest between two strong, smart, capable women.
Gayle is among the parents with whom I am privileged to spend lots of time with during the Little League baseball season. When we’re not cheering on our kids, we have time to talk about a whole range of education issues. Gayle asks smart questions, researches issues, understands the intricacies of policy, and considers a range of viewpoints in ways that make it clear to me that she will be an effective legislator. I know that Gayle will work on behalf of Providence's public schools in ways that build on current strengths to create better places for teaching and learning for all students.
Gayle also understands the ways that strong public school systems--rather than a preponderance of charter schools--best serve our state's students. She knows that while charter schools have a critical place in school improvement efforts, they're not the only answer to the real challenges Rhode Island's young people face. She is committed to equitable funding and focusing the power of the state legislature to create improvements in areas such as accessible technology that can support all schools in all communities. And she knows well that good schools depend on statewide efforts to mitigate the effects of poverty, family instability, neighborhood safety, health challenges, and more.
I also respect Gayle's expertise in these other areas. She has years of experience in health care policy, women’s issues, and issues impacting families. She has a compelling personal story and a record of work and public service that have prepared her well for service in the General Assembly.
If you are a District 3 voter and haven't yet made your decision, it's up to you to learn more. Please consider attending the College Hill Neighborhood Association's candidate forum tomorrow, Wednesday, September 5 at 6:30pm at List Arts Building, 64 College Street on the Brown campus.
And if you'd like more time with Gayle, I am co-hosting a coffee and dessert hour with her on Thursday, September 6 at 7:30pm. I’d love to see people who would like to get to know Gayle there Email me at jill.davidson@gmail.com and I'll send you an invitation.
What is Gayle's position on marriage equality?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteI passed your question on to Gayle. She said, "I support marriage equality. For more, visit my website at http://www.gaylegoldin.com."
Thanks for this post, Jill. I love any blog post that can be tagged "baseball," "equitable funding," AND "PPSD." I am also supporting Gayle, and I really appreciate her thoughtful style and her interest in listening and weighing the options. Her background is more in health care policy and child welfare than it is education, so I've been particularly pleased to see what a quick study she is and how measured she has been in forming her opinions about public education. I can see her working collaboratively across various groups to get something done, something we educators really, really want in our leadership!
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