IN THEIR WORDS: What public officials do for us. Penny Rashin, New Canaan, CT Board of Education

Education, particularly K-12, is being transformed at the federal level, with programs cut, shifted to the states, or absorbed into other federal departments. But most of the work shaping children's education occurs at the state, city and town levels on local boards of education. In this episode of IN THEIR WORDS: What public officials do for us, we are joined by a 17-year veteran of a community BoE, Penny Rashin, who was bitten by the "education bug” after a career in law.

In New Canaan, “education IS the business of the town,” serving the vital schooling needs of youths, and managing the impact of evolving technologies like social media and AI “for the good” of education. “Our job is to make sure the town’s resources and policies give students the skills they need to be successful: technology, social and emotional learning, and knowledge.” Plus offering vast activities in clubs and sports because “you just don’t know what will be the spark.”

Critically, the community is an essential “partner” through public school board meetings or special referendums that, she says, can get contentious, but “it’s good to be feisty! These are important issues in the lives of children.”

This has earned New Canaan’s school system the number one rank in Connecticut – and the 30th best in the US. Perhaps after hearing Penny’s story, listeners might consider running for their local board of education. It’s rewarding and essential to "getting education right" for future generations, and Penny reminds us that “the power is with the voters” – true words for the times.

Episode Notes:
-More about this episode and Penny Rashin's full bio can be found at https://www.citizenartscreative.org/intheirwords
-More about the New Canaan Board of Education can be found at https://www.ncps-k12.org/page/about-the-board-of-education/
-National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) https://www.nsba.org/home
-Music credit: Frederic Chopin, Waltz in B minor. Music by Nesrality from Pixabay
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