I am a father of three, all of whom either are or have gone to Southampton schools.  I am also a business owner.  I run a small law practice on Main Street in town.  Through grit and perseverance, I’ve done pretty well for myself.  But I grew up not unlike many of the kids who live and go to school in Southampton.

I was raised in Southern California.  I am one of four children. My parents were hardworking blue-collar workers.  My dad climbed telephone poles for the local phone company, and my mom was a modern-day Rosie the Riveter.  She worked in aerospace joining wing assemblies to cargo jet fuselages.

We weren’t poor, but we weren’t rich.  I remember as a young kid waking up early on the weekends, getting in the family Datsun, and helping my parents deliver the LA Times for a little extra cash.  My mom worked the swing and night shifts so she could be home for us during the day.  More often than not, she would work six or seven days a week for the overtime.  The annual vacation was camping at Yosemite.  And despite its proximity, I didn’t go to Disneyland for the first time until I was a teenager.  At sixteen, I got a job as a dishwasher at a local pizza place.  I haven’t not had a job since.

Growing up, my mother would tell me how she regretted having a “job” and not a “career.”  A job is what you do, a career is who you are.  Want a career, she would tell me, then get an education.

And so I was the first in my family to go to college (University of Redlands).  And then the first to go to law school (Rutgers – Camden).

The point is, I know hard work, I know sacrifice, I know setbacks. I also know that I wouldn’t be where I am today without my education (and my mother).

We can kid ourselves, but life isn’t easy nor fair.  Getting a decent education though will help level the playing field for our kids and give them a leg up over the competition, whether they’re looking to go to college or learn a trade.  And a decent education should prepare them for both, whether they’re looking to be the next Rosie the Riveter, like my mom, or a lawyer, like me.

But too often I look around and get the impression that schools are lowering the floor, not raising the ceiling, and not challenging our kids to be the best they can be.  When was the last time your child had homework that they actually did at home instead of at school?  Why do our kids get good grades on their report cards, but yet they don’t test “proficient” on the State’s standardized tests?   Are the tests testing the wrong things?  Or are we not teaching the right things?

I’ve been in the work force over twenty years now, and I frequently come across people who have the smarts, have the talent, have the ability, but weren’t pushed or encouraged to try harder and rise to the next level when younger.

Had they been pushed a little harder in school, had we expected more from them, had we taught them the tools to succeed, had we shown them they’re just as capable as the kids from the ritzier towns whose parents drive nice cars, had we taught them how to make hard decisions, had we told them to expect more from themselves, that it’s not always easy, but they can persevere, then maybe they would have done better.  Maybe they would’ve become a scientist and discovered the cure to cancer?  Maybe they would’ve been president?  Maybe they would’ve founded the next Google?  Maybe they would’ve won the Nobel prize?

There’s no reason why not.  And I don’t want that someone, that unfulfilled potential, to be a kid from Southampton.  Our kids are just as good and capable as the kids in Haddonfield, Moorestown, and Princeton.

It’s our education.  It’s not what it needs to be.  We spend $12 million annually on our children’s education in Southampton and yet only 54.5% are proficient in math and 64.3% are proficient in language arts.  And those are the “good” pre-COVID numbers.  The post-COVID proficiency scores are a complete abomination.  Eighth grade math — students who have likely spent the majority of their educational life in Southampton schools — only 10.3 % tested “proficient.”

Our schools are failing our kids and robbing them of their futures.

We were all just recently bombarded about the new health and P.E. standards.  Where was the talk and drama about improving our kids’ reading and math?  Why weren’t there Zoom meetings and handouts about that?  Why isn’t that a priority?

Parents received an email every time there was a confirmed case of COVID.  How about a parent email every time a child fails a test or is lagging behind where they ought to be?

Ever been to a school board meeting?  Where’s the agenda item labeled “How are the kids doing?”, “What can we improve upon?,” “Do our teachers have what they need?,” “Are we improving from last year?”

Look at the School Board’s 2021-22 goals.  There were three of them.  Goal #1, “develop a comprehensive action plan to address the social and emotional health needs of the Southampton Township School Community for the 2021–2022 school year.”  Goal #2, “take advantage of opportunities to communicate and work together.”  Goal #3, “develop a comprehensive action plan to support the COVID-19 Pandemic School Reopening Plan.” WHERE’S THE GOAL OF EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN???

We need a Board of Education that (hence its name) prioritizes EDUCATION.  We need a Board of Education that makes EDUCATION its goal each and every year.

Folks, we need to try harder.  We need to try harder on all levels.  We need to try harder as a community, as parents, as teachers, as students, as administrators, as school board members, as taxpayers, as stewards of the next generation.

I am ready and willing to try harder.  If you’re not and you’re fine with how things are, then I’m not the candidate for you.

But if you’re looking for someone to go in, ask hard questions, make hard decisions, ruffle some feathers, and try harder than the present lot on the Board to prioritize our children’s education and make it better, then I ask that you please vote for me.  Thank you.