To the Editor:

As our Board of Education embarks on the journey to find a new superintendent and leader for Princeton Public Schools, we ask the Board to recognize the need for courageous and bold leadership to ensure that ALL of our students are supported and that we empower the next generation of leaders in our communities.

Princeton Public Schools needs a leader that can inspire and motivate us to think big and encourage an “anything is possible” dialogue around how to solve the challenges in our schools. At this time, more than ever, we need disruptive innovation in education and Princeton should be at the forefront, where we test and launch projects that use cutting-edge techniques and technology to build solutions in education.

We should strive to serve as a role model for using education to radically improve the world. We should not settle for incremental improvements, but aspire to being a moonshot factory of sorts in education.

We ask the Board to look for a leader who will:

Truly make our classrooms as diverse as our community by reflecting that diversity in our educators at the front of the room. Model an environment of inclusion where all voices and perspectives are heard and where we respectfully debate so our children grow up with the skills to do the same.

Hire moonshot thinkers. Encourage and celebrate innovation and radical thinking by administrators and teachers in the classroom. Learn from the failures and build off of the successes.

Embrace the civic mission of schools. Young citizens are coming of age with a distrust of public institutions and demonizing people who do not think like them. Even though schools are the perfect place to invite young citizens to engage, we fail to do so. We need leadership who understands the power and importance of nurturing among our students the knowledge, skills, and disposition that make the foundation for citizenship in a democracy.

As a town with a rich history in leading a revolution and nurturing a young country, and that sits in the embrace of one of the most revered educational institutions in the world, we should expect nothing less.

Neena Patil
Founder, Princeton Youth Program For Civic Engagement