To the Editor:

We are writing this letter to express our strong support for the BOE candidate Jeffrey Liao. Ying met Jeffrey through his wife Kelly while volunteering on the Princeton Middle School PTO. Through our interactions with him and his family, we have been very impressed by what an earnest person and a dedicated father Jeffrey is. Once he told us that one of his favorite hobbies is parenting! 

If there is one thing that people who don’t know Jeffrey should know about him, that is, he is a very empathic person. Ying recently asked him: “As a father of two younger children, why did you decide to run for BOE?” He told her that as a son of immigrant parents, he himself benefited greatly from a very good public education. He sees public education as a great opportunity equalizer; every student in our town deserves to benefit from the excellent education that Princeton public schools can provide. When we asked him about his vision on excellence, he said, “you know, I want my kids to be strong and happy learners. Excellence education should include both academic rigor and socio-emotional well-being such that every student can be happy, learning, and excelling to their fullest potential.”

Jeffrey is a very good listener. He often says that not everyone learns the same way, and that the school needs to understand every student’s learning needs in and beyond the classroom. Through his campaign journey, Jeffrey has reached out to many communities in town. He believes that a good model of education should be culturally responsive so students from different backgrounds can all thrive. Watching him from a distance we are often amazed by how eager and capable he is to connect to different people.

Jeffrey cares not only about the outcomes in the public schools, he cares about taxpayers’ interests as well. A large amount of town tax levy goes to Princeton public school funding. Jeffrey said it is a priority for him to make sure that taxpayers’ money is well spent. To him, financial accountability not only means getting the numbers right, but to set the priorities of spending in a fiscally responsible way.

As Jeffrey puts it in his campaign message, “We are in this for all of us, not only for some of us.” With his extraordinary listening and analytical skills, if given the platform, we have no doubt that he will help make positive and refreshing changes in this school district and the town.

Ying Lu, PhD

Brent Giles, PhD

Princeton Kingston Road