To the Editor:
I am writing in support of Michele Tuck-Ponder for School Board. Why, since I am beyond having children in the public schools, would I be interested in School Board candidates? My late husband, David Brodsky, was on the Princeton Township School Board before consolidation. He was also elected to the first joint School Board. My daughter, a molecular biologist, says her interest in science was all due to her third- grade teacher at Riverside School. And I, as a Rutgers professor emerita, have spent my career in education.

Michele has an amazing record of public service. No one is more dedicated to the welfare of Princeton and its schools. After serving as a mayor of Princeton Township (she campaigned vigorously for consolidation during her tenure), she became a member of the Board of Education.

During her time on the School Board, Michele has been vice-chair three times. She is known as someone who listens, who is fair, who is fiscally responsible. Anne Reeves, founder of the Arts Council of Princeton, once wrote, “Michele is exceptionally thoughtful and clear-headed.” Steve Frakt, former Princeton Township Committee member along with Michele, declared “she listens to all points of view, but she is very resolved. When she makes up her mind, she is a very good advocate for her position.”

And what is her position? It’s exactly what the Princeton schools need. She believes that Princeton should provide the opportunity to excel to all students in equal measure. The children of Princeton deserve a member of the School Board like Michele with the courage and leadership to ensure those results.

With a son at the high school, Michele has a vested interest in excellence in Princeton’s public schools. But she wants the best for all of Princeton’s children. As a proven voice for accomplishing that goal, she understands that success depends on hiring the people with the required abilities, and therefore, she has chaired the Equity and Personnel committees and co-chaired the Labor Negotiations Committee, which successfully negotiated three labor contracts in one year. Her concerns were to ensure that the hires had the experience — and even more importantly the values of excellence and diversity.

Princeton has a history of excellence in its public schools. It’s faced with issues of how to serve a burgeoning student body with a vast variety of needs and remain fiscally sound in the process. We need the leadership of Michele Tuck-Ponder.

It’s not just the parents of children currently enrolled in Princeton’s public schools who should be concerned with the future of Princeton’s schools. It’s also the rest of us whose children have grown up or those without children. It’s our town, and excellence for our schools, should be a priority for all of us. Please vote for Michele as a candidate who can accomplish this goal on our behalf.

Judith K. Brodsky
Clarke Court