To the Editor:

This Mother’s Day, I was inspired to think of ways that mothers in our community can work together to improve the education of all of our children. Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 asked women around the world to rise up as one to end the carnage of war. Other powerful mothers’ movements have included Mothers of the Playa de Mayo, Moms Demand Action, and the Say Her Name Mothers Network. Mallory McMorrow’s viral speech in the Michigan Senate last month also resonated with me. It was a call to action to suburban moms like herself (and like me) to stand up to politics that marginalize and target other people’s children and stand for the principle that all children should be seen, heard and supported.

Last week, Princeton Public Schools held the first of two Community Forums regarding Strategic Planning. Parents and other stakeholders were asked to come together to consider where our district performs well and where improvement is needed. Kudos to the district for their remarkable transparency, sharing 88 pages of data from survey results as well as other sources. The data clearly indicates that, even while our schools perform well by many measures, there are also areas that can be improved for virtually all students. Most disturbing, the data also reveals that long-standing disparities in student experience and outcomes between demographic subgroups persist, with Black and Brown children, children with disabilities, and LGBTQIA children particularly impacted.

The good news is that our resources in Princeton, in terms of funding, leadership and expertise, are tremendous. While some parents voiced the concern that a focus on equity will negatively impact programs that they value, District Superintendent Dr. Carol Kelley encouraged parents to think in terms of both/and rather than either/or. The task isn’t easy, but turning our district into a shining example of educational excellence and equity is not undoable. Think what we can accomplish if all the mothers — as well as other stakeholders — rally around this as a common goal. A good place to start would be the second Community Forum on May 31.

Amy Mayer
Overbrook Drive