To the Editor:

My family moved to Princeton because of the town’s outstanding schools. While other districts, like the one we’d moved from, are seeing upwards trends, over the past six years Princeton school rankings and scores took a downward trajectory.

Rita Rafalovsky’s family and mine share the same background. Diversity, inclusion, transparency, and quality of education are near and dear to our hearts. Rita doesn’t throw these words into the air to get our votes. She truly means what she says, and she acts on her promises. Most importantly, Rita listens and learns from others. As parents we want the best for our children. As residents we don’t want increases in our property taxes. I’ve been privileged to attend some of Rita’s mastermind meetings, such as how to make major improvements with zero impact on our property taxes. Even prior to taking the office, Rita has been actively communicating with other school districts to understand what worked for them and use that information for our district’s benefit.

I’m confident that Rita is the leader Princeton needs to bring democracy back to the Board of Education by introducing a dialog between parents and educators. She will be a leader in raising the bar, setting specific goals, and measuring the district’s performance. Let’s give Rita our vote and watch her lead our district in the right direction.

Julia Rotenberg
Kingston Road