To the Editor:

I write in enthusiastic support for Eleanor Hubbard for Princeton Public Schools Board of Education. It is no secret that there has been strife between the community and the school district as of late. Eleanor Hubbard is exactly what the Board of Education needs at this time, and I urge Princeton residents to vote for her in November.

I have known Eleanor for eight years and witnessed her qualifications from two different perspectives: as a fellow parent and as a colleague battling the district over misguided changes being made to math education.

As a parent of kids who are friends with hers, I have witnessed Eleanor’s utmost concern as a parent to be her children’s well-being — emotional, social, physical, educational — through an emphasis on the importance of free time for kids to play and just be kids, to bike around town on their own, and to participate in some (not too many!) fun extra-curricular activities, like music and gardening and math puzzles. My own kids have enjoyed many a long, unstructured afternoon simply playing outside at her house. Her uppermost concern as a parent is not her kids’ advancement or padding a resume: it is their well-being. This attitude is crucial at a time when it can feel as though our district has lost focus on the well-being of each individual child, what each child needs to be both happy and well-educated given their particular circumstances.

As a colleague, I have seen Eleanor’s approach to difficult and complex educational issues to be measured, thoughtful, and sensible. We have both been active the last few years battling the district over misguided changes to math education, in particular by removing opportunities for advanced coursework while failing to enact reforms that could truly help struggling kids. Even in these heated debates, Eleanor remains cool-headed, amiable, and open to discussion, aiming for solutions that take into account multiple perspectives.  At the same time, she has an incredible grasp of the complexity of the issues involved, and will stick to her guns when she knows that certain ideas and trends about education, even if popular, are ill-founded. She is animated throughout by a stalwart belief in the importance of high-quality public education for all.

At a time when our district can appear indifferent to individual children’s well-being and educational needs, prioritizing policy and bureaucracy over a particular child’s needs given their circumstances, Eleanor’s on-the-ground knowledge of what our kids are really experiencing — she has three children in our schools, at the elementary and middle school levels (if elected, she will have a child in the high school during her term as well) — is invaluable. Eleanor Hubbard’s thoughtful and sensible approach to education, her openness to discussion and ability to get along with others, her genuine concern for the well-being of our community’s children, and her passion for high-quality public education for all kids are exactly we need on the Board at this time.

Please consider voting for Eleanor Hubbard for Board of Education in November.

Jill North
Sycamore Road