To the Editor:
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time over the past two months to speak to me about my candidacy for Voorheesville School Board. I also want to again thank the Voorheesville Teachers’ Association for its endorsement. It means a great deal to me that our community’s professional educators and service providers have faith in my capabilities to serve the entire community.

My candidacy has been based on four cornerstones:

— One, preserve the things that make us an award-winning, forward-thinking district and always strive to improve upon it wherever possible;

— Second, address on a local level the lack of civics education that is common throughout most school districts. Civics should not be about a single class taken in the junior or senior year (which is currently the case).

Rather, as recently put by New York State Commissioner of Education Betty Rosa, during the New York State Bar Association’s recent “Making the Case for Civics Education” convocation, civics should not be isolated from the other subjects taught, but rather must be dispersed throughout our entire curriculum.

As part of this, and as urged by United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor who spoke at the same convocation, a media literacy course should be required for all high school students. In 2022, I am proud that, due to my efforts to get it onto the ballot, voters placed a student on the board of education. As a school board member, I would continue to be an unwavering advocate for civics education; and

— Third, we must consistently and unflinchingly support our most valuable resources in our mission to provide an education: our staff. We do this through providing them with the resources they need as professionals to do their jobs, providing them with the dignity of a living wage, and by fostering a respectful environment of open communication that enhances recruitment and retention.

Finally, because the board exists solely to speak for and inform the public, I believe we can and should make our regular board meetings resources where people can come to learn with and from the board.

Toward that end, if elected, I pledge to explore having regular presentations for the board and public about subjects that affect education. For example, the board recently had someone with expertise appear at a board meeting to give a very useful and engaging overview of “Title IX,” a federal law that many mistakenly think applies only to athletics.

The reality is that our district is not only in the business of educating our children; it also has a responsibility of educating community members on the issues that affect the expansive world of education that school boards have to deal with on a regular basis.

If honored with the privilege to serve on the board, every member of our community has my word that I would approach every vote and issue deliberatively and with integrity.

As I have said from the beginning of my campaign, I believe passionately in public education and its fundamental value to us all as a society. As the Greek proverb goes, “A society grows great when old men and women plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.”

This is the precise task before us, and I am ready to get to work on your behalf and for the benefit of future generations, but I cannot do that without your vote.

Voting is May 21 from 2:30 to 9 p.m. in the middle-school foyer. Please note that you do not need to be registered to cast a vote in Voorheesville's school board election and budget vote.

Matt Bergeron

Candidate

Voorheesville School Board