To the Editor:
A couple of weeks ago, our nine-year-old daughter, Carmen, looked at our mail and saw a flyer we received from the Write-In Euille campaign, asserting “our kids can’t afford Allison Silberberg to be their Mayor.” The flyer was a blatant misrepresentation of Allison’s record on education and incorrectly attacks her voting record on funding for public education.
Carmen picked up the flyer, read it from front to back and said to me, “Really? These guys have no idea what they’re talking about.”
This comes from a fourth grader who has known Allison her whole life and has always known her to be enthusiastic about education. In fact, Allison has taken a special interest in all of our kids, frequently asking them how they are doing in school, what are their favorite subjects and always encouraging them to do their best.
As a former School Board member with Alexandria City Public Schools, I never questioned Allison’s commitment to education. Over the past three years as vice mayor, she voted for full funding of every school budget. She understands how critical it is to dedicate resources to public education. She is active in the local school community and tutored children at MacArthur Elementary School. The Alexandria Political Action Committee for Education endorsed Allison’s candidacy for mayor.
Allison understands the importance of education because she is a former teacher. At the height of the crack wars in Washington, D.C., she launched and managed a non-profit called “Lights, Camera, Action!” to mentor and teach youth and help them reach their potential through film. Seven out of the eight participants went to college. She also was an adjunct professor at American University where she taught undergraduate and graduate students for more than three years.
As mayor, Allison will continue to push excellence in our schools. She will continue to support early education. She will continue to work with the School Board and Superintendent Crawley to keep our class sizes small and manageable. She will seek more tutoring resources. With her support of the National Science Foundation’s move to Alexandria, she will find ways to help students with their core science and math skills.
These are just a few examples of what Mayor Silberberg’s vision for education in Alexandria.
I am proud to endorse Allison Silberberg to be Alexandria’s next mayor.
I have no doubt Allison will continue to be our city’s champion for education.
Even a fourth grader gets that.
Eileen Cassidy Rivera
Former School Board Member, Alexandria City Public Schools