About the Candidate: Betsy Kaplan

Name: Betsy Kaplan

Party: Democrat

Position Seeking: Board of Education

Family Information: I have lived in Farmington for 20 years with my husband Keith and our three daughters, Katie, Sammie, and Sally

Occupation: After obtaining my Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing in 1982, I spent nine years working as a full-time registered nurse in various settings, primarily, Intensive Care. When in 1991 I had my first of three daughters, I chose to shift my focus away from nursing and toward my children and community as a PTO leader, library volunteer, and for a few years, as a docent and museum educator at the Stanley-Whitman House and Museum. As my children grew, I chose to enroll in the Master’s Program in American Studies at Trinity College, whose requirements I completed in May, in preparation for a new career.

Political Experience: I am an 8-year veteran of the Farmington Board of Education, serving the last 6 years as Vice-Chair. I have been involved in many aspects of Board work, including as Chair of the Policy Committee, as a member of the Curriculum and Negotiations Committees, and on numerous administrative search committees. I have also worked jointly with Town Council officials on the Education sub-committee for Farmington’s Long-Range Strategic Plan and the Joint Board of Education/Town Council Self-Insurance Committee.

Why are you running for office? I wish to continue the work begun with the implementation of the Board of Education five-year goals, developed last year with a vision to optimizing an educational climate conducive to preparing our students for a global economy.

If elected, what would be your primary areas of focus?

It is important for me to support initiatives that will prepare students for a global economy where they must possess the skills to compete with international students in our rapidly developing world. Students must know how to analyze information from multiple sources, communicate within varied cultural contexts, clearly articulate ideas using advanced technology, adapt to the rapid changes of our modern society with resiliency and persistent effort, and create opportunities for jobs not yet created.

What issues or opportunities is the town facing today?

The town, like much of the nation and world, is experiencing an economic downturn, requiring town officials to make difficult decisions on behalf of people worried for the future of their families, and within the constraints of limited resources. Our instinct tells us to hunker down and sit tight. Although it may sound counterintuitive, I believe we must not lose sight of the significant investment we, as a community, have already placed in our educational system, when prioritizing education as a necessary investment to prepare a new generation of leaders with the skills to change our current situation.

How would you propose to address them?

I believe the Board of Education must be cognizant of the economic limitations faced by our town when considering what is important to the long-term prosperity of our schools. As a result, we must promote the initiatives most important to the future success of our students.

During economic struggle, it is hard to prioritize the long-term and often intangible results of a comprehensive K-12 education that prepares students to be global citizens, but we must communicate to a larger audience the significant correlation between education and personal and economic growth. Students lose important opportunities, and the community experiences diminished returns on the long-term financial investment they have already placed in our educational system when arbitrarily determined budget reductions force school leaders to dismantle long-range initiatives and programs that prepare students for a global economy unlike any we have yet experienced.