Why I am running for School Board

By Graham D.S. Anderson

Letter to the Record-Review

Like the tide coming in, school and property taxes have had a consistent, upward rise for years and have made home ownership in Bedford more burdensome for many and impossible for some -- especially those seniors and young families who find it increasingly difficult to live here. This inexorable rise threatens the cultural makeup of our town. The result is more homes for sale in a down market and lower sales prices. In the long run, Bedford will not thrive under these conditions. I want to help turn the tide and restore balance to this community.

I am a member of the district's newly-formed Budget Advisory Committee. We worked with the School Board to achieve an important milestone this year -- a no-growth budget that I will vote for. That accomplishment is not the conclusion of our budget efforts; it is only the beginning. We must establish a process to increase efficiency. It is possible to combine excellent education for our children with financial responsibility. My experience and skills make me well suited for this role. My experience includes: Budget Advisory Committee, BCSD; CFA Charterholder (Chartered Financial Analyst); Partner of a venture capital firm, Euclid SR Partners; President, Venture Investors Association of New York; Member of the Board of one public (NASDAQ: PSEC) and several private companies; President, Westmoreland Sanctuary; Clerk for a Federal Judge on the 6th Circuit Court; Yale College and Yale Law School.

We need greater transparency. The School Board should not ask taxpayers to pay more taxes without a compelling explanation. Moreover, the Board should benchmark its spending and performance against similar districts. At the Budget Advisory Committee, we identified comparable districts that deliver excellent educations to children on substantially smaller budgets. The next task is to determine how these districts are able to do so and implement their ideas within our district. We won't tolerate backsliding on educational quality and we shouldn't have to do so.

I want to change how the school district balances the needs of our children with the tough, fiscal realities imposed on our town by our country's troubled economy. Efficiency, transparency, and more educational bang for our taxpayers' hard-earned buck is essential. I ask for your vote on May 19 so we can move our district on this path.