To the Editor:

As representative of the 106th General Assembly District, Mitch Bolinsky has always been accessible and open to our discussions on educational issues. He has been receptive to considering evidence regarding many of the educational reforms like the controversial Common Core State Standards, student data privacy, etc. He understands the negative impact on student learning from overtesting and continuous statewide assessment practices. He also sees the threat to student and family privacy rights by the excessive collection of personal and confidential student data.

The passage of the new federal education law, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides state legislative policymakers with flexibility and autonomy - Mitch Bolinsky understands these changes and applies a thoughtful, sensible, and fiscally practical gauge in considering proposed education policy initiatives that come before the legislature.

As a member of the Education Committee, he is positioned to have a significant impact on upcoming education legislation and is savvy enough and open to looking more deeply into the underlying motivations behind proposed initiatives. Mitch Bolinsky gets it; although we have recently moved from Newtown where we raised our children and lived for 40 years, our appreciation and commitment to its schools and the statewide policies that impact those schools necessitates voting for a steady, knowledgeable, and passionate voice in Hartford. He is a man of integrity and common sense; Mitch Bolinsky should be reelected to another term.

Sincerely,

Mary E. Burnham and Jack Bestor

45 Tress Road, Cheshire         October 10, 2016