 Hi, my name is Carrie Spitzer and I'm running for school committee because I believe that new challenges call for new approaches. I grew up in South Amherst across the street from Hampshire College and the house that my maternal grandparents built when they moved to Amherst. My step-grandfather Lester Mazer was a founding professor at Hampshire College. After school he would watch me and my sister. Lester inspired me to pursue a career in public service. What I loved most about spending time with him was that in addition to cooking great food together, he talked to me and my sister, like adults, like the students across the street. There were two things he expected from us. First, to be curious learners. He bought me no less than three dictionaries as a child. He also demanded that we be civically engaged. At Passover Saders, he'd hosted our house inviting students from across the street who had no place to go. He would ask each of us to bring a passage about slavery or freedom to discuss as a group. These values of excellence in education and social justice were reinforced during my years in the Amherst public schools. And this is the reason why I decided to move home when I had kids of my own. In college I was active in a campaign to drop mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders in New York State. When I moved to New York City, where I pursued a master's in public administration and worked for the city to analyze, I worked for the city to analyze data from the Department of Homeless Services and the Department of Corrections to identify frequent users of the jail and shelter systems. This research contributed to a program to provide permanent supportive housing to frequent users of the city's jail and shelter. Later I would work at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. There I worked in affordable housing finance to build affordable housing for New York City residents. I also worked at the Independent Budget Office where I conducted non-partisan analysis of the city's budget. I am most proud of a report that I helped to author which outlined the high cost of the city's juvenile justice program. It was used by advocates to reform the city's ineffective, expensive and racist juvenile justice system. I moved from New York City back to Massachusetts to pursue a PhD in urban policy and planning, which I completed in 2016. And today I work as a health services researcher. While I have been most comfortable behind the scenes as an analyst and researcher, I am running for office now because I believe our schools need strong and thoughtful leadership. We have excellent teachers, committed administrators and an engaged community. Unfortunately the town faces difficult challenges. The budgets of our schools, especially the regional, middle and high schools, are in decline and cuts no one wants to make are necessary. In addition, after town meeting voted against a plan that would have resulted in $34 million in capital funds to be invested in our public schools from the state, we are left without a clear path forward on how to make sure all of our kids get to learn in safe and healthy buildings. I would make infrastructure a priority. No kids should go to school and no adult should have to go to work and buildings where the ceiling tiles are falling in when it rains. Happily there are some exciting opportunities on the horizon. I fully support a dual language program because I believe it would help all our students from English language learners to bilingual kids to native English speakers. Furthermore it's a positive program that will show our schools commitment to creating a culture that embraces diversity. I would be thrilled if my youngest gets to take advantage of this program. Through my work in the enrollment working group, I had the opportunity to meet with administrators at all three of our schools. I was impressed by their dedication and excellence and they reinforced my belief that Amherst schools are our greatest asset and we should do everything we can to keep them strong. I hope I can have the opportunity to apply my policy and budget skills to the schools that I love. I hope you will vote for me on March 27th. I love Amherst and I'm committed to our public school system. I want to be involved and bring our schools forward so that the next generation of kids can develop the same love of learning and commitment to social justice that I did.