Partisan politics taint races for School Committee

To the Editor:

Someone once said, “When you mix religion and politics, you get politics.”

As a candidate for School Committee, I think we may need to revise that quote this election year to say, “When you mix public schools and politics, you get politics.” In other words, politics and public schools do not mix.

The Warwick School Committee has been non-partisan for more than 50 years - and for very good reason. Yet, behaviors of some of our candidates for School Committee have left me very unsettled, as they should you.

On their social media pages, some candidates post that they’re canvassing with “Councilperson ‘X’’ or “State Representative ‘Y’’ or “Candidate for office ‘A.’’ Others post that they’re looking forward to attending various political fundraisers. Some express pride in accepting endorsements from sitting City Councilors who have led the effort to do away with the very elected School Committee office that the candidate is pursuing! Further, you’ll find other school Committee candidate’s political signs displayed at various campaign headquarters of Democrats and Republicans alike who are seeking elected office. Still others advertise that their fundraisers are being hosted by current sitting Congressmen, and State representatives and Senators. How this shows a respect for non-partisanship is beyond me.

I honestly don’t believe that one can respect the non-partisanship of a School Committee seat and engage in this blatantly partisan behavior. This School Committee election is one of the most critical we have had in a very long time and, while some may call me naïve, this alliance between non-partisan School Committee candidates and partisan candidates for other offices just has no place in a non-partisan School Committee race.

I’ll contrast all of the above to my own campaign for Warwick School Committee. I have very consciously and deliberately conducted my campaign to specifically avoid being cast as using political connections or influence to pursue a non-partisan seat. In fact, I have turned down gracious offers from elected officials precisely because of my belief in the non-partisanship of the seat.

On election night, I will be home with my family and some close friends following the day’s returns, not at someone’s campaign headquarters partaking in the festivities because, again, politics and public schools do not mix.

That said, I believe that we need to know just who it is that we’re voting for in this School Committee election and with whom those candidates are aligning themselves to get elected because it’s important. Elections matter and sometimes elections have consequences.

I invite you to visit my website, www.davidtesta.

com, follow me on Facebook, @DavidTestaforWarwickSchoolCommittee and Twitter, @DavidTesta4WSC – there you will find some of my priorities for our schools, my years of experience, testimony from fellow Warwick residents and more. You will not find any endorsements of me from any political candidates, or by me for any political candidates, their fundraisers, or anything else politically related. What you will find is information on substantive issues affecting our schools, thoughts and ideas on education, and even a few photos of my family and friends supporting my bid for office. Then I invite you to compare this to what the other candidates share on their social media pages and what they submit to the local media. My campaign has adopted the slogan ‘At the end of the day, someone’s schools have to be the best, why not ours?’ These are not merely just words to me– it’s my core belief. Together we can get this done.

Thank you for your consideration.

David Testa

A Warwick resident, parent of two in Warwick schools, Mr. Testa is an at-large candidate for School Committee.