Career educator announces School Committee run

Jill Krajewski, who has taken out papers for School Committee, announces her candidacy:

As a career educator, I have sought opportunities to influence educational policy and decision making without leaving what I love doing every day, working with children. As a science teacher, I have an interest in making sure that decisions are data-based.  

For the past 15 years, I have been a union leader in the district where I teach. When I moved to Arlington and had children, I envisioned that someday I would shift my expertise to contribute to the education system in the town where I reside and that I love.  

I had worked on the Build Arlington's Future campaign, in 2016, to ensure that the high school was modernized in a way that afforded students in Arlington a state of the art place to learn. Then, during the pandemic, I realized that the flexibility and creative thinking that I experienced as a leader in my work district could play a role in supporting my town’s local school system.

When a School Committee position recently became available as a longtime member chose not to run, I knew this was the time to move forward. In consultation with my husband and our fifth- and eighth-grade children, I decided to run.

As a candidate I pledge to:

• Listen to families across the district to understand how APS can grow and use my experiences in the classroom, and as a parent, to critically evaluate data and inform policy changes.
• Work through the override process to provide the financial support necessary to attract and retain high-quality and diverse educators across all bargaining units.
• Support the new assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction to ensure that innovative and sustainable programs can flourish within the APS.
• Work to understand how the data tells the stories of the seven neighborhood elementary schools and work to ensure that the unique needs of the various schools are supported.
• Support the relationship between the district and the school community, including the families who reside outside our town borders.
• Support availability of school-based before- and after-school programs that are essential to the many young families who treasure Arlington’s elementary schools.
• Continue to ask questions and examine data to ensure our curricular and co-curricular options are accessible to all students who wish to take advantage of these offerings. This includes looking at the hidden costs associated with athletics and performing arts and ensuring that a tiered intervention system is identified and utilized to support all our students in the classroom.
• Use the data collected on recent social-emotional inventories and work to provide the support systems needed as we work to support children in a postpandemic educational setting.

I, Jill Krajewski, strongly believe that my experience as a public high school science educator and as a parent of children who are currently enrolled in the Arlington Public Schools, and who will be throughout my entire term, will enable me to contribute strong, sensible decision making and balance the School Committee.

My background in union leadership will be an asset for understanding the role of contracts and budgets as a vital component of the decision-making process, particularly as we work to balance the need to continue to fund with the need to build on a solid foundation of public education. I would be honored to have you join me by supporting my candidacy with your vote on April 1.

Find more information on my website or Facebook page. Or reach out by email.

Website: www.jillforarlingtonschools.com 

Facebook: Jill Krajewski for Arlington School Committee 

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

YourArlington welcomes statements from candidates. For details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This political announcement, which includes opinion, was published Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. .