We-Ha.com welcomes Letters to the Editor from the public, including endorsements. Letters submitted by political candidates will be considered for publication up to 14 days prior to an election and most will be published within 48 hours of receipt. Letters that contain personal attacks or include profanity of any type will not be published. Rebuttals to letters should be submitted as a separate document if possible. Please provide your full name and town, as well as your phone number at the end of the letter. Phone numbers will not be published but are required in case verification is needed. Please submit letters to [email protected].

To the Editor,

We write as concerned citizens, taxpayers, and graduates and parents of graduates of West Hartford public schools. In the debate over the West Hartford school district’s proposed 6.6% increase for the 2026-2027 budget which would exceed $228 million and average more than $25,000 per student, we start with questions as to the present allocation of the district’s current $214 million budget to priorities that do not represent the expectations of the funding public.

As one example, last school year, 2024-2025, the West Hartford Public Schools contracted to pay $20,000 to RE-Center: Race & Equity In Education, to provide trainings and curricula driven exclusively by social goals such as hiring and retention of personnel on the basis of race, without regard to student educational outcomes. The district entered this contract notwithstanding RE-Center: Race & Equity In Education’s social media demonizing Israel and promoting groups that support terrorism. RE-Center: Race & Equity In Education is now defunct. We are concerned that this misguided investment by our school system reflects a pattern of expenditures for personnel and programs without transparency and without metrics for student learning and advancement. We are disturbed by accounts that parents’ inquiries to examine their children’s curricula are being rebuffed by district administrators. Why is there secrecy in school curricula?

We call on the district to openly address its emphases and allocation of resources before considering imposing higher costs that significantly burden the public and parents without clearly reflecting their priorities. West Hartford children should receive a thorough, ambitious K-12 education aimed at preparing them for higher education, careers in a changing and challenging economy, and good citizenship.

Respectfully,

• Laurie Feldman, West Hartford
• Stephen Gilles, West Hartford
• Elena Tunitsky, M.D., West Hartford
• Jonathan Greenberg, West Hartford
• Galya Greenberg, West Hartford
• Ari Schaffer, West Hartford
• Getachew Dires, West Hartford
• Jose Olivencia, West Hartford
• Jack Ohayon, Hampton, New Hampshire
• Mark Schwartz West Hartford
• Miriam Schwartz, West Hartford
• Joel S. Pachter, Ph.D, Simsbury
• Diane Biegel, Simsbury
• Harry Weller, West Hartford
• Robyn Etelis Weller, West Hartford
• Daniel Gilles, Beijing, China
• Laura Barash, West Hartford
• Daniel Barash, West Hartford
• Deborah Shoflick, West Hartford
• Ruth Yancovich, West Hartford
• Michele LeConche, West Hartford
• Yelena Pasternak, West Hartford
• Emmett Gilles, New Haven
• Eve Pachter, West Hartford
• Debra Rostowsky, West Hartford
• Richard Rostowsky, West Hartford
• Judy G. Singer, West Hartford
• Irwin D. Singer, West Hartford
• Marsha McCracken, West Hartford
• Patricia Hamilton, West Hartford
• Sandra Berinstein, West Hartford
• Oren Faircloth, West Hartford
• Sharon K. Freilich, West Hartford
• Mark Merritt, West Hartford
• Vladislav Zalevsky, West Hartford
• Marina Azimova, West Hartford
• Robin Santiago, West Hartford
• Rafael Santiago, West Hartford
• Michael Snyder, West Hartford