{news} "Green party candidates say their youth is a plus" (Stamford School Board)

[David Bedell]

Nice profile of Nina and Matt in the Stamford Times:

http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/stamford_templates/stamford_story/287348852280226.php
Thursday, October 26, 2006

Green party candidates say their youth is a plus

By A.J. O'CONNELL
aoconnell@ thestamfordtimes.com

STAMFORD — At 23 and 24, the Green party's two candidates are by far the 
youngest running for the school board.

But Nina Sherwood, 23, and Matt Loter, 24, don't think their campaigns 
should be taken lightly just because they're half the age of some of the 
incumbents.

"I think my age is an asset," said Sherwood, a recent graduate of 
UConn-Stamford, who works at the Giuliani School of Music in Darien. "I know 
what it's like to be a student."

Sherwood, a Stamford native who was asked to run for school board by the 
Green Party leadership, thinks some new blood on the board would be a good 
thing, and feels she could broaden the viewpoint of the district.

"Because of my age and because of my experience in the schools, I think I 
have a lot to offer," she said. "I think I'd bring a new dynamic to the 
board of education."

Loter, a recently-married Stamford native, is running his second school 
board campaign this year. He also feels his age is a plus for his campaign, 
although it takes a back seat to issues such as No Child Left Behind and the 
treatment of teachers.

"The board of education has no [members] who are educators," said Loter. He 
takes issue with incumbents like Democrat Susan Nabel, who insists it is not 
the job of the board to be educators, but to manage an educator — the 
superintendent — who runs the schools. Loter says the board members must 
become educators because they are responsible for running the schools.

"They're the boss," he said. "They're telling [the superintendent] what to 
do."

Loter, who works at Go Vertical Indoor Rock Climbing in Stamford while he 
studies to be a teacher, was raised by teachers. His mother, Carol Loter, is 
a first grade teacher at Springdale Elementary School. He said the city's 
teachers are being hung out to dry by Superintendent Joshua Starr and the 
current board.

"Teachers get charged with all the responsibility for failure, yet they have 
no real control outside of their classrooms," he said.

Sherwood is dismayed by the amount of money allotted Stamford under the 
current Education Cost Sharing [ECS] formula. She feels the feels the 
district, which is already involved in a lawsuit to receive more funds, 
should be pushing harder for better funding. She thinks Stamford ought to 
present a mock budget to legislators to convince them the district needs 
more money.

"They should come up with a budget saying exactly what they would do with 
the money if they were to get it," she said.

Sherwood is also a supporter of arts programs as a way of reaching students 
who don't like school. She said there were times when Stamford High School's 
arts programs kept her in school.

"It gives a more positive feel to school," she said.

Both Green Party candidates also acknowledge that in a town where two 
parties have dominated for so long, they run the risk of not being taken 
seriously by older voters or traditional supporters of the Democrats or 
Republicans.

"I think instantly, people look at us and they write us off because [we] 
look so young,'" said Sherwood. "I think it's a challenge for us. But I'm 
really serious about it. I've done my research."

Loter says that after his first debate at Westover School he heard from 
several people in the community and he thinks that the message of 
achievement for all students espoused by himself and Sherwood is reaching 
the community.

"If I ran the exact same campaign but I were a Democrat, I think I would 
pick up a lot more votes," he said. "And that's a shame."

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