Milford Board of Schooling District Four candidate: Raquel Hernández Bonessi
Current job: World language teacher
Voluntary background, if available: Literacy Volunteers of Southern CT here in Milford. At school, coordinator of the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), Sociedad Honoraria, Hispánica-National Spanish Honor Society, International Annual Evening.
Education: CT Literacy Specialist Program: Remedial Reading & Reading Consultancy from Sacred Heart University; Sixth Year: Interim Administration and Supervision from Southern Connecticut State University; M.Ed .: Elementary Bilingual-Bicultural Education and TESOL from Rhode Island College; BA: World Languages from Rhode Island College.
Previous positions held: Currently a board member for Literacy Volunteers of Southern CT
If you are elected, what will you mainly focus on – budget, curriculum, other topic?
If I am elected, my main focus will be on the curriculum. One problem our city is facing is the poor results of the Milford Public Schools * CT State Smarter Balance Assessment: 32 percent of students are below grade in English and writing, 39 percent in math, and 50 percent of students are below the school level in science. These results come from before Covid and do not take into account the learning loss over the past year and a half. Yet there is a rate of increase of 93 percent from 92 percent.
I will ensure that more time is devoted to focusing on higher expectations, strict curriculum, and removing politics and other agendas from the classroom.
* CT mirror 9.9.19
How do you feel about recent calls from some for more input to the curriculum? Do you feel that the curriculum is appropriate, do you have any problems or changes in your mind?
Parents are concerned and concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability. You want to keep politics out of the classroom and emphasize the basics – that is, focus on math, science, writing, reading, history, and the arts. We must advocate for our gifted and special needs students and support our prestigious performing arts and sports programs. If we focus on the essentials rather than the “racism everywhere” issue that has crept into Milford’s schools, our children will be better served. In addition to the Covid-19 disruption to education, these programs create a lost generation of students.
Your opinion on the school budget – how does it stand for what is needed in schools?
I don’t know a budget for long-term reach plans, but I believe there has to be one. We currently spend over $ 99 million on education and that number doesn’t include the $ 24 million on the city side paid for nurses and all medical services. That’s a total of $ 125 million. If we divide that number by the student population of 5,300; the cost per student is approximately $ 23,000. These numbers do not include the recent $ 4-5 million funding from emergency aid to elementary and secondary schools known as ESSER.
All candidates can also provide their reasons for running, the time they spent in the city, and why they are best suited for the role.
I have lived in Milford for a long time and I can bring real diversity to the education committee. I am a Hispanic, immigrant who lived under Castro’s communist oppression for 10 years and under Franco’s fascist dictatorship for two years. I know what it is like to lack basic civil rights, to be monitored in thoughts and actions, not to have food on the table and to have water and electricity rationed daily by the government. I was uprooted and forced to start my life over; in a new country with a new language and culture, so I understand the needs of a modern, diverse student body. I am very grateful to this country for opening its doors and enabling my single family to enjoy the freedoms of this county.
I am highly qualified to serve in the BoE. I have over 30 years of experience in the curriculum background, developing rigorously integrated lessons aligned with government standards and assessments, and communicating with parents in an understandable format.
