Of the three
Bridgewater candidates in the race for two open seats on the Bridgewater-Raritan
Board of Education (BR-BOE) is Zachary Malek, a recent graduate of
Bridgewater-Raritan High School, and a new face in his quest for public
service.
Malek is in his
first year at Rutgers, where he is majoring in political science. Should he be elected, he will be one of a
few, if not only the second person of his age ever to win election to such a
responsibility in New Jersey.
This is not
a run-of-the-mill school board election, because the other two candidates are
heavily experienced in school board affairs.
One is an incumbent, while the other is a previous board member.
So why
consider Zachary Malek? Why place your bet on a young man studying at Rutgers?
Those were some
of my thoughts when I received a phone call from him in early October asking if
I would sit with him to discuss his candidacy. We did so and engaged in a
thorough, intensive discussion for nearly two hours.
I held back
on none of my views about the challenges of serving on a board of education.
Many of my
questions were directed at finding out why he was so intent to run, whether he
fully understood the benefits and perils of taking on such a responsibility,
and if he felt that he could handle the combined university/school board workload.
Malek was
very direct and confident in fielding responses to the issues and the roadblocks
that could face him should he make it through the election process.
His Youth
certainly is not a disqualifier in this situation: Many adults of more years than he have won a seat
of public trust only to have miserably failed at it, so I’m discounting that
one.
As for the
double load, it is very common for board of education members on the BR-BOE to have
very demanding full-time responsibilities. No one that I can recall has ever thought of that
as an impediment.
Zachary Malek
has a passion for public service, and has clearly articulated his views on educational
and fiscal matters, as well as for transparency in public affairs.
Examples: He
sees himself as a better voice to represent students, stating that there is an
effective “lack of youthful
representation,” and that their voices have been “effectively silenced on many issues.”
He points to
a need for “better fiscal transparency,” saying that the budget is
inadequate to this task, in that “the
budget released by the Board of Education is not that helpful" in
identifying “where and why the money is
being allocated.”
Other of his
key interests center on two issues of national interest: namely, technical
training and the cost of higher education.
He wants an “expansion of Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM)” in this district and, in a quite forward way
of thinking, has posited the idea of “leveraging
the High School infrastructure” with that of Raritan Valley Community
College (RVCC) to provide a combined High School diploma and an Associates
Degree.
Coincidentally,
Sunday’s edition of The Star-Ledger (10-29-2017)
contains an article in which the RVCC identifies as one of its four pillars in strategic
planning for 2018-21 as “Increasing
Strategic External Partnerships,” of which “partnerships with local school districts” are one.
As to the
possibility of full-day kindergarten, Malek has said that it’s time for the
board “to stop dragging its feet on this
issue.” He wants action in the form of a community-wide referendum.
There you
have it: Two veteran candidates, and a third, fresh face with an articulated passion
for getting into public service – all three vying for only two coveted spots.
Zachary
Malek has laid out his plans and dreams for all to see. Perhaps he deserves a
shot at the brass ring.
No comments:
Post a Comment