Dear Editor,
I’m writing to express my support for Savion Castro’s appointment to the Madison school board. In addition to being a talented young leader of color and great human being, I feel Savion will bring an important perspective to the school board at this time of great challenges for public education generally, and for the Madison schools in particular.
Elected office as a whole skews old, few offices more so than school board. While that has shifted a bit in recent elections, there are still no representatives of the younger generation on the current school board, at a time when students and recent graduates of the schools are more engaged than ever. Savion would bring that needed perspective.
A product of the Madison public schools (he graduated from La Follette High School in 2013), Savion was born and raised in a working-class family in Madison. More importantly, he has demonstrated his commitment to the community and engagement in civic life to a rare extent for someone so young. Both during and after graduating from UW-Madison, Savion has worked for the public – he currently works in the office of Madison-area Rep. Shelia Stubbs – for campaigns (Barack Obama, Mary Burke, current Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes) and for causes (Planned Parenthood, One Wisconsin Now, and others).
I take both public policy in general and public education in particular very seriously. Apart from having kids in public school, I’ve been involved in public policy and politics for nearly 20 years, researching and writing about policy at UW-Madison, working for two presidential campaigns, and most recently for state government here in Wisconsin.
It is with this in mind that I heartily endorse Savion for this position.
Sam Munger
Madison
