Savion Castro began his campaign for a full term Madison School Board of Education on Thursday night at Tempest Oyster Bar.
“It’s really a special moment for me especially how important education has been in my life,” he said.
Castro graduated from Madison La Follette High School in 2013 before majoring in Economics at the UW-Madison. He works as a legislative aide for State Representative Sheila Stubbs’ Office. He was appointed to the board to fill Mary Burke’s seat on the school board after she resigned in July.
“What I want to do as a member of this board is to make education inspiring again,” Castro said.
Castro said while he certainly had his own adversities as a student in Madison Metropolitan School District schools that teachers, mentors, advisers and members of the community helped him overcome those and fall in love with education. Now, he would like to do the same for Black and Brown students in the district.
After warm remarks about getting to know her colleague while serving together, School Board member Ananda Mirilli gave the floor to Castro. He spoke about investing fully in early childhood education and training the next generation of leaders.
“When we talk about restorative justice in education, we can’t just talk about it in how we discipline students or as a framework. We need to talk about it as a way to heal injustice in education, particularly for Black and Brown students that’s in our school system right now,” Castro said.
He said students of color should receive agency and opportunities to share their voices in regards to their education. Castro said Black and Brown students should not be viewed as problems to be solved.
He also said Madison Metropolitan School District is doing some really special things in the schools. Castro believes teaching students the history of this country helps young people understand the legacy and heritage of where they come from empowers them to make choices to better the country.
“Every day I get to go into schools and speak to young Black and Brown kids. It’s an inspiring endeavor. I get to see Black and Brown students go through education the same way I did,” he said.
Castro called serving on the Madison School Board the biggest honor of his life. He’s running his campaign platform on unlocking the potential of all students and supporting educators.
