Lisa Brinton: Candidate for Board of Education

Lisa Brinton

Candidate for Board of Education

Party Affiliation: Independent

What inspired you to run for the Board of Education? 

I’m tired of the annual BOE, Superintendent and Common Council  ‘cat and mouse game’ over the school budget – along with the refusal to acknowledge the impact Norwalk’s housing and land use policies have on school enrollment, operations and funding.  Education and housing are not SEPARATE issues – not in the state of Connecticut and not in Norwalk, although officials prefer to act as if they were. We need solutions, not platitudes injected into the conversation to remain affordable as a city and continue to educate the kids. Saying one ‘loves Norwalk’ or it’s all about the kids isn’t good enough or rooted in the realities of our growing budget crises.  We need people to serve on the BOE who have financial literacy, are not politically intimidated by internal party politics or by the educational credentials of any superintendent. The imbalance of 9-0 Board of Ed has been the death knell for transparency.  I’m running to 1) improve city and BOE transparency over the budget, 2) prioritize spending on the classroom and drive a conversation about other income sources, and 3) raise academic and behavioral expectations for students.  

What local education work have you done and what has changed because of your work? 

I’m a retired AT&T corporate executive. After multiple cancer episodes and as the proud mother of two young children at the time, I completely shifted gears in 2007 and became civically involved in all things Norwalk, starting with education. From 2004-2019, in addition to PTO roles, mentoring, tutoring, grant writing and fundraising, I ran an after-school newspaper club for NPS students in grades 4 through 8. Students honed their writing skills, published their articles and learned how to debate.  Hundreds of students became more exposed to current events and improved their non-fiction and persuasive writing skills during their (typical) 5-year timeframe in the program. My other educational engagements have included:

• Member, Norwalk Public Schools District Data Mgmt. Team: State mandated organization focused on monthly district operations, student assessments and strategies directed at closing the achievement gap. (2009-2015.)
• Founder, R.Ed Apples of Norwalk: Education advocacy group focused on local reforms, educating the public and working with Connecticut’s CONNCAN to close the achievement gap. (2009-2015.) 
• Success for Senators: Member of the 501c-3 fundraising organization for Brien McMahon (2011-2017)
• President, Roton PTO: (2007-09.) Treasurer, Rowayton PTA (2005-6.)
  

What perspectives would you add that the board currently lacks? 

Financial accountability and big picture perspective.  I have 25-years of corporate finance and operations experience across three continents, combined with 12 years of teaching in the classroom. I’m also daughter of an elementary school teacher. I was cutting out bulletin board displays in the classroom from the third grade onward.  

What are your top three priorities for the next school years and what is one thing you would deprioritize?

1. Transparent, prioritized spending. Advocate dollars be spent on teaching staff and academics versus administration and special projects. The City & BOE don’t need their own purchasing, HR, finance, communications and IT departments. Other prioritization discussions might center around ‘school choice’ and bussing. The transportation budget increased by $1M this past year. We need to look at administrator to student and teacher ratios and revisit the role of the Family Center and other satellite learning locations. Threatening music programs, given our rich history and success as a district was wrong. 
2. Advocate for teaching staff. Teacher burnout is real. The Connecticut teacher’s union (CEA) conducted a recent survey. Teachers listed serious problems in the classroom, including teacher stress and burnout, student behavior; student mental health, too little preparation, collaboration and planning time; and budget cuts.  Advocating for teaching staff also means advocating for state ECS dollars for teaching staff as an elected official.  Elected official’s advocacy goes only so far when it challenges the conventional wisdom of their majority party. Sorry.
3. Raise expectations. Student behavior and academic standards have dropped since I was a student (a long time ago) and since my sons were in NPS (2004-2017.)  It’s been gradual – but noticeable. Younger parents might not even be aware. It’s a national problem – not just Norwalk. Is it preoccupation with phones? Technology? Social media? Parental or societal expectations? Adults aren’t doing students any favors by lowering the bar. Most recently, I was shocked at a City/BOE finance meeting, where district test scores were shared – while boasting Norwalk’s performance against Connecticut cities that are lower in terms of socio-economics – known as Demographic Reference Groups (DRG.) This is unacceptable and misleading to parents and taxpayers, unless the state wants to give Norwalk the same level of ECS funding they receive.  

Deprioritize Micromanaging teaching staff.

What changes would you implement to make the budget more parent readable? 

It’s not just the budget that needs to be easier to understand. Public school jargon associated with the budget and school operations is its own internal language and culture and leaves parents in the dark. I appreciate everybody has an opinion regarding US education. School districts get pulled in different directions by various agencies, however parents and the public need to better understand where money is spent.  Some funding issues are specific to NPS policy, while others are state and federally driven. 

What is your contingency order, if federal funds shrink or are taken away? 

For better or worse, if funds shrink, most NPS funding (88%) for the ~$255M budget is paid through local property taxes. The 2025/26 budget revealed ~ $30M in grants. Half was from the federal government and half from the state.  If federal funds go away, we need to make sure money is spent in the classroom and with student facing staff. The city and BOE need to consolidate overlapping departments and stop the ‘we versus them’ approach to budgeting. Finally, we need courageous conversations and action over diversifying our funding sources.

• More efficient services means consolidating overlapping departments.  The City & BOE don’t need their own purchasing, HR, finance, communications and IT departments.
• Diversifying tax revenue means elected officials (state and local) begin conversations about 1) stopping the developer tax abatement zones for apartments, 2) looking at a vacancy tax for blighted parcels of land or buildings, 3) enforcing blight fines, 4) implementing parking permits, 5) fighting for fairer state ECS funds and 6) pushing state reps and Harford for a portion of the local sales tax or consumption tax to ease the tax burden on the shrinking number of homeowners.

How would you approach the recent attendance concerns for multilingual students?

The key to attendance and student success is connecting with parents, guardians and families at home.  We need to engage all families, but we need more support for our multilingual students, including more cultural inclusion, increased translation services and getting students proficient in English sooner. Other approaches include mentoring programs (positive reinforcement and intervention) and consequences (accountability measures) for students. What is the saying? “80% of success is just showing up.”

What should Norwalk families remember about you when they vote?

I’m independent, pragmatic and old school, but see the bigger picture.  As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, I grew up with an emphasis on reading.  The link between reading and success in life is irrefutable. Reading makes for better thinkers and problem-solvers, boosts general and specific knowledge and helps in the development of social and communication skills. 

I was raised to value academics over shiny bricks and mortar buildings.  Reading, writing and math, complimented by the arts and sport was the summary of my K-12 education before going on to higher education and a master’s degree.  Obviously, we live in more complicated times – students, teachers and families are in information and technology overload. It’s impacting mental health and behavior for everyone.  

It doesn’t help that US education has always been pulled in many directions, with unfunded mandates by a myriad of government agencies, with questionable results. US test scores on the international stage are mixed, yet we spend more than any other developed country. We’re also the only country that funds by zip code – resulting in the largest student achievement gap, with Connecticut being one of the worst states. Post-secondary education is strong, but we lag in K-12 instruction. 

There are ~ 50 million public school students in 13,000-15,000 US school districts with thousands of superintendents reinventing curriculums. The position is a challenging one, with high degrees of stress and turnover, but it shouldn’t be absolute.  Norwalk has had its fair share of superintendent turnover.  Perhaps we need to look within. However, with each superintendent, comes a new wave of administrators, educational philosophies and practices… and more spending. Anyone elected to the BOE must be mindful of consistency, supporting core academics, and not subscribing or spending on the latest trend. Too many battles are fought over adult agendas in the name of student learning.