RITA RAFALOVSKY
For Board of Education
ABOUT ME
I’m a first-generation immigrant from the former Soviet
Union, raised in NY and NJ public schools, mother of
two young children, and a professional with 16+ years
of experience in banking and consulting. My passion for
maintaining topnotch education at PPS and my concerns
about where our district is headed are the reasons I
chose to run for the school board. I care about this
community and have the courage and moral compass to
do the right things.
“Let’s restore the district’s focus on
academic excellence for all students
so that parents continue to choose to
live here and educate their children
in Princeton Public Schools.”
I BELIEVE IN…
District Transparency:
Increase conversation with, listening to and
soliciting regular feedback from staff,
students and tax payers. Employ an expert to
design the surveys. PPS students are typically not
surveyed even once a year about their classroom
experience. Feedback should be solicited regularly,
provided anonymously, and the summary shared
with the public.
Demonstrate respect by acknowledging the
public’s comments during BoE meetings,
and by finding ways to respond at or after the
meeting. Other NJ towns do it.
PPS has a $90+ million-dollar budget. As the
collective asset of our community, PPS should
conduct its strategic planning process
based on reliable data and measurable
goals, which will be the base for evaluating
performance and establishing accountability.
Building Community:
Democratically engage community participants
and embrace diverse opinions without stigma.
Organize a PHS alumni and local mentorship
network for teens to get advice about college,
applications, career paths, local employment or
research opportunities. Add a language designation
so that ESL students feel encouraged to participate.
Striving for Excellence:
The district’s primary responsibility should be
to provide top-level education for all students.
Attract and retain outstanding educators in
all staffing areas.
Implement evidence-based learning
practices, benchmark with other high performing
school districts and adopt best practices.
Urgently address recommendations in the
special education review of 2021. Prioritize
hiring of qualified bi-lingual aids to help staff
address challenges in assessing English learners
suspected of having a disability, understand why
there is disproportionate representation of racial
minorities identified with disabilities to prevent
recurrence of incorrect identification, and establish
a robust and formalized multi-tiered system of
support.
Leverage the intellectual capital of our
community to learn from them and create
enriching opportunities for students: setup an
Advisory Board composed of industry experts and
local university faculty to advise PPS leadership
and the BoE on our goals, the content of our
curriculum, to champion exclusive research
programs and internships for our students and
career development/network for our teachers.
* By law, only U.S. citizens and permanent residents can donate for
campaign purposes.
U.S. News ranked PPS #94 in 2009, #490 in 2022
Keep politics out of classrooms. Focus on unity,
empathy, resiliency and teach kids how to
work effectively together to prepare them for
the real world.
FOLLOW ME:
To
donate
via
check:
please
make
checks
out
to
“Rafalovsky
for
BOE”,
mail
to:
P.O.
Box
292,
Princeton,
NJ 08542.
RITA RAFALOVSKY
For Board of Education
ABOUT ME
I’m a first-generation immigrant from the former
Soviet Union, raised in NY and NJ public schools,
mother of two young children, and a professional
with 16+ years of experience in banking and
consulting. My passion for maintaining topnotch
education at PPS and my concerns about where
our district is headed are the reasons I chose to
run for the school board. I care about this
community and have the courage and moral
compass to do the right things.
“Let’s restore the district’s focus
on academic excellence for all
students so that parents
continue to choose to live here
and educate their children in
Princeton Public Schools.”
I BELIEVE IN…
District Transparency:
Increase conversation with, listening
to and soliciting regular feedback
from staff, students and tax payers.
Employ an expert to design the surveys.
PPS students are typically not surveyed
even once a year about their classroom
experience. Feedback should be solicited
regularly, provided anonymously, and the
summary shared with the public.
Demonstrate respect by acknowledging
the public’s comments during BoE
meetings, and by finding ways to respond
at or after the meeting. Other NJ towns do it.
PPS has a $90+ million-dollar budget. As the
collective asset of our community, PPS should
conduct its strategic planning process
based on reliable data and measurable
goals, which will be the base for evaluating
performance and establishing accountability.
Building Community:
Democratically engage community participants
and embrace diverse opinions without stigma.
Organize a PHS alumni and local mentorship
network for teens to get advice about college,
applications, career paths, local employment or
research opportunities. Add a language designation
so that ESL students feel encouraged to participate.
Striving for Excellence:
The district’s primary responsibility
should be to provide top-level education
for all students.
Attract and retain outstanding
educators in all staffing areas.
Implement evidence-based learning practices,
benchmark with other high performing school
districts and adopt best practices.
Urgently address recommendations in the
special education review of 2021. Prioritize
hiring of qualified bi-lingual aids to help staff
address challenges in assessing English learners
suspected of having a disability, understand
why there is disproportionate representation of
racial minorities identified with disabilities to
prevent recurrence of incorrect identification,
and establish a robust and formalized multi-
tiered system of support.
Leverage the intellectual capital of our
community to learn from them and create
enriching opportunities for students: setup an
Advisory Board composed of industry experts and
local university faculty to advise PPS leadership
and the BoE on our goals, the content of our
curriculum, to champion exclusive research
programs and internships for our students and
career development/network for our teachers.
U.S. News ranked PPS #94 in 2009, #490 in
2022
Keep politics out of classrooms. Focus on unity,
empathy, resiliency and teach kids how to
work effectively together to prepare them for
the real world.
* By law, only U.S. citizens and permanent residents can donate for
campaign purposes.
FOLLOW ME:
To
donate
via
check:
please
make
checks
out
to
“Rafalovsky
for
BOE”,
mail
to:
P.O.
Box
292,
Princeton,
NJ 08542.