We are a group of educators who recently had the pleasure of meeting with School Committee candidate Leba Heigham. Some of us knew Leba before this meeting, others did not. We had the opportunity to ask tough questions and to listen to her frank, knowledgeable responses. We also had the opportunity to talk to teachers who work with Leba in the Malden Schools. Each one of us left that meeting strongly impressed by Leba's credentials and strongly endorsing her as a candidate for the Arlington School Committee.

Leba is a veteran teacher who has worked in the Malden Schools for the past 13 of her 15 years teaching. She taught math and science for 11 years and was then chosen to be a k-8 math coach for the Malden system. She also interned as a building principal as part of a principal certification process. She clearly understands how schools work from a teacher's and an administrator's perspectives. She recognizes the impact that budgetary decisions have on the classroom experience of students and teachers. She is able to highlight both the challenges, as well as some of the benefits, that MCAS testing has had on instruction. She is able to talk knowledgably about the type of staff development efforts and incentives that are genuinely helpful and motivating for teachers.

Leba is someone who has practiced the delicate arts of negotiation and administration. She was selected as the Union Bargaining Chair for her teachers' union. She has a first-hand appreciation of the regulations and challenges of balancing the needs of a school system with the needs of its staff. In her role as a math coach and a principal intern, Leba has also had to set expectations and assess progress of other educators. In speaking with us, she was very clear about how supervisors and administrators need to define goals and then hold personnel to the goals that are set.

Leba does her homework and she thinks creatively. She has a working knowledge of state and federal education laws and funding sources. While many candidates can tell you that they want to get more state funding for the Arlington Public Schools, Leba offers a number of concrete and novel ideas about how Arlington might access more funding. She has also spent a lot of time gathering information about the Arlington Schools from many stakeholders in the school community.

Leba is open-minded. She has many ideas about what makes schools function well but she is not tied to any specific agenda for change. She is prepared to listen to ideas and to evaluate information before making decisions.

Finally, Leba is the parent of two children in the Arlington Public Schools.  She is strongly invested in insuring that the Arlington Schools provide a quality education for her daughters as well as for all of the students in the system.

We urge you to give one of your three School Committee votes to Leba Heigham April 5.

Joan Axelrod, Lucy Conroy, Mary Cummings, Vicki Ford, Barbara Goodman, Linda Hanson, Adele Kraus, Joani LaMachia, Jean Potter

The Arlington School system has been rocked by controversy this year. The election next week gives us an opportunity to elect the people who can mend the divisions in our schools and our town. I hope you will join me in voting for Joe Curro and Leba Heigham for two of the three School Committee seats.

Joe Curro led efforts for reasonably scaled development at the Symmes redevelopment project. He led the community response when hate mail was directed against public officials. He led the transformation of the No Place for Hate initiative into a freestanding Arlington organization when the national sponsor's stance on the Armenian genocide threatened to undermine the group's mission.

Leba Heigham will bring a balanced approach to the Committee. She is both a parent with children in the Arlington schools and a teacher with real experience in the classroom. She has taught math and science in public schools. She mentors other teachers in their professional development, and she is a licensed school principal. Leba has been involved in negotiating teachers' contracts as a union member. Her depth of experience is remarkable.

We need leaders who have experience at seeing all sides of an issue. We need leaders who know how to lead a group to consensus. Joe Curro and Leba Heigham are offering calm, reasoned leadership for Arlington's schools at a time when divisions seem fairly intractable. I hope you will join me in casting two of your votes for School Committee for Joe Curro and Leba Heigham.

Jim Marzilli
Stevens Terrace

At this time within the school committee, I believe it is critical that we have someone with Leba Heigham's qualifications and experience serving on the committee. Everyday new discoveries are being made in brain science and human development. Promising new research suggests that we can improve a student's ability to concentrate and process information. Some researchers are making claims that we can change student attitude and behavior. Medical researchers claim that when children with dyslexia, ADHD, and Asperger's establish certain new brain pathways, many of their symptoms disappear. Entrepreneurial education companies are all too willing to push products based on this research. But because something works in a research lab does not mean the same results will play out in the classroom. I was a student during Arlington's 1970's failed experiment with open classroom education. While some students benefited from this program many of us fell behind academically.

Leba is very familiar with the latest educational theories and is a math curriculum expert. Because she has been a teacher she understands the challenges and the learning curve teachers face when adopting new texts, curriculum, and methodology. If elected, Leba would use this knowledge to advise the school committee on curriculum issues. Right now school curriculum is catching up with the latest research. While curriculum catches up with research we need to be careful not to adopt the wrong programs.

Because the state and federal government threatens to base school aid on performance standards, adopting the wrong program will not only hurt students academically but it could be costly for taxpayers. I believe Leba will help us strike the balance that is needed to keep the Arlington schools advancing but at the same time prevent us from adopting unproven hype-driven, wasteful programs. I believe that a vote for Leba is a vote for putting qualified individuals on the school committee during a most challenging time.

Andrew O'Brien
Hillside Avenue

I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Leba Heigham for School Committee. Leba has the dedication, experience and leadership skills necessary to advocate for high quality education in the Arlington Public Schools.

I had the good fortune to serve with Leba on the Bishop School Advisory Committee. Leba brought the unique perspective of both a licensed principal and a veteran teacher to the committee. She played an integral role in shaping policies and guidelines that continue to benefit the Bishop School community today.

As a member of the DOE Math Support Specialist Network, Leba deeply understands the challenges faced by both teachers and students regarding instruction and MCAS performance. She is an ardent supporter of smaller class sizes and understands that a lower student to teacher ratio is crucial to higher quality instruction.

Leba is a parent of two students in the Arlington Public Schools, as well as a leader in the Massachusetts Teachers Association. She will bring a fair and balanced perspective to the School Committee to ensure that students, teachers and parents are thoughtfully considered in each decision.

I close with the words that Leba has chosen to summarize her candidacy:

"Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." - Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of Children's Defense Fund

I encourage you to cast one of your three votes for Leba Heigham on April 5.

Kiera Campbell
Richfield Road

We are fortunate to have someone of Leba Heigham's experience and passion as candidate for the School Committee. As a public school teacher, math specialist, union leader, and administrator, Leba can offer a unique and insightful perspective as our town continues to improve our school system in such financially difficult times. I've witnessed Leba's passion for our children, both as a coach for soccer teams and as an advocate for children at Bishop School. In everything Leba takes on she brings energy, enthusiasm and skill that drives results. I believe that Leba will be a significant addition to help push for progress with accountability in our schools. I truly hope that all Arlington voters can see the opportunity before us to place such a qualified and capable leader onto the School Committee.

Chuck Carney
Kimball Road

Please join us on Saturday April 5 in casting a vote for Leba Heigham for School Committee.

As a parent of children in the Arlington public schools, Leba Heigham is hardworking and committed to education. She is well informed of issues affecting our schools. Leba thinks through her positions, which are well articulated and supported by researched data. She is resourceful and a pleasure to work with. She will work for a better education system for all our children.

Arlington is faced with budgetary constraints that are adversely affecting our schools. Leba's fifteen years of experience as both an educator and a teacher gives her a solid understanding of the issues. At this critical time, we need solid leadership from our School Committee, and she is the best choice. Leba will make solid contributions right from the start on the School Committee.

Leba has both passion and compassion. She offers Arlington a vision of change and the wisdom of experience. Leba's vision is to create a common educational experience for all our children in Arlington. With your help, Leba will get things done.

Please join us in voting for Leba Heigham on Saturday, April 5!

Awinja Otiato
Baker Road

Ann Mathes
Hillside Avenue

Charlotte Milan
Bellevue Road

We have an opportunity on April 5, 2008 to elect three people to the Arlington School Committee. I am writing to ask that voters join me in casting one of your three votes for Leba Heigham. I first met Leba seven years ago in the parent waiting area of Dance Place in East Arlington when our then five-year-old daughters were taking classes together.

We quickly realized that we were both teachers and shared similar views on education. Since each of us was about to send our fist child into the Arlington Public Schools, we had many discussions about the teachers, instruction and support we hoped our children would receive in Arlington. Leba's experience as a teacher in a public school system gave her unique insight into both the challenges facing public education as well as a clear vision for what makes a great school system.

Over the years Leba and I have continued to have thoughtful, in-depth conversations about what is working and where there are challenges in education and in the Arlington Public Schools in particular. I have always been impressed with her understanding of the complexities involved in creating a great school system. When Leba informed me that she was going to run for a seat on the School Committee, I was thrilled. I immediately thought how fortunate Arlington would be to gain her experience, leadership and dedication.

As a parent and a teacher, Leba is a dedicated advocate and as School Committee member, she will bring her dedication and caring to ensure that our education system truly does improve the lives of our students.

Lisa Brush
Amsden Street

We are very excited to support Leba Heigham in her candidacy for the Arlington School Committee. We have known Leba for 10 years since our children started day care together in town. She is devoting her life to education and cares deeply about the future of the children of Arlington. Leba has experience in many areas of education: she has been a classroom teacher, a mentor to other teachers, a curriculum developer, a faculty leader, a union negotiator, and an interning principal. We believe the perspectives she has gained in these roles will enable her to work effectively with the other members of the committee, the administration, and the other teachers to provide a first-rate education for all the public school students of Arlington.

Please join us in voting for Leba Heigham for School Committee on Saturday, April 5.

Peter and Lisa Rubens
Ronald Rd

Leba Heigham, has been developing an educational career her entire life and is now considered by many to be one of the state's leading education professionals. Having known Leba for almost eighteen years (well before she had her two beautiful daughters, who attend second and fifth grade in our public school system). I've witnessed her develop her education qualifications. For the past fifteen years, Leba has taught both math and science in the classroom, has been a union bargaining chair for seven years and is a licensed principal. Each of these perspectives makes her uniquely qualified, which is why I'm supporting Leba as a candidate for School Committee. The children of Arlington deserve an educational professional who will work diligently on their behalf.

Please join me on April 5in casting one of your three votes for Leba Heigham, a uniquely qualified education professional.

Mark Jewell
Lake View Street

I have known Leba for the past five years, as our children have progressed through school together, and am writing to support her candidacy to the School Committee.

Leba is not only an involved parent and career educator, she is a thoughtful, concerned human being, whom I have watched over the years, discreetly resolve a myriad of issues that affected the academic life of our children, as well as the greater community of Arlington.

I truly believe Leba will bring, not only her formidable professional credentials, which include a rigorous academic and experiential background in education, child development, policy, and administration, but also her personal and thoughtful commitment to our children and our community.

I look forward to casting my vote for Leba Heigham for School Committee and invite you to do so, too.

Nora McKenna
Columbia Road