Persow to run for Cape Henlopen District at-large seat
Meyer J. Persow of Lewes has announced that he will be a candidate for the At-Large seat on the Cape Henlopen Board of Education in the Tuesday, May 13 election.
Persow is a retired federal government employee, having served as the treasury liaison officer and disbursements policy officer for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. He currently is the general manager of Hobos Restaurant & Bar in Rehoboth Beach.
“When I ran five years ago, I was unknown in the community. I felt that I had a lot to offer the community and our schools, but the voters decided otherwise and elected Dr. Sara Wilkinson. Sara has done an admirable job while serving our district and I wish her well in her retirement from the board,” Persow stated in a prepared release.
“I’ve decided to run again because I still believe that I have a lot to offer our community. My experience in budgeting and disbursing while I worked for the federal government will be an asset to the current board.
“We have some serious issues that we need to look at. While growth is something we are experiencing, and that the proposed new elementary school will help with, we need to look long-term at the high school. The referendum on April 2 does not take that into account. The high school is full and we actually have one teacher who teaches class in a section of the balcony of the auditorium. We need this board to fully look at long-range planning for all of our schools.
“Another item we need to address is the continued pressure our teachers have in 'teaching to the test.' While we need to evaluate the performance of our teaching staff, we need to free them to actually teach our kids to think, to reason, to problem solve, to innovate, instead of trying to get a good score on a test,” he added.
“Finally, funding for positions and programs. With Race to the Top funding disappearing, we may lose funding for reading/math specialists, a college counselor, and programming. Where are we going to get the funds to continue these programs? The State? Highly unlikely. We saw last week that the voters in Seaford rejected a referendum to raise taxes to replace RTTT funds that are going to disappear. What are our plans to replace those funds.”
“I want this campaign to be about the issues, not about personalities. I know that there will be some who will focus only on who I am, what I wrote years ago about a former President, etc. So be it. My only agenda is the kids of our school district. That should be the only thing we debate about in the course of this campaign.”
Persow lives in the Sandy Brae neighborhood in Lewes with his 2 rescue dogs and 2 cats. He has been a full-time resident of the Cape region since 2005. He is a former religious school teacher and board member for Seaside Jewish Community in Rehoboth Beach and served as the Advisor for the Sussex Family YMCA’s Youth in Government program. He is a member of American Legion Post 5 and NARFE Chapter 1690. An active volunteer with the Sussex Family YMCA, he received their Service to Youth Award in 2010 and the Adult Service to Youth Award from the Delaware Y’s Youth in Government Program in 2013.
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For more information, please contact Meyer Persow at 302-258-9554 or via email at mpersow@aol.com.
