SHARE

Reeves, Lavielle Put Education out Front

Peggy Reeves, Democratic incumbent in the143rd House District, said education is the state's most important issue as she appeared at an education forum at Norwalk City Hall on Thursday night sponsored by the League of Women Voters and REdAPPLES, a grassroots nonpartisan community coalition aiming to improve Norwalk Public Schools.

However, Reeves' challenger, Republican Gail Lavielle, had another issue of concern: the economy.

"We need money to improve the education," Lavielle said. But she said that if elected, she would have to cut the state's $3.4 billion deficit before tackling any other issue. Lavielle said that to put more funds into schools, the state must free up more resources.

For Reeves, spending more money on education would not mean increasing the deficit because she believes that improving the education system would improve the state as a whole. She also said education has been consistently underfunded.

"I think it's time that the state funds education and thinks of it as an investment for our future, the same way that we build our roads," Reeves said.

Though the candidates disagreed on the ranking of education, both agreed that starting children in school younger would bring improvement. Reeves suggested starting public preschool at the age of 3, which Lavielle called an "excellent goal" — once the deficit was addressed.

Lavielle sits on Wilton's Board of Finance and the Energy Commission as well as the CT Public Transportation Commission. Reeves is looking to serve her second term as the representative in the 143rd House District. Both are residents of Wilton. The 143rd District includes parts of Wilton and Norwalk.

to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE