Milford 2014 Candidate Profile: David Levine, Milford School Committee

Editor's Note: The following profile is part of a series highlighting the candidates running for seats in contested races as part of this year's town election, which takes place on Tuesday, April 1. Milford Patch has reached out to all candidates in the contested races to showcase why they're running and what they hope to bring to the board. Check back leading up to the election for more profiles on the candidates.

David Levine is running for the Milford School Committee along with Joseph E. Callery, John W. Erickson and Jennifer Parson. For the full preliminary ballot for this year's election, click here.

Why are you running for the Milford School Committee?

As a home owner I have a vested interest in Milford's well being. So since it's my belief that a successful school system is a major impetus to a town's economy I feel the role is important enough for me to contribute my skill set to ensure that the school district continues on its path to excellence. 

What do you hope to accomplish on the committee? 

Working with the committee members, superintendent, and administrators I would like to re-evaluate current goals, policies, and initiatives so to ensure we are addressing our drop-out rate by implementing well-rounded curriculum and educational tools, fostering an engaging and safe learning atmosphere for students and faculty in all grades, maintaining an effective and efficient student data profile so to focus on a child's progression.  

What do you see is the most pressing issue facing Milford right now in relation to the seat for which you're running?  

The budget impact of both the Common Core State Initiative as well as the new Woodland School going on-line coupled with Middle School East not housing eighth grade will have.

What do you think you could do to help resolve this issue?   

Although resolving these issues will need to be a collaborative effort, I believe my ability to analyze, gather facts and create budgets by thinking out of the box, such as cross district cost sharing, would be valuable. 

Name one unique idea you would like to bring to the table if elected in April. 

Once again focusing on goals, I would like the committee to establish a standard SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for each goal so that it gives every stakeholder the opportunity to meet their objective. 

What is one thing voters might not know about you?

Although I'm an open book to friends and family, people may not know that my driving direction sense is so bad that even my GPS gets mad at me.