To the editor:
My name is Costas Panagopoulos, and I am proud to announce my candidacy for the Wellesley School Committee. Our family moved to Wellesley 9 years ago. Our son George is in the 1st grade at Hardy Elementary School. We love our town, and we love our schools. I believe the public schools are the heart and soul of our community. Like many families, we moved here largely because of the excellence of the Wellesley public school system. We didn’t know what to expect when we moved here, but what we have found is a welcoming and inclusive community that has embraced our family in ways we could not have imagined. From the very beginning, it
has felt like home.
I have been passionate about education my entire life. My parents emigrated from Greece with only third grade educations. They instilled in me an appreciation for education that endures to this day. I am the product of the Massachusetts public school system, and I am indebted to it. I graduated from Dracut High School which prepared me to go to Harvard as an undergraduate where I completed my BA in Government magna cum laude.
I now work as an educator at Northeastern University where I am Distinguished Professor of Political Science. I was Chair of the Political Science department at Northeastern for 5 years, where I supervised nearly 30 faculty members and oversaw an annual budget of $4.5 million.
I am also dedicated to serving the Commonwealth in other ways. In 2020, Governor Baker appointed me to serve on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority. The Board oversees an annual operating budget of over $18 million and we manage loans and assets of nearly $12 billion. I am proud of my work on this board because our primary goal is to help to make college educations accessible and affordable for Massachusetts families.
These experiences may qualify me to serve effectively on the School Committee, but the strongest qualification—and perhaps the most important reason I am interested in this position—is because I am a parent whose experience with the Wellesley Public School system has been life changing. Our son has benefitted directly from the expertise and tireless commitment of extraordinary teachers, administrators and staff in the Wellesley public school system, first at the PAWS preschool program, then at Sprague Elementary and now at Hardy. We are so grateful to the Town of Wellesley and to the public school program.
I am running to keep our school system strong and flourishing. I want to empower teachers, administrators, staff and students—families—to succeed. I pledge to support policies to strengthen our schools and to make them better than ever. I will fight for high standards and academic excellence. I will fight for accountability, transparency and sustainability. And I will fight for fiscal responsibility. I will fight for you and your families. My approach is data-driven, collaborative and results-oriented. I believe strong schools are built when families, teachers and administrators work together with trust and shared purpose.
Over the course of this campaign, I have met with so many Wellesley families, students and town leaders. I am so grateful for their willingness to share their views about our school system and ideas about our how to make them stronger. I am listening. And if elected, I pledge to always do so and to represent our community in a thoughtful and responsible way. Without exception, these individuals clearly share my love for our town and our public schools, and they are committed to ensuring our schools and our children continue to thrive. They support investing in education and in our future and putting sound and sustainable policies in place that deliver results and strong outcomes. I invite you to reach out to share your thoughts or to support our campaign at electcostas.com.
I believe strong schools are built when families, teachers and administrators work together with trust and shared purpose.
I ask for your support.
Thank you
Costas Panagopoulos
Wellesley School Committee candidate
