Seniors Discuss Policies With Presidential Candidate

Members of the Bronxville High School Class of 2020 welcomed presidential candidate Bill Weld – an attorney, businessman, author, Republican politician and former governor of Massachusetts – as a special guest speaker at their school on Jan. 15. 

“It’s a unique opportunity to have someone like him, who has more than 40 years of public service experience, share his perspective with our students,” teacher Steve Klurfeld said. “He articulated some policies which gave the students some additional solutions to public problems that the country is facing. Having a civil discussion is a lost art, so just the process of having a reasonable conversation about solutions is something that I think we desperately need.” 

During his visit, Weld discussed his background in public service, which included serving seven years in the Department of Justice and two terms as governor in Massachusetts. He also discussed policy issues that included climate change, immigration, homeland security, LGBT civil rights, education, tax and spending, pro-choice and abortion. 

“What I hope [the students] took away is that it’s possible to care a lot about improving everybody’s life and getting into politics to do that,” Weld said. “If they take that away, then they don’t think politics is a dirty game to be avoided.” 

Senior Phoebe Martin – a student in Klurfeld’s Advanced Placement Economics class, where they often discuss the implications of taxes, subsidies and government involvement in the market economy – said she makes a conscious effort to read the news regularly and engage in political discussions.

“Mr. Klurfeld really encouraged us to have a better understanding of this year’s election and dedicated class time to increase our ‘civil literacy,’” Martin said. “This is the first year that my classmates and I will be able to vote, and it was amazing to have the opportunity to speak and ask questions of a presidential candidate and well-known politician.” 

Martin, whose mother has previously worked with Weld on his campaign, coordinated his visit to Bronxville. 

“I think academic environments tend to mimic the political polarization of our society, so it was refreshing to be exposed to a candidate who really emphasizes bipartisan efforts and identifies as socially liberal and fiscally conservative,” Martin said. “I sincerely wish Mr. Weld great success with his campaign and am obviously greatly supportive of his candidacy, but regardless of how far he progresses in the election, I admire how he is forcing the Republican party to reflect upon what they stand for and where they see the future of their political party going.”