LETTER: Excited for Amanda Janoo’s campaign for governor

August 4, 2026

To the Community:

I have been excited about Amanda Janoo’s campaign for Vermont Governor since the day she announced! 

As a retired Vermont educator and Waterbury property owner, I am well aware of the costs and challenges our local schools face. I want solutions, ones first and foremost that are future-forward, solutions that restore lost confidence that our community schools are educating students to be successful members of a civic society while also using our tax dollars wisely.

Forcing school consolidation, drawing districts on a two-dimensional map when the topography of our state can prohibit access even to the next town, and ignoring the real driver (healthcare) of rising costs is not seeking solutions. Big-picture thinking, capitalizing on local decision-making, proposing solutions that bolster communities – that is the kind of leadership Amanda is offering Vermont. 

Furthermore, she has never forgotten nor underappreciated her roots learning in a small Vermont community school: “I grew up working class but was able to study with world-renowned economists at Oxford and Cambridge thanks to my great public education in Vermont,” she said. 

Rejecting forced school consolidation is Amanda’s top priority. In fact, all six of the Janoo campaign’s top priorities directly address the contentious governmental issues Vermont has wrestled with over the past decade. 

As I read Amanda’s platform and listen to her speak, words like “community,” “well-being,” “resiliency” and “fairness” regularly jump out at me. Those core values and her deep knowledge of economic systems, the benefits of human capital, and a commitment to working tirelessly to provide sorely needed solutions at a crucial time are exactly what Vermont needs now. “The government's job is to ensure every Vermonter has the necessary foundations to live a life of dignity and purpose,” she said. 

Please vote on August 11th!

Mary Koen

Waterbury