Eric Marturano: Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board Candidate Profile

TREDYFFRIN-EASTTOWN, PA — With the 2025 municipal election growing ever close, voters need to be informed of who will be on their ballots Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Below is a Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board Director candidate profile of Eric Marturano:

Name: Eric Marturano
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Location/Town: Berwyn, PA
Position Sought: Tredyffrin/Easttown School Board Director (Region 1)
Party: Republican
Website: https://diversifyteboard.com/e...
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/p/Eri...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric...

What are some of the toughest challenges local teachers face in 2025?

First, it is the duty of a School Board to promote an inclusive environment of open dialogue with teachers, staff, administration, parents, students, and local citizens in order to address existing and new challenges facing the community.

In my experience interacting with teachers, I have found the toughest challenge local teachers face in 2025 is the same challenge that plagues students, parents, neighbors, taxpayers, & School Board: The Unexamined Life. To me, this represents the core problem from which countless others flow.

“The Unexamined Life” manifests in many ways: The teacher may be forced to “teach to a test”, rather than create an engaging lesson plan with personal touch. The student may be content to skim an “AI-summary”, rather than wrestle with the plot of a story page-by-page. A one-party School Board may find it easier to rubber-stamp a 9-0 vote on any given request proposed by the Administration it governs, rather than diligently investigate alternative strategies. A taxpayer may not realize any of this is happening until it comes time to pay a higher bill – with no clear gains in value.

You may ask yourself – how did we get here? I certainly asked myself this. The T/E I grew up in during the 2000’s was balanced and made bipartisan decisions to benefit the wider community. However, in our increasingly polarized world, many have either retreated into echo-chambers of like-minded “yes-friends” or something even worse; apathy to an increasingly worse status quo. This is “The Unexamined Life” – and the Republicans, Democrats, & Independents among us are mired in it together.

But we don’t have to be – and this why I’m running for School Board. On the contrary: I want our community to benefit from an examined life at the municipal level. This can only happen when all points of view are represented by its elected decision-making entity. With a more balanced School Board, we can start common-ground discussions to find new ideas and better solutions, rather than imprison ourselves in echo-chambers of ignorance. We can make our current tax dollars work harder for every citizen in T/E, rather than needlessly raise the burden on our neighbors. We will make necessary spending decisions together, carefully and transparently, for everyone who lives in the T/E School district. After all, the School Board is supposed to represent all of us. And if we commit to examining the challenges facing teachers, students, parents, and the wider community from multiple points of view, we will foster a better world.

Does the prevalence of smartphones in classrooms hinder students' ability to retain lessons taught in school?

Yes, the prevalence of smartphones in classes can hinder students’ ability to retain lessons, but candidly it doesn’t matter what I think. As a School Board Director, it is my duty to examine this and other issues from all points of view and cast public vote for or against policy changes proposed policy by the T/E Administration. The Administration is full of great people with wonderful experience & I look forward to supporting them in serving the students, parents, & taxpayers of both Tredyffrin & Easttown.

As of now, I trust that current T/E staff is adhering to the T/E School District’s current policy, as outlined in Regulation 5414, which was adopted in 2004 and has been updated many times since, last revised February 4, 2025. Ongoing dialogue with teachers, students, and parents will ensure that this policy is in-step with the technological times.

How do you plan to address school safety, as well as the rise in hoax threats toward schools?

The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is a generally safe environment and the District Safety Committee and Tredyffrin & Easttown police departments do an excellent job in serving the District. As stated previously, as a School Board Director, my job is to work with these experts who are in the trenches – officers, teachers, and staff - when voting for or against policy changes to address concerns of any kind. I will plan to do just that while representing the voices and concerns of parents, students, and local taxpayers. For those interested, here is a link to current T/E School Safety Policy.

Are teachers in the district adequately compensated? If not, what should be done to address that.

Possibly not – and I support the right for TEEA to advocate for raises. This topic is certainly worth discussion, as it could potentially be achieved within the current budget vs. continuously hiring new staff or outside contractors. An outsider may wonder if these discussions are in-fact happening within the current Administration. A more balanced School Board would allow for transparency into this process for the curious public. (For those interested: Most recent budget website linked here – the “Expense side” budget workshop discussion from 4/7/25 may be particularly illuminating on this topic).

Put simply: the public deserves to more plainly know how all budgeting decisions are made. If elected, I will work to change our current rubber-stamp / minimal public discussion state and promote transparency for teachers & citizens alike. If we all know where our money is going, why it’s going there, what the tradeoffs are, and what to expect, we are equipped to build a better future together.

What can the district do to better support students who are struggling in school due to factors outside classrooms, such as food or housing insecurity?

For all issues, it is important to understand the current policies & resources available. For those interested, here is a link to current T/E policy regarding students experiencing housing insecurity, which has been in place since 2014, last revised October 24, 2024. As with the other topics we’ve covered in this Q&A, it is the duty of the School Board to support staff and the students they serve through all challenges, big or small.

More broadly however: the best thing Tredyffrin-Easttown can do to support its students through hardship of any kind is promoting an environment where difficult issues can be discussed freely by all parties – students, staff/teachers, parents, and Administration. From there, solutions and policies examined from a diverse set of perspectives can be voted upon by the School Board which ought to represent the all members of the community. Right now, that is unfortunately not the case: our School Board votes 9-0 in one direction & one direction only.

Let’s wake up from this “Unexamined Life” – and work together to start discussions & end the current echo-chamber on November 4th.