The Hoboken Journal is about to do another first, endorse a slate of candidates for the upcoming Board of Education elections on April 21st. It should be of no surprise to those that know me that I am putting my vote and humble opinion behind the slate of Theresa Minutillo, Maureen Sullivan, and Ruth McCallister for the three open seats on the school board.
When I first moved to town in 2003 I admit that I didn't follow the school board proceedings very closely. I am single and I focused more on the matters of municipal government and the well publicised problems of the budget and general governance of city affairs.
In the past 2 years it has become apparent to me that of equal importance is improving the poor performance of Hoboken's School system in several key areas. This is hard to fathom considering the spending is among the highest per pupil in the State (about $30,000 per pupil when you factor in the total budget). Lack of money is clearly not the issue. I for one as a childless non-abated condo owning tax payer (i.e. paying more than my fair share) would gladly pay what I am paying now if the schools were doing well and in some areas such as the middle schools, that is not the case at all.
While the K-3rd grade schools seem to be doing decently based on the parental feedback I have received, the Middle Grades and the High School are doing poorly as measured by standardized test scores. Surely standardized test scores are not the only thing to measure student achievement but a 7% passing rate on one of the tests for one Middle School is certainly cause for concern. These scores can not be simply explained away by social and economic factors which I find to be a cop-out and borderline racist. Clearly something else is amiss. Could it be curriculum, poor individual teacher performance ( some teachers are excellent) , lack of parental involvement, lack of leadership and a concrete plan, or a combination thereof?
Rather than attacking the problem, the current administration delayed reporting these scores when remedial tutoring could have started the schools on the right path towards improvement of these scores. If the Hoboken schools that did not pass continue to get failing grades there will be economic consequences if these scores do not improve. Based on No Child Left Behind Act, Hoboken Schools could lose additional funding, increasing yet again the burden on the tax payer.More importantly, the schools would properly fail to educate this group of children to prepare them for the world.
Frank Raia and his slate represent the status quo. I find Frank to be an affable man but his unquestioning support of the current administration and unwillingness to cut unnecessary spending outside the classroom do little to help the taxpayer and does nothing to improve the quality of the schools. If you are 100% happy with the current school systems and 7% passing rate on standardized tests, by all means vote for his slate. Sometimes I think a better name for this ticket should be "Jobs First, Kids Second". Frank's slate quite fanly will not get my vote since 2 out of 3 on his ticket didn't even show up for the candidates forum. Clearly Frank, doesn't think he needs my vote and thus he won't get it.
The Kids First slate led by Theresa Minutillo stands for cutting the waste, improving test scores, improving the curriculum, holding the administration accountable, rewarding good teachers, and an overall better school system. Theresa has been unwavering in the past 3 years in challenging the administration for better performance, sometimes to the consternation of Jack Raslowsky. What Theresa and the Kids First ticket need are five votes to challenge the current administration and get them to do a better job. It has taken 3 years to rewrite to the curriculum and it still has not been delivered. Even if and when it is it would be without much parental input. By just about any measurement the administration could be doing better but with current votes on the board is not being held accountable.
Theresa, Maureen and Ruth are all parents and either have their children in the school system or plan to. They want to see a better school system and are not afraid to speak up and point out problems with the school system. I also believe they can provide solutions to move Hoboken forward and provide a better educational system for the students. Kids First needs to win in order to make that happen. If not, Hoboken's Schools could continue down the path they have for the next three to four years. Hoboken can not afford to let that happen.
Whether you have kids in the system or not, good schools mean better property values and a more desirable community that people want to move to and not away from. With more and more young families starting to have kids in Hoboken, as evidenced by the growth in strollers over the last 5 years, it is important to build better schools so that they are encouraged to stay. Thus an improvement in schools builds a better more lasting community where parents and kids can continue to flourish. The Team that gives us the best chance for that is Kids First. Vote 1-4-5 on Tuesday April 21st. ◦
