Ken Howitt Initial Statement
Dear all,
I am slowly creating my bio and the pertinent (or impertinent) information about myself for an initial description of my board of education candidacy.
I took a brief break from creating that treatise in order to state unequivocally, that I am running an independent race for the 1 year term. I picked the petition up by myself, and this morning I dropped the completed petition off with my 15 year old son (a Hoboken High School sophomore), so that he could see what the process is. It would have been nice to have a photo op or something more organized. It also would have been nice to have prepared something for release a little earlier than tonight
The reason for this email, is that Smarty Jones is today not-so-Smart. I am not running on a Frank Raia slate. Outside of my candidacy, I had no idea who would be turning in petitions. Until today, neither Frank nor I had any idea that the other was a candidate.
I am very happy that this many people care so much for the school system and wish it success. Having lived in Hoboken for 22 years and raised my three children here (all products of the Hoboken Public Schools), I am hoping that the debate will focus its attention on the good and how to make it better.
- Ken Howitt
Ken Howitt Bio Statement
I am a resident of Hoboken for the last 22 years. My wife and I have three children all of whom attended Hoboken Public Schools, first Wallace Primary School, then Brandt Middle School. The two eldest attended High Tech High School in North Bergen, part of the Hudson County Schools of Technology, which is also a public school. Presently, the eldest is a junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and our middle child is a first year student at Columbia College in New York City. The youngest is a sophomore at Hoboken High School.
During my time in Hoboken, I have volunteered in a number of community activities, including Hoboken Recreation Department activities as a coach and parent rep in soccer, basketball, girls softball and Little League. I also have a long relationship with HOPES Cap Inc., the Hoboken Community Action Program, first as a Head Start parent committee representative, then as a policy council member and chair, and finally, as a trustee on the board of directors for over a decade. I am also an active member of the troop committee for Hoboken Boy Scout Troop 146, sponsored by Hoboken’s St. Francis Church. At the Hoboken Public Schools, I have been involved in the PTOs at the primary school, middle school and high school level. With three very different children having attended those schools, I have hands-on experience of the processes and capabilities of the schools.
I grew up in Little Silver, New Jersey – graduating Red Bank Regional High School in 1972. I then attended Columbia College in New York City, receiving a B.A. degree in 1976. The next 7 years, I worked in advertising and promotion at Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising , CBS Television, Burson Marsteller Public Relations and Macy’s New York. In 1983, I joined the family printing business in Little Silver and remained there for the next 20 years. After closing that business, I have continued my print sales career with two firms in Bergen County.
I am mounting this independent race for the Board of Education, because the main issue in recent years centers on test scores and not the quality of life training that is omni-present in the Hoboken Public Schools. I recall fondly my own high school involvement in school plays, school newspaper, band, orchestra, student council and many community service projects. Those activities were important lessons in community building and leadership training and those activities exist in Hoboken and serve our students well. The changing curriculum offerings and successes are not even mentioned during these campaigns by either the challengers or the incumbents.
I want to change that with my candidacy and my tenure on the board. The students and staff must be empowered and incentivized to continue to achieve and improve on those successes. The board must build trust and confidence throughout the system to institutionalize the cycle of success. And most importantly, those successes should be used to promote the schools and attract many more Hoboken children into the Hoboken Public Schools. That is the best way to reduce the per pupil cost, which admittedly is too high.
Instead, the present leadership (both in the administration and the board) choses to marginalize and demean the students and staff with a continuingly mindless harangue that the school system is failing. In my opinion, continued success will only be achieved through progressive leadership that rewards not punishes, that constructively evaluates not criticizes, and most importantly, that brags how great our Hoboken Public School students really are. I know from all the school events that I attend, that our Hoboken Public School students are proud of their schools. At minimum my campaign will let them know that I am equally proud of them.
I look forward to being a part of this process for the next month and a half.
Ken Howitt
My comment: Ken Howitt is "Candidate X" that I referred to in my article on potential BOE Candidates in my post on Sunday. Candiate X has now been revealed! ◦
