Jersey City council votes to move school board elections to November next year

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal 
on November 30, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Jersey City’s school elections are moving from April to November next year, thanks to a nearly unanimous vote by the City Council Wednesday night.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a nonbinding referendum earlier this month approving the change, a ballot initiative the council had intended to use as a guide to determine whether the community was OK with the switch.

Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop championed the move, saying it will save taxpayers about $200,000 a year and increase voter turnout. Voters this November, who approved the change 73 percent to 27 percent, “spoke loud and clear,” Fulop said last night.

In Hudson County, Guttenberg, Hoboken and Kearny have moved their school elections to November.

The council approved the change 7-1, with Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson voting “no.” Richardson said she is concerned that voters didn’t know that once school elections are moved to November, school budgets that don’t have tax increases above the 2 percent tax-levy cap won’t have to be approved by voters.

“I think that perhaps people didn’t really understand, and I didn’t really understand what it would mean,” she said.

Fulop said it’s “presumptuous” to think that the 24,000 voters who cast their ballots in favor of the change didn’t know the consequences of the decision.

The Jersey City council’s decision essentially increases the length of the terms of four sitting school board members, Carol Lester, Gerald Lyons, Angel Valentin and Sterling Waterman, whose terms were set to expire next April.

Some 468 school districts in the state have moved their school elections to November, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association. Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law last year that permits school boards, voters or municipal councils to make the switch.

NJSBA spokesman Mike Yaple said schools boards that have OK’d the move were attracted by the idea of “budget stability.”

School districts with elections in November do not have to seek voter approval for budgets unless they come with an increase over 2 percent. In that instance, voters are faced with approving or voting down just the tax increase, according to Yaple.

This November, three school districts asked voters to approve tax increases. Two of those districts succeeded.

Jersey City schools chief gives assessment 60 days into job

MARCIA V. LYLES

The Jersey City school district needs to lower its high dropout rate, increase the academic achievement of black and Latino students, and better prepare students for college, Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles said last night.

Lyles made the comments during a roughly hour-long speech at last night’s Jersey City Board of Education meeting, where she presented a “60-day review” of the 29,000-student district. Lyles became the district’s new chief in September.

“There are pervasive inequities throughout the district,” she said, adding there has been “slow and steady” progress on standardized testing.

Lyles, who came to Jersey City from Delaware’s largest school district and was a longtime administration for New York City public schools, lavished praise on some of the Jersey City district’s high-profile initiatives, including the dual-language program and early-childhood education.

But even those programs have faults that need to be addressed, she said. Regarding the dual-language program, Lyles noted that it’s only implemented in select schools and the admission process is different at every school.

“These are equity issues that must be addressed,” she said.

Among the initiatives Lyles pledged to implement are a program to increase student participation in advancement-placement classes; a new evaluation system for district employees; and a plan to address the district’s aging facilities.

Lyles’ presentation will be uploaded to the district’s website at jcboe.org.

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal 
on November 21, 2012 at 1:40 PM

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A Union Leader Joins the Honor Roll

November 12, 2012 //

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Ronnie Greco, who is leader of the Jersey City Education Association, joins our honor roll of heroes of public education. Ronnie refused to sign Jersey City’s application for a Race to the Top grant for $40 million.  Ronnie quickly figured out that not a penny of the $40 million would solve any problem that Jersey City public schools have. It would not be used to improve teaching and learning conditions. It would not be available to reduce class size. It would be used to impose merit pay, which has never worked anywhere. It would be used to find and fire “ineffective” teachers, based on unproven test-based measures.It would be used to implement top-down mandates devised in Washington, D.C., by the U.S. Department of Education.  The issues in Jersey City are no different from the issues that led to a strike in Chicago.  It is tough for a union leader to say no to a big federal grant because the media will blame him (or her) for turning down “free” money.  But Ronnie figured out the trap.  The money comes with strings that get fashioned into a noose for teachers.  The money will not reform the schools of Jersey City. The money will not help the children of Jersey City. The schools of Jersey City have been under state control for 23 years. For 23 years, the state of New Jersey has failed the children of New Jersey. The teachers of Jersey City work under difficult conditions. They are heroes. And their leader, Ronnie Greco, joins our honor roll for his courage, insight, wisdom, and conviction–all qualities in short supply today in our public life.

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