It may not be as high profile as the McCain-Bush struggle over the Republican presidential nomination, but the recently kicked-off contest for the April 18 Board of Education election has the potential to be just as bitterly contested. When the filing deadline closed Monday afternoon, eight candidates, including School Board President David Anthony and outspoken board member Perry Belfiore, had filed for the right to sit on the nine-member volunteer board that oversees the city’s public schools. There are three seats available, each with a term of three years. The election will be held in April. An extra element of partisan rancor may be introduced to the debate, since Michele Russo, Mayor Anthony Russo’s wife, is one of the candidates (see sidebar). Current school board member Sandra Ramos, along with Wanda Santana-Alicea, Frances Kearns, John Scutellero and Jerry Forman, also filed petitions for election. Although Anthony, Belfiore and Ramos have all served together on the board for the last six years and even worked together as allies at one time, Belfiore and Ramos have split away from Anthony to form their own ticket for April’s election. Anthony’s slate is supported by Mayor Anthony Russo, while Belfiore and Ramos’ slate is supported by Russo critics. Belfiore and Ramos’ slate, which also includes Kearns, has the support of Hoboken United, a political action committee sponsored by State Sen. Bernard Kenny and Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons. Anthony’s slate includes Russo and Santana Alicea. “We’re running on the progress that we have made in the schools because we want to continue it,” said Anthony, who operates a fast food restaurant in Sinatra Park. “I’ve been president of the school board for six years and in that time there has never been a tax increase. We’ve started a charter school program, a 3-year-olds program, limited teacher raises to control costs, restructured the controversial teacher sick bank, introduced new technologies to the classroom and begun a school choice program. Even though we have made a lot of progress, I don’t think you are ever finished with the job when it comes to education.” Anthony said that he believed the ticket he was running on combined his experience – he’s the longest serving Board of Education President in Hudson County – with the fresh perspective of his running mates. The three of them, if elected, would work to get as many parents involved in their children’s schooling as possible, he said. Belfiore said that he was not displeased with many of the steps that the board had taken in recent years, but he was concerned about the direction the board would take in the future with respect to a number of items, including charter schools. “I am a child of the ’60s,” he said. “Invigorating teachers and teaching is critical. But the public schools are not the best place to find out how to do that because that would be like trying to change a tire on a vehicle while it is moving. We have to make sure that these charter schools are the labs where we learn about new educational techniques. When I look at charter schools I see choices, but choices without advances yield redundancy, and redundancy increases costs.” Belfiore said that he thought the charter schools might be able to serve more of an experimental role if they were not held to the same rigorous testing standards that the public schools were. “Obviously there still needs to be a threshold that we all agree is reasonable, but perhaps these tests could be a little different for charter schools.” In general, Belfiore, the former owner of Ditto’s, a Washington Street tavern/restaurant that closed several years ago, said that he believed he and his running mates are more willing to “stand up an make a little noise” about new ideas in education than the other candidates for the board seats. “You need people with different ideas,” Belfiore said. “Otherwise we are just headed down a cul-de-sac.” Anthony said that he did not expect to spend more than $20,000 to promote his slate. Belfiore scoffed at the estimate, saying, “that may be what they report, but we all know that with the mayor’s backing, they will spend a lot more.”
School board slates set; Candidates include board president and mayor’s wife
