Dear Editor:
On February 28, 2001, five members of the Jersey City Council denied federal funding to a special organization that has provided numerous recreational programs to the City’s youth for decades. The organization is the Boys & Girls Club and the five members who caused this debacle are Cavanaugh, Donnelly, Bettinger, Holloway and Smith. The stated reasons were shrouded in pseudo-legal analysis by non-lawyers, irrationality and outright lies. The truth is that they oppose the expansion of the public education opportunities that exist in charter schools in Jersey City. Some of them may not want the public to know that because they are seeking your vote in May and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of parents who vote in the city that are satisfied with their charter schools.
The Boys Club would have taken the federal dollars, improved its property and leased the space to the Learning Community Charter School. The additional income would allow it to expand its own recreational programs.
Mr. Cavanaugh wants to be mayor. He ostensibly voted against this funding because he wants more recreational opportunities in the city. Yet he knows that the funds would be used to do exactly that at the Boys Club and another applicant would have used the money to build a gym within a separate charter school that would be open to the community’s youth. He says that his vote was not about charter schools. Yet only the applicants that partnered with charter schools were de-funded. He lies. His electoral strategy may work in Jersey City, who knows? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had a liar elected as mayor in this town.
Ms. Holloway wants to be mayor. She blames the Boys Club for coming back for a third year of funding and failing to find alternative sources. Yet other successful grantees (e.g. Barrow Mansion and the MLK Drive sponsors) are repeat grantees for years. She wants to send a message, apparently. Couldn’t she have sent the same message by slashing the funding significantly? Instead, she zeroed out the funding, hurting public school children and the youth who seek improved facilities at the Boys Club. Come on Ms. Holloway, this is not about the Boys Club capital campaign, it’s about charter schools. Tell us where you stand, again if need be, and why.
Ms. Donnelly seeks re-election to the council. She sought to table the vote until she received an air-tight, legal opinion on the use of these funds to help charter schools expand. The federal agency attorneys who administer the grant have blessed this arrangement for two years running. Ms. Donnelly was not satisfied and thus, showed her true colors.
Mr. Smith seeks re-election as well. He wrote to say that I was emotional in my last missive about his inability to discharge his duties with honesty. Mr. Smith seeks to dismiss everything I say because I revealed in full disclosure, that my child attends LCCS. He doesn’t know me and confuses logic with emotion. I would have written the same letter without a child at the school because I was on the founding board of LCCS for years as a community representative, not a parent. Even as a Board member my child couldn’t get into the school due to its popularity and we waited for months to enroll her. He claimed that he has a duty to ensure that every child is educated equally without prejudice or financial advantage and not just my child. Another non sequitur from the man who then sought to argue with lawyers about the meaning of federal law during the meeting. Mr. Smith, it’s time for a full disclosure from you. Repeat the party line and tell us you oppose charter schools at all costs. You’ll feel better in the morning.
Mr. Bettinger is seeking re-election too. He offered no clues about his opposition although in past years, I understand, he did not oppose federal funding to organizations in partnership with charter schools. But this is an election year and Mr. Bettinger has joined Mr. Cavanaugh’s slate, the leader of the movement to zero out these schools from these funds. Sometimes to get along, you go along.
I submit that all this posturing is really about schooling in Jersey City. The opportunity this political posturing gives to oppose the administration and likely rivals in May, the merits of the funding proposal be damned, only make it harder to stomach. Accordingly, to return to the lesson plan, I ask each of these public servants to answer the following quiz as they drum up a reaction to what I summarized. True or False: Charter schools are public schools.
Juan Cartagena