Dear Editor:
Are you concerned as a Hoboken resident, taxpayer or registered voter that shrinking public school enrollment (in 1998: 2,625 children; in 2002: 2,180 children) costs more per capita today than it did in 1998? I am.
Are you concerned as a Hoboken pre-school, middle, high school or charter school parent that public school student academic achievement levels and college admission rates are unlikely to reach the level of the public or private school you graduated from unless thoughtful action occurs soon? I am.
Do you support teacher recruitment and a leadership commitment to educational excellence? Do you want a public school faculty in Hoboken that demonstrates a deep love of learning, inspires children to strive, succeed and achieve academic mastery, physical fitness and social competence… not just getting by? I do. Hoboken’s schools can and will.
As a parent, homeowner, taxpayer and an individual committed to educational excellence, Joel Freiser’s name will appear on the April 15, 2003 ballot for one of three vacancies on the Hoboken Board of Education. I intend to call the shots as I see them and not rubber stamp the blind hand of a prevailing political culture that too often views and acts like public education is just another ring of the local political circus.
Over the next three years and through 2008, the elected members of the Hoboken Board of Education must lead, inspire, motivate and make decisions with serious financial and social implications for the quality of life in our hometown. Over 40 million dollars in Abbott school improvements will be spent. As last Wednesday night’s public hearing before the Hoboken Municipal Council demonstrated, more work is needed to refine plans for facility capital investment more responsive to Hoboken’s needs. While a commendable beginning, more fine-tuning is in order.
Hoboken’s charter school children, teachers and parents deserve a genuine partnershp and voice (not lip service) on the Board of Education and not be treated as a poor relative forced to live off the scraps of a rich but resentful relative’s table.
I will raise the bar, demand greater productivity and performance from our public school district. To do less will not inspire or engage Hoboken’s children and families, from our low-income public housing projects on the west to affluent Hudson Street brownstones on the east. Our public school district (especially the teachers and support staff at its heart) must intensify commitment to sustaining a learning community where worthwhile learning happens every day for every child. I pledge to make it happen by hard work, objectivity and applying the same determination and skill that many Hobokenites may recall I contributed to helping Hoboken become one of the most appealing livable communities in the region (Deputy Director of the Hoboken Model Cities Agency (1973-1977), President, the United Synagogue of Hoboken (1975-1980, 1982-1985), Member and Chair, Hoboken Board of Adjustment (1984-86), Member and Chair, Hoboken Waterfront Corporation (1992-1996), Trustee and Vice President, the Hudson School (1995-present), Committee Member, Cub Scout Pack at the United Synagogue of Hoboken).
Call me at 973-919-7785 to discuss how we can work togegther to improve public education in Hoboken (including life long learning for adults as well). I would be delighted to share my views on education, learning, leadership and helping make Hoboken an even better place than it already is. Please cast your vote for me on April 15. Thank you for the opportunity to seek your support. I will not let you down.
Joel Freiser