Dear Editor:
My name is Theresa Minutillo, and I am running for a seat on the Hoboken Board of Education. Though my grandparents Savino, Maria, Francesco and Carmela all emigrated from Italy I have been a homeowner in town for the past 17 years. While I don’t yet have children, I’ve gotten to know the public students of Hoboken through my years in the community and my work on Senior Prep Day.
I truly believe that for many of these students our system is not giving them everything they need and deserve. This is all the more disturbing, as our failures cannot be justified by the lack of funding. We’re spending almost $20,000 per student but too much of it is going to pay-to-play contracts and non-classroom administrators. We have the second highest cost per student for non-classroom personnel in the state of NJ – almost twice the state average. Many students are falling through the cracks.
Senior Prep Day helped in a small way for non-college bound students by allowing members of our community to volunteer their time and expertise in resume writing, interview coaching and dressing for success. Others coached students in how to apply for student funding for college tuition and discussed alternative programs available to the, such as medical certification programs and technical training. But that was recently cancelled based on a political dispute.
Our problem in Hoboken is neither the students nor the faculty; it’s the lack of leadership and vision. With the resources available no parent should ever feel enrollment in the Hoboken public schools represents a compromise in their child’s education. Only by ending political decision making and raising academic standards can our public schools become what they truly need to be – something that draws our community together and of which every parent, taxpayer and voter can be proud.
Theresa Minutillo