Dear Editor:
I encourage all residents to pay close attention to this coming school board election and to the phenomenal slate that Kids First offers. The tree women, Theresa Minutillo, Maureen Sullivan and Ruth McAllister, will bring change to a school system that has long suffered from mismanagement, political patronage and feather bedding. I often read that many people think the school district has too many administrators, but I never quite understood that until I read this: Most school districts have one administrator for 157 students, but Hoboken has one administrator for 92 students. What do we have in return for this top-heavy administration? An obscenely high cost of almost $25,000 per pupil, which is among the top five in the state. And are our students getting a decent education? Some are, but I would guess a majority aren’t. Only 9 percent of Connors’ sixth graders passed the state’s language arts test last year, and test scores went down last year and the district is again in danger of being taken over by the state.
Kids First offers change, a chance at bringing accountability to the district and the possibility of eliminating the bureaucracy endemic to Hoboken’s governing institutions.
Yours,
Virginia Daut