JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND — The Jersey City Board of Education, during a raucous and contentious meeting on Thursday, by a 4-4-1 vote decided not to approve a contract that would give teachers 4 percent raises each year starting this school year.
Hundreds of teachers packed the auditorium at Public School 11 on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City where they heard board members explain to boos and cheers why they were voting for or against.
Board member Gerald McCann led the dissenters, which included Frances Thompson, Pat Sebron, and Terry Dehere. McCann didn’t mind playing the villain as he told the audience that if the contract, as it stands, is approved and coupled with a proposed cut of $27 million in state school aid, it would lead to more than 500 teacher layoffs.
He also pointed out that the first year is already accounted for in the current school year budget but there are concerns about funding in the next three years.
Dehere said that he would like 30 more days to look at the contract to figure out what changes can be made to save as many jobs as possible, and at the same time help the taxpayers of Jersey City to avoid a tax increase.
Leading those in favor was Dr. Peter Donnelly, who said that the contract should be approved since schools superintendent Dr. Charles Epps and representatives for the teachers union had spent over a year in “good faith” negotiations and that the teachers needed to know “where they stand.”
Also advocating for the contract to be approved were board members Sue Mack, Angel Valentin and school board president Bill DeRosa. Also pushing for the contract to be approved was president of the Jersey City Education Association (the teachers union), Tom Favia.
The one abstention was Sean Connors, who said he was advised by a state ethics commission not to vote on the contract since he was endorsed by the JCEA when he ran for office.
Now the contract will be looked over by the board members, some of whom said they were not involved in the negotiations.
After the meeting, teachers were unhappy and some threatened to not come to work the next day, or find a way to get McCann and Dehere voted off the board.
Both of them are running in this year’s school board election. – RK
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