Dear Editor:
Of the three slates running for the Hoboken Board of Education, one chose to ignore the long-established local candidate forum. The truant slate consists of one appointed board member and two newcomers who are supported by the Kids First board majority. Their absence denied the community an opportunity to get to know them. Why would any candidate decline the great exposure the debate offers, particularly three relative unknowns?
Voters deserve candidates that reach out to the electorate, not candidates that want the electorate to go to their website or Facebook page. If participating in an educational forum is not a priority for a candidate, we cannot expect that to change if they get win and have to face the demands and time constraints of elected office.
Making matters worse, two candidates on the slate have allowed their running mate, a 9-month incumbent on the board to speak for them. Do they have anything to say?
The “no-show” candidates are trying to hide from the record of partisanship, cronyism, increased spending per pupil, flat enrollment, declining academic achievement, a revolving door of administrators, doomed glamour programs like the great computer giveaway, and higher taxes associated with the Kids First board majority. One could argue that they did not want to attend the debate since, after having the majority for over four years, they have no positive record and few accomplishments to show. Kids First has devolved from a group of parents demanding better schools into a political entity no better than any other political faction in this town; their candidates are aware of this.
The other, and perhaps more important reason for both the non-attendance and the name change is that, if elected, Kids First (by any other name), would gain all nine seats on the Board of Education. Even those who think our schools have improved under the current majority cannot accept that one political entity should have 100 percent control of our school system. Without dissenting voices bringing diverse ideas and perspectives to the Board our schools stagnate.
Kids First is just Politics First. This is a new name for the same old game; they represent a political group that has failed our community. Let’s not be fooled again.
Sincerely,
Ines Garcia Keim
John Stevens Keim