HOBOKEN – With the school board election coming up this Tuesday, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a letter to the Hoboken Reporter to be published this weekend that she will vote for the Parents for Progress slate. She also noted that she plans to enroll her older son, who attends a charter school, in Hoboken High School when he becomes old enough for high school next year.
The Parents for Progress slate is running independently but has been seen as allied with the current “Kids First” school board majority. The three-member slate includes one incumbent, Monica Stromwell, who has voted with Kids First at times.
One of the contentious issues in this election is the fact that the Kids First school board majority has hired a lawyer to try to stop a local charter school, HoLa, from expanding from sixth to eighth grade. In the past, the Kids First majority has had the support of many young, professional parents in town, but some of them were surprised by Kids First’s actions against HoLa and negative comments against charter schools in general. Hoboken has three charter schools. Kids First members have said that the schools take away too much money from the regular public schools in the district, and have claimed the charter schools cause segregation in the school community.
Zimmer’s two children are in a charter school and she has said she does not support the moves taken against HoLa.
Some believed that this is why Zimmer hadn’t made any early endorsements in the election. Zimmer had supported Kids First in the past. She addressed the charter school matter in her letter.
In the letter, to be published this weekend, Zimmer said, “While I do not know the candidates well, I had the opportunity recently to sit down and speak with them about the issues facing our schools. I share their excitement about the enormous progress the Hoboken School district has made in recent years. In fact, last week my husband and I, together with our 13 year old son Alex (an eighth grader at the Elysian Charter School), attended the Hoboken High School open house and were all extremely impressed. As we walked home, Alex let us know that he has decided to attend Hoboken High School next year because of the opportunities it provides to high achieving students for independent study…Perhaps the most controversial issue with regard to Hoboken Schools at this time concerns the decision of the Hoboken school board to oppose in court the state’s decision to permit the expansion of the HoLa Charter school to seventh and eighth grade. I have made clear my support of the State’s decision to permit the expansion, and while I respect the school board’s right to take the steps that it has in opposition, I have made clear my strong disagreement with their decision to do so. In my conversation with the Parents For Progress candidates, I was pleased to learn that the candidates’ views reflect a spectrum of opinion… I believe that this diversity of opinion would be a real asset to the school board going forward. I respect the Parents for Progress candidates for their decision to run independently of any political affiliation…”
To read the complete text of the letter, see this weekend’s newspaper.
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