Dear Editor:
This year’s race for the Jersey City Board of Education has a fairly typical cast of characters – with one exception. Gina Verdibello stands out from the other candidates for several reasons. First of all, she is not a political player. She has no political affiliations. She is not a “Fulop candidate”, nor is she the choice of any particular political organization. She is genuinely independent which is a rarity these days. She wants to be elected because she wants to make a difference for the students of Jersey City’s public schools. She has no other agenda, hidden or otherwise. She sees problems and wants to fix them. This applies to overflowing garbage dumpsters on school grounds to moldy pre-K trailers to leaky windows. She honestly believes that our children – and teachers – deserve to spend 6 hours a day in clean, well-maintained facilities that encourage learning rather than providing a lesson in bureaucratic apathy and ineptitude. She is also very concerned about the over-emphasis on standardized testing – specifically the PARCC test. But she doesn’t just mumble about it under her breath.
She goes to meetings and speaks in public to education officials at the city and state level. She is tireless in her efforts to make her voice heard on our behalf. She’s active in the community. She has attended nearly every Board of Education meeting for the last 4 years. She started a Girl Scout troop. She knits hats for infants in the local hospital. She volunteers for community clean up days. She’s not just someone who pretends to be interested in the weeks immediately prior to an election. She’s the real deal. So if you’ve ever expressed dissatisfaction with what has effectively become a professional political class in this country, voting for Gina Verdibello (2D) for Jersey City Board of Education this November 3rd is your chance to elect a real person, a genuine “every-woman”, your neighbor who will actually work for you and yours rather than purely for her own self-aggrandizement.
Lisa Schnettler