This week, the Jersey City Reporter presents the remaining four candidates (in alphabetical order) running for the Jersey City school board on April 21.
This week’s profiles include a store owner, a scientist, an accountant, and a businessman.
Three spots are open on the nine-member school board.
Board members perform an advisory role to state-appointed Schools Superintendent Charles Epps. The Jersey City school system has been under state control since 1989 due to failing test scores. But legislation was approved in 2005 that will start the process of moving local control back over the next couple of years.
Two incumbents are running for re-election: Anthony Cucci and William DeRosa. Board member Edward Cheatam has chosen not to run for another term.
Also running are Sean Connors, Khaled Dardir, Eric Goldsmith, Mario Gonzalez, Charles W. Johnson, Abdul J. Malik, Azam A. Riaz, Moshe Rozenblit, Patricia Sebron, and Tom Wilen.
For previous profiles, see the last two editions of the Reporter.
Azam Riaz
Riaz, 32, has lived in Jersey City since the age of 5. He attended Our Lady of Czestochowa grammar school and St. Peter’s Prep High School. He graduated from Saint Peter’s College and attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and Wroxton College in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Since 2000, Azam has served as an accountant/auditor at a New York City company. He is also running as a City Council candidate on Phillip Webb’s mayoral ticket. He is married with three children.
Why are you running for office?
“I have been a resident for 27 years and attended all private schools because my parents did not trust the public school system. I think about the funding of public education since I pay taxes. I wanted to see why there’s a huge problem with the public school system.”
Why should the voters vote for you?
“I have no type of political connection, and I will hold myself to a higher ethical standard. I am going to be there to represent the children and parents in the school district.”
What issue(s) will you address first as soon as you get into office?
“The teachers are provided with the proper amount of support and training. Also, making sure the curriculum is focused on real-life scenarios and stimulating the minds of the children.”
Moshe Rozenblit
Rozenblit lives with his wife and son in Jersey City. He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Brussels in Belgium. He has worked at Tel Aviv University in Israel, University of Aachen in Germany, Bell Laboratories, Telcordia Technologies and L-3 Communications. He holds two U.S. patents, has authored a book on telecommunications, and has chaired national and international groups producing industry-wide standards in that field. Rozenbilt has served as president of the Board of Directors of the Portofino Condominium in Jersey City.
Why are you running for office?
“Sixty eight percent of fifth graders and 70 percent of sixth graders are failing the state-wide standardized Language Arts and Literacy test. Jersey City schools rank well below the average of districts with similar socio-economic, ethnic, and educational demographics.”
Why should the voters vote for you?
“I have the privilege of running with two outstanding candidates – Eric Goldsmith and Tom Wilen – under the banner: Jersey City Excellence in Education Now! We have clear, measurable goals and a strategy for achieving those goals.”
What issue(s) will you address first as soon as you get into office?
“Replace the district’s management with an outstanding, competent team that will bring about the desired results.”
Patricia Sebron
Sebron, 63, is a native of Jersey City. She attended Public School 14 and Lincoln High School. She was also the first African-American female to graduate from St. Peter’s College. She has worked as a human resources administrator at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Conrail, and NJ Transit. Sebron is also the owner of Hosiery and Things, located on Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City. She is single with no children. Sebron is running on a slate with Bill DeRosa and Sean Connors.
Why are you running for office?
“After listening to [President Obama] talk about being active in our communities, and I have been passionate about working with children in my community for years and I care about the school system. So I said, why not [run]?”
Why should the voters vote for you?
“I really think I bring a skill set that would be helpful on the board because of my experience as a businesswoman.”
What issue(s) will you address first as soon as you get into office?
“There are two issues I am really passionate about. Early childhood education, which we cannot allow anything to affect because literacy is absolutely important; and we also need to address the dropout rate in this city. We need to have a literate society because it impacts upon crime and quality of life. So we need to set some goals to cut down the dropout rate.”
Tom Wilen
Wilen, 57, and his wife have lived in Jersey City for five years, and his three children all go to Jersey City public schools. He has managed several companies with more than 2,000 employees, and turned around failing enterprises. He graduated from the Business School of the University of Helsinki in Finland, complemented with executive education at Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern and the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs.
Why are you running for office?
“I am first and foremost a concerned parent with three small children in JC public schools. I have a background as CEO turning around publicly traded companies with more than 2,000 employees, and once I realized that our public schools have failure rates of 30-60 percent, it was clear to me that they could use some help.”
Why should the voters vote for you?
“I am a parent. I have no ambitions for public office beyond this challenge. I have never had a job or made any money for myself from JC or its school system.”
What issue(s) will you address first as soon as you get into office?
“Once I am elected, I will build a coalition on the board of at least five members to make sure we can get things done. Next, I will implement a strategic session for one weekend with all the board members and the senior management of the school system.”
What makes this year’s April 21 Board of Education election interesting is that for the first time in 20 years, the public can vote to approve or reject the local tax portion of the district’s $629.8 million budget. They will be voting on the $93 million school tax levy.
However, there is a problem with the budget itself. The Jersey City school board rejected the budget at a special meeting on April 2, taking issue with the local tax levy rising $7 million from last year’s $86 million.
That means that now, by state law, the N.J. Department of Education has to approve the budget, regardless of the outcome of the public vote on the tax levy. The state will not change the tax levy amount. – RK
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.