Just in time for the Jersey City school board election on Tuesday, the school district has come up with a positive report on the progress of the schools.
In the last meeting before voters get to select from pro and anti-schools-superintendent candidates, Superintendent Dr. Marcia V. Lyles told the board that statistics justified the district’s request to the state to raise the status of several schools previously labeled as problematic.
The report is somewhat self-serving, since incumbent candidates immediately used the report to justify their faith in the superintendent and used it to muffle candidates critical of the superintendent.
Nobody is going to criticize success.
For Children First – the anti-Lyles slate – it will take two successful elections for them to cobble enough votes to remove her, and the report handcuffs them on a key issue.
Lyles came in on the heels of former Schools Superintendent Charles Epps, who was as hated by Parents for Progress as Lyles is by Children First.
At the last meeting, critics of Lyles questioned the provisions in her contract that would allow her to get a bonus tied to progress of the schools. She said even though she may be entitled to a bonus, she has not applied for it.
But the bonus is really not the issue. Progress in the schools – if the report is accurate – is a lot easier today than it will be once the new testing comes into play. The new tests are so tough that marginal kids who struggle even to make the old standards may feel so discouraged they could drop out. The state Department of Education has refused to let districts opt out of the test, and so has put pressure on school boards, teachers, and students to show progress.
It is likely, if the old guard that opposes Parents for Progress wins seats this year, they will have a lot more ammunition next year if the new tests start to work against incumbents helped into office by the political machine of Mayor Steven Fulop.
Fulop is staying out of the fray this year, partly because he cannot afford to aggravate the teachers union if he hopes to run for governor in 2016. The school board has yet to reach a contract with the teachers, promising teachers strong support for candidates opposed to the incumbents.
Fulop can’t openly support candidates who have been endorsed by the teachers’ union, so he has to stay out. But Fulop and the school board have parted ways for other reasons, especially Fulop’s push to have the district rent space for pre-schoolers in new developments.
Several of the candidates on the Parents for Progress slate – formerly supported by Fulop – also have to deal with the fact that they send their own children to charter schools, or helped to found charter schools outside Jersey City. While attendance for charter schools tends to be done by lottery, they are often seen as aloof. They also tend to operate without some of the restrictions public schools must deal with, such as hiring union teachers. This may be another reason why the teachers union has not endorsed these candidates, along with the failure to settle a teacher’s contract.
There is big money flowing in the Jersey City election. Parents for Progress has a war chest of about $90,000, while the state teacher’s union has thrown about $100,000 against them.
Hoboken school race has municipal implications
The Hoboken school board election is partly driven by controversy over charter schools as well, with the reform members apparently split over the issue. This will likely benefit the two incumbent candidates that are seen as old guard – despite the fact that there are also splits in their ranks.
These divisions promise to spill over into next year’s midterm elections where Ruben Ramos or Chris Campos may challenge Councilman Tim Occhipinti in the 4th Ward. Reformers hold a slim 5-4 majority on the City Council, but could make gains if they can find candidates.
Rumors suggest that 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason may not seek reelection in favor of some higher office. Reform candidates may also be in short supply if any of the current councilpeople decide not to run as well. Mason has been making robo-calls against the Monarch project in Hoboken, trying apparently to steal some of the anti-developer political thunder from her arch rival, Mayor Dawn Zimmer.
The Zimmer administration has mishandled its campaign against what it claims is a project unsuited for Hoboken, but it has brought Zimmerites together in their opposition. Mason’s jumping into the fray could mean she has decided to run for reelection after all.
A test of strength for Roque
In West New York, the school board election is haunted by the sins of the past, as candidates supported by Mayor Felix Roque hope to overcome some of the perceived political interference the school board has been accused of – highlighted in a state report last year and a recent lawsuit against the board this year.
Control of the board would give anti-Roque candidates a platform for next year’s town commissioner election in which Roque is expected to run for reelection. But Roque’s ticket will be different from 2011. He will not have Caridad Rodriquez on the ticket and perhaps others may not run, leaving gaps for anti-Roque candidates to fill.
Kathleen Turner calling?
For some lucky Democrats, robo-calls in support of progressive candidates were spiced up with a very familiar voice: actress Kathleen Turner.
Her appeal is so appealing you almost hate to slam down the phone.
Of course, some of us who are on the Democratic mailing list also got an email message from Turner asking if we got her phone call.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.