JERSEY CITY –Tonight residents can hear from candidates vying for three Board of Education (BOE) seats in Jersey City during a forum hosted by Parents and Communities United for Education, a grassroots education reform group working to increase high school graduation rates.
The forum, the first of two that will be held before the Wed., April 27 BOE election, will take place at the Mary McLeod Bethune Center at 140 MLK Drive from 6 to 8 p.m. There are 10 candidates running for the Jersey City BOE this year – including Haril Patel, Jayson Burg, Vidya Gangadin, Amanda Kahn, Aurym Nunez, Nabil Youssef, Marvin Adames, Carol Harrison-Arnold, and incumbents Sue Mack and Frances Thompson – all of whom have been invited to the forum.
Among the topics certain to come up tonight will be the candidates’ opinions regarding the contract and salary offered to Jersey City Schools Superintendent Charles Epps.
Epps currently receives an annual salary of $268,200, plus a $10,000 expense account. Epps’ income, not including his expense account, is $93,200 higher than the $175,000 salary cap Gov. Christopher Christie wants to levy on school superintendents in New Jersey.
Also controversial is the three-year contract renewal the BOE gave to Epps last year. His current contract expires in June. – E. Assata Wright