I really wish this was about getting input, but it's paid for by his campaign. If he was looking for feedback then he would run this from his office and his staffers would see the input. This goes straight to his election campaign, will get used to get email addresses, and it's a big question mark if anyone ever reads the actual submissions.

This is paid for by his election fund which means Steve is collecting email addresses for his next run. It's an interesting way to get contacts.

Thanks for posting this information. It's a real service to parents when they can see all of their options in one place.

Many of the schools are doing 'sneak a peek' week where parents can come visit school, meet the teachers, and ask questions. They are not all scheduled on the same night because many parents want to visit multiple schools so call the school and ask them when they are having it. I think it is happening at the end of Feb or early march.

Jersey City has a lot of schools and each one is unique so it's worth the effort to visit. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Here's a pretty clear, but short explanation about the reval

https://civicparent.org/2016/01/proper ... ation-ratio/#comment-7605

This is a really thorough breakdown of a complicated issue- the issuance of tax abatements in Jersey City. The most interesting part of this write up to me was that

1. Everything is backed up with other sources
2. It compares Mayor Fulop to Councilman Fulop's positions
3. It shows how the City moves funding around to serve its own purposes.

It's called 'Jersey City pilots Rob Funding from the School System', which is a direct reference to what Councilman Fulop used to say when he was campaigning for Mayor.

https://civicparent.org/2015/11/jersey ... hool-system/#comment-7370

+1 T-Bird

I did report it.

They asked for my ID to look me up in the book. She asked the person in front of me too.

I was asked for my drivers license when I voted this morning. Luckily, I had it with me. Even though it's illegal to request ID, play it safe and make sure to have it on you when you vote. My polling station is in Ward E, but who knows what is happening elsewhere.

I get the skepticism about the numbers. After all, this is Jersey City so one should always be skeptical when anything is presented by an institution, but what's not reported in this article, but has been made publicly available by the school district is that the number of students who took Advanced Placement courses increased. Those numbers can't be gamed.

In 2012 752 students took AP classes. In 2015 836 students took AP classes. That's an 11% increase. But the number of students who passed AP exams increased by 17%. Think about that for a second. Usually when you increase the pool of students doing something then the number passing goes down. But in this case we opened an opportunity for students, they went for it and did phenomenally well. (And got college credit for it as well)

As a citizen you have the right to question why parents don't do more to prepare their kids for school, but as a Board Member our responsibility is to accept every child for who they are and stretch them to their potential. Our kids, the ones that some people are quick to denigrate, proved that they can succeed when given the opportunity.

Keep demanding that we do more, but at least recognize that many students are getting opportunities they never had before. And they get it not because politicians got a great press release out of it but because there was some solid management in place that focused on academics. Can the school district do better? Yes. But if these gains were so easy then why didn't the previous superintendents do it? We have a lot of work to do, but at least it's finally started.

The only thing shocking about this article is how much it rings true. The mask has dropped and it's incredibly disappointing.

I sit on the Board of Ed and wanted to clarify a few things because there has been a lot of misinformation shared with the public about this topic.

1. The District's current policy is to recognize the holy days of every religion by allowing excused absences and tardies for any student who chooses to observe the holiday.

2. As clarification- We do not take any days off for religious holidays with the exception of Good Friday, which has been on our calendar for decades. Christmas falls within Winter Break and Easter is on Sunday.

3. The challenge with this specific holiday, as voiced by many Board Members, is that we would only be giving families 6 days notice for a closed school day. This is extremely difficult for many working families. The City Council and employers are not closed on this day so arranging back up care on the scale of 30,000 students is not easy or affordable for every family.

4. It is illegal for the public schools to gather data on religious affiliation so the actual size of any given community is not known.

Many of the other points on this thread about including all religions in decisions to cancel school were also raised. It's clear we need to come up with something that will be inclusive and work for every student.

Hope this helps, but ping me if you have questions.
Sangeeta

There are two new schools being built. One called the new PS20 in Lafayette and the other will be in the Heights. They are both scheduled to open by September 2016.

The District also bid to use the Old Golden Door School on 9th & Marin, but the JCRA and Mayor have not made a decision on its use.

great question. As President of the Board I'd like to point you to the work the last Board.

We put together a strategic plan that lays out how the Board and Superintendent will work together to increase student achievement across the District. What made this document different from the past is that it is in depth, comprehensive, and linked to the individual department plans. We use it to prioritize spending, assess the quality of programs, and measure our progress against the targets.

I wish I could send you the strategic plan from the Epps administration but there never was one.

Strategic Plan summary http://www.jcboe.org/boe2015/index.ph ... der=pdf/admin&Itemid=1298

Full 2014-2017 Strategic Plan
http://www.jcboe.org/boe2015/index.ph ... c%20Plan1.pdf&Itemid=1352

There are two complaints in here that I want to respond to

1. no books in the classroom- to anyone out there aware of a classroom without books then can you please let me know the room number and subject matter? No one on the Board or in the District benefits from denying students books. To date, no one has EVER followed up after making these claims.

2. cut in the athletics budget- can anyone tell me which team was cut? The budget has not been cut- check the approved budget which is a public document.

It's normal to have honest disagreements, but can we please ground them in facts? If everyone wants to help the students of the district then get specific and we'll fix it. Otherwise it feels like voters will have a choice on Nov 4 between people who actually work to solve problems and those who pat themselves on the back for pointing them out.

Sangeeta Ranade

I saw a question earlier asking where Marilyn, Vidya, and I have received our financing. I wanted to respond to it but can't find the original post. Understanding the financing behind a team is important. As a registered election fund we can raise money from a variety of sources; however, the initial funding came directly from Vidya, Marilyn, and myself. We are now fundraising in full force and can accept contributions via paypal at parentsforprogress@gmail.com

Parents for Progress will be an ongoing entity and also registered with the appropriate state agencies. The goal of Parents for Progress is to empower parents to nominate strong school board candidates and to hold those candidates accountable if they're elected. It is growing into a completely independent organization, which will be unaffiliated with any politician.

As you know, Steven Fulop has endorsed this slate, but it's important to understand he played no role in the committee that picked us. In fact, I met Steven for the first time last week. The committee that selected me to be a part of Parents for Progress was a committee of parents. While many of the volunteers in this campaign overlap with Steve's team, it is important to recognize that Vidya brings support from her previous campaign, Marilyn brings support from her lifelong service to Jersey City, and I bring support from parents. Steve's involvement has been to encourage an open and transparent process that brought together a ticket that meets the needs of our schools today. We have lined up other endorsements and have met (and will continue to meet) with countless residents and parents to discuss our platform.