Update:

I am deeply saddened and most troubled by the prospect of not being able to conduct a nationwide search. Unfortunately, as it stands today, the majority (for whatever reason and still unbeknownst to me) of my fellow BOE members are against my efforts to take advantage of this opportunity to re-evaluate top down and make the best decision, going forward, to turn around our district.

Worst yet is talk of an extension (not renewal) , which has momentum, and in my mind, not the right course of action. This historic election was a referendum for change. Significant change. NO MORE STATUS QUO. Some of us apparently are not listening or paying attention to what the public wants and what we so desperately need.

I promised transparency and accountability while running for the BOE. I truly believe that this is our first real step towards acquiring both. For this, I should not be amongst the minority.

Sterling Waterman
BOE Member

The salary is the main issue with me, not Epps. Is the job search advertising a more reasonable salary? Like maybe, something UNDER 6-digits?? All the superintendent/supervisor salaries in New Jersey need a seismic correction. The teacher salaries aren't really the issue.

I think the Council also needs to address the issue of the school on Communipaw Ave. named after Epps. That should never have happened.

+1!


THURSDAY - BOARD OF ED MEETING - PS# 11 ? 886 BERGEN AVE - STARTS 6PM ? PUBLIC COMMENT AT END OF AGENDA (IF YOU SCHEDULE TALK TIME) OR DURING THE MEETING IF YOU SCHEDULE TIME TO SPEAK AT ANY SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEM. The link to the agenda is

http://www.boarddocs.com/nj/jcps/Board.nsf/Public?

OpenFrameSet and click on May 20 Meeting for full agenda. Large auditorium, agenda items televised but public comment at end not televised.

**To book talk time tonight with Anna-Marie Carpenito for Thursday?s meeting (for either general comments at end or on a specific agenda item) call her on 201 915 6074.

If you are going to talk, it is effective to ask them to give you a specific answer right then & there to your question. A lot of people get up & just rant & rave but don?t have anything specifically to request. So if you are wanting to express concern over something ? for example, process to open search for Superintendant, then ask them directly a question you want answered so that you get some kind of answer or if you ask them to do something then at the end say ?Will you do this??. Hope that helps..
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Support our newly elected board members, Sterling Waterman, Carol Lester and Angel Valentin (he first stated at board mtg. we needed a nationwide search for superintendent) need your voice to show the other board members we will fight for change!

Whether you have kids or not (I don't), own or rent (I rent), as Sterling eloquently states, you will be impacted by what happens in our schools and specifically with our children.

I'm going to speak to supporting our children, our parents, our teachers and our city by doing a nationwide open search for the best Superintendent of Schools we might find.

I know that children succeed when they have the best support from everyone along the way who are committed to doing their best for our children. This benefits all of Jersey City, our state, country and our society. Opening a nationwide search for the best Superintendent of Schools is even more important with the cutbacks orchestrated by Christie together with Schundler. We need someone who has the ability to provide fiscal and financial oversight, operational management and leadership of people that inspires our teachers and parents and who is able to form partnerships with both the public and private sector to provide opportunities for all our children to excel.

Jersey City's school budget of over $600 Million exceeds the entire city's budget of $500Million+. We owe every taxpayer in Jersey City an answer as to how we will guide our schools from their miserable lack of accomplishment and it starts with the highest paid individual, our Superintendent of Schools, who has the most impact on our school budget and the success of all our schools. This board must perform the necessary due diligence that will permit a nationwide search to be legally initiated and properly directed as provided by both State law and through following local school board procedure. Only through opening a nationwide search for the best Superintendent of Schools may we have the possibility of success for our children.

I'm glad I voted for him!

Op-Ed: Jersey City Superintendent of Schools search would be a valuable process
By The Jersey Journal
May 20, 2010, 6:30AM

By STERLING WATERMAN
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL

As a member of the Jersey City Board of Education, it is our responsibility to insure that our students have the best opportunity to receive the highest quality of education possible. This year's budget cuts and a forecast for more of the same next year make this a serious challenge. As a board, we would be irresponsible not to evaluate everything that directly affects our students and teachers.

A critical part of this is indeed looking at the leadership of the Jersey City public schools. Kudos to board member Angel Valentin for broaching the subject of a nationwide search for a superintendent and following up with a promise of resolution.

The language in Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr.'s contract requires the board must give notice to Dr. Epps a minimum of three months. With this being a crucial and extremely important process, it behooves us all to take the maximum amount of time given for this search, which is why the process needs to start now as Dr. Epps' contract is up in June 2011.

We can not and should not lose our first and best chance to make critical improvements to the system.

The idea of a national search is a straightforward idea. It gives the Board of Education the opportunity to hear new ideas, re-evaluate the way our schools operate, and invite the sort of reforms so critically needed in our offices and classrooms. Unfortunately, this process is not a simple one. The importance of the superintendent position can not be overstated. This individual is the leader of the entire Jersey City school system, controlling a bureaucracy whose budget eclipses that of our entire city and making decisions every day which determine the fate of over 28,000 children.

Whether or not we have -- or plan to have -- children in the school system, this issue will affect us, either through our taxes, our property values, our rental outlays and/or the local crime statistics.

The performance of our schools have been uneven at best, with a handful of schools succeeding and others that have been persistently underachieving. It would be the height of irresponsibility to allow this opportunity to pass us by and not to reflect and explore the direction we want to take our schools.

The vote we will cast tonight is not a vote on whether Dr. Epps will or will not be the next superintendent, it is about making the most informed decision possible on behalf of our students, parents and taxpayers. Indeed, if no better candidates are found at the conclusion of the nationwide search, we will work closely and collegially with Dr. Epps to make the improvements necessary to bring our school system back, and restore our promise to the city's children. That promise is what this is about; and on that objective, I know Dr. Epps and all of the Board of Education members see eye-to-eye.

Still, as members of the Board of Education, we must hold our standards high and our schools' possibilities limitless.

We must do away with the ever present status quo. The children and the people of Jersey City can no longer sustain that.

Sterling Waterman is a member of Jersey City Board of Education.