how are we doing? anyone still care about supporting our voice and our elected Board of Education working for and following through on efforts for a nationwide search?

"Dr Epps" is both arrogant and idiotic in the way he treats parents and students. He has no respect for neither.

Despite that "some" parents may be liars and "some" girls may be bad, A man in his position cannot say these things.

Every time this man opens his mouth he insults the very constituency he is supposed to serve and that pays his $300,000+ annual salary. It's time for him to resign!

I'm no big Epp's fan -- but from what I have seen in JC -- a lot of parents are liars.

School Administrator Claims Superintendent Charles Epps Calls Parents ?Liars? and Critics ?Haters? at Meeting


By Chris Neidenberg ? Sep 1st, 2011 ? Category: Featured, News

Embattled Jersey City superintendent Charles Epps stunned an audience of district administrators during a new school year planning meeting at PS 7 Wednesday, when he called parents ?liars? and his critics ?haters,? a source who was present tells JCI.

The administrator, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the school district?s main office, describes Epps as lashing out at parents and other administrators during the first half-hour of the roughly three-hour meeting, which was attended by at least 70 principals and other school administrators.

?First he said, with great anger, ?I want to tell you parents are liars!?? the attendee recalls.

Epps? ire was apparently triggered when a parent, speaking during the public comment section of Tuesday?s Board of Education meeting, voiced concerns about a school uniform logo.

?They [the one parent] come and complain about a little logo over a T-shirt,? the person recalls Epps telling the group of administrators Wednesday, and then adding: ?I will not reprimand my principals for a lying parent.?

?The audacity of these parents coming to board meetings and lying ? I?ve had it with them,? said Epps, according to the source. ?I?m a parent, many of you are parents, but the parents we are dealing with are liars.?

Epps does not deny making the statements, but he says they are being ?completely misconstrued and taken out of context,? perhaps for political reasons.

?It is readily apparent that such erroneous statements were made by an individual or individuals with an agenda that includes conveying inaccurate and distorted information,? Epps says in a statement provided to JCI this morning after we asked his spokesperson for comment. Neither Epps nor his spokesperson directly answered us when we asked if they denied he made the incendiary statements in question.

?When I spoke about parents at that meeting, I was referring to how the district needs to be more collaborative with parents; that administrators should be greeting parents at the start and end of every school day; that parents need to be included in every facet of school operations; and that we should be identifying with the plights faced by our parents,? Epps? statement reads. ?Given this, I am disheartened to learn at [sic] how anyone can take such statements out of context.?

The administrator present says the room seemed shocked after Epps lashed out.

?Everyone just sat very quietly,? the source says. ?I think people were stunned that he would openly attack parents in a public forum like that. You might understand his criticizing employees, but parents ? and when they are not in the room? It was conduct definitely unbecoming of a leader of our school district.?

Regarding employees who don?t like him, the source also recounts Epps speaking of certain administrators who ?go to board members and say bad things about the district and bad things about me when they make very good money.?

?They are haters and so miserable; they have nothing good to say,? the source recalls Epps saying.

Epps? apparent parent-bashing was brought to the attention of another high-ranking district official, who tells JCI that several upset witnesses retold similar stories.

?You (a school employee) should not say parents are liars,? says the second official, who also requested anonymity for similar reasons. ?And if Dr. Epps wishes to publicly attack a particular group like that, let him do it when members of that group are right in front of him.?

In his statement, Epps also expresses disappointment that his reportedly negative comments would overshadow the ?celebratory statements? he made at the meeting that ?would put this district in the best light possible,? including ?how several of the district?s high schools came out of failing status; that our schools are ready to open with administrators and staff fully in place despite any setbacks that may have been caused by Hurricane Irene; that schools district-wide will be undertaking strategies for effective teaching and school reform.?

It?s not the first time Epps? comments have rocked the boat. In April, he was roundly criticized for telling a group of clergy leaders that ?our worst enemy is the young ladies.? He later apologized for the way the comments came out, with his spokeswoman saying he didn?t just mean to single out girls. ?He was referring to all boys and girls,? she told the Jersey Journal.

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... ritics-haters-at-meeting/

with school starting in three weeks, starting to feel like this could have, should have been handled differently, could have, should have been handled better ....



Again, Jersey City schools chief falls under fire
Published: Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 5:56 AM
Star-Ledger Editorial Board By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
AMANDA BROWN/THE STAR-LEDGER

It?s the Jersey City version of ?Where?s Waldo?? Can you find schools Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr., one of the most overpaid officials in the state?

He reportedly left for an extended vacation at the beginning of June, saying he?d be back in early August. School board members then got word Epps won?t return to work ?til the end of the month, the Jersey City Independent reported. That?s just two weeks before school starts in the state?s second-largest school system.

Paula Christen, Epps? spokeswoman, countered to the Jersey Journal on Thursday that Epps has been in and out of the office all summer, taking vacation days ?here and there,? without saying how many. Yesterday, she was apparently on vacation herself and unable to clarify.

Yet for hundreds of recently laid-off teachers, the story is the same. They?re still anxiously awaiting Epps? decision on whether or not they?ll be rehired in time for an orderly start to the school year. Increased state aid could save their jobs. But Epps has left them and their students in limbo, just like his contract with the district.

Of course, in the interim, he continues to collect his more than $260,000 paycheck. Not to mention his personal car and cell phone, or his nearly 500 sick days ? worth more than $86,000. Epps is trying to bump his annual pay up to $270,000, at a time when the governor is seeking to cap superintendent salaries.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of Jersey City?s public schools are failing. Epps has had more than a decade to try to turn this district around, and now a vocal coalition of parents and officials is seeking his ouster. This is the same superintendent, after all, who told a group of Jersey City pastors in April that young ladies were the district?s ?worst enemy.?

Supporters, such as Freeholder Jeff Dublin, have argued Epps is a ?homegrown? educator.

But that?s not enough. Epps had his chance ? it?s time for a change.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page ... ey_city_superintende.html

Who blinks first?
Since the big baby doesn't have a contract, he's not going to do the work.
Are the checks still getting cut?

and more to come ......

Jersey City Superintendent not on summer vacation, spokeswoman says

Published: Thursday, August 11, 2011,
Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Schools Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. has not been on vacation since June, a school spokeswoman said today.

Spokeswoman Paula Christen, responding to a Jersey City Independent story, told The Jersey Journal today that Epps has been "in and out" of his office throughout the summer.

"He's been here. He's been in the district," Christen said.

The Independent story quoted some Jersey City Board of Education members saying Epps has been AWOL for weeks. But Christen said Epps has been present, aside from a few vacation days here and there.

Now is the time many high-ranking administrators take vacation time, she said, because the school principals are out from mid-July to mid-August.

"It's quiet then," she said.

Asked how many vacation days Epps has coming to him, and how many he's taken so far, Christen said she would supply that information shortly.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_superintendent_not.html

a year later ..............


Where?s Dr. Epps? Frustrations Mount Over Jersey City Superintendent?s Vacation Time as Teaching Jobs Hang in the Balance

By Chris Neidenberg ? Aug 10th, 2011

As the Jersey City school district prepares to welcome thousands of teachers and students back for another year, questions remain over exactly how many of the approximately 290 jobs earmarked for elimination can be restored before the year begins. Yet sources say one key figure has been noticeably absent and will remain so until right before the year begins: schools superintendent Charles Epps.

Epps started his vacation shortly after the school board?s June 30 year-end meeting, according to Board of Education (BOE) president Sterling Waterman. Initially, Waterman says, Epps informed him that he?d return August 1, at which point he could have begun finalizing some sort of plan for restoring the positions ? mostly teaching jobs ? that were initially feared to be lost for the year.

But now, Epps? office tells JCI the district leader will not return until August 22 ? less than two weeks before students start the new year in the state?s second-largest school system.

The short timetable between Epps? expected return and the district?s opening has fueled uncertainty over just how classrooms will be adequately staffed to 2010-11 levels when the doors open.

Epps is being counted on to produce adequate staffing levels, given positive news on the revenue front that gives him far more wiggle room to restore positions than originally anticipated ? and that fact only adds to the frustration felt by Waterman and others over Epps? absence.

This May, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a 3 to 2 opinion mandating the state?s 31 former Abbott districts cumulatively receive $446.9 million in additional funding to meet the state?s constitutional mandate for a ?thorough and efficient? education.

The ruling upped Jersey City?s Fiscal Year 2012 state aid take by $21.1 million, to $417,859,149, says Justin Barra, the state Department of Education?s director of communications and strategic planning.

He notes that Gov. Chris Christie had already earmarked a $5.7 million district increase before the ruling, producing a total hike of $26.8 million.

In a separate but related matter, Jersey City Education Association (JCEA) president Thomas Favia advised the board in April ? before the court ruling ? that it could immediately restore the vast majority of pink-slipped teaching slots (about 55 of the targeted jobs are non-instructional) by using about $15 million in savings derived from 140 teacher retirements to pay the lower salaries of those targeted for layoffs.

?You?re talking generally about younger or newer teachers who would make much less than the senior retirees had been earning,? explains Favia, insisting that far more than half of the layoffs could be reinstated through proper planning. ?I know the younger teachers are really committed to remaining here in Jersey City. Unfortunately, time is running out for them.?

But as Waterman points out, without leadership from the superintendent, there isn?t much he and the board can do. Earlier this summer, he told JCI he anticipated having specific numbers on restored positions around August 5, following his anticipated discussions with Epps, and invited us to call back at that time. But thus far, those discussions have not occurred, providing plenty of frustration for Waterman.

?I believe that, as the board president, Dr. Epps has an obligation to directly call and inform me of his summer schedule,? Waterman says. ?But, given the changes, which I?ve learned only second-hand from other sources, that has not happened ? and I?m not happy about it.?

The full board did not hold a July meeting; it will not hold its next full public session until August 30. The board would likely need to vote on staff restorations then.

?We will be receiving our state aid in September, in time for the beginning of the school year,? Waterman says. ?The court-ordered increase in state aid could be factored into our payroll from the start, enabling us to return many more teachers to the classroom.?

?But we first need to see a plan from our superintendent,? the board president cautions. ?If that plan is in place, I?m sure the board and Dr. Epps will do their best in assuring we are appropriately utilizing this major increase in state aid.?

Waterman tells JCI that Epps is seeking to restore ?more than half? the nearly 300 jobs slated to be lost. But Favia says progress is slow going thus far, adding that he has seen no sense of urgency from district headquarters.

?I would say so far [as of late July], the district has only restored 40 to 50 positions, and some of those include library aides,? the union leader estimates. ?There are many, many dedicated teachers who find themselves in limbo.?

?They must now consider moving on to other districts,? he adds. ?At this point, I?ve advised them to either accept other job offers or aggressively look elsewhere.?

Epps has been unavailable for comment throughout the summer. Waterman suggested we direct our inquiries to Epps? second-in-command, deputy schools superintendent Flavio Rubano. He did not return a call seeking comment.

The superintendent?s extended absence comes as tensions remain between Epps and a board majority over his future job status. Waterman and four others on the nine-member board support a national search for a candidate that could replace Epps. Any ill will that this extended summer leave has kicked up only adds to the acrimony.

Suzanne Mack, the board?s most senior member, has asked Epps to consider retiring and also endorses a national superintendent?s search. She suggests Epps must shoulder the blame if only a small portion of essential positions are restored.

?I?ve been told there?s a large stack of papers which have just sat on Dr. Epps? desk for an extended period during the summer,? Mack says. ?They involve many important and unresolved matters, which the superintendent must address as soon as possible.?

?It?s a critical time,? Mack insists. ?Many laid-off teachers have been left in the dark and need answers from Dr. Epps. They received their COBRA letters [informing them they can privately purchase health insurance lost from their past district employment), and have asked me, ?What should I do???

The trustee says she?s ?saddened, because we do have the money available to restore many positions, including special education teachers, who are heavily in demand but which we are in danger of losing.?

Waterman and Mack both say their hands are tied when it comes to personnel matters. They note that under current policy, the state gives Epps exclusive control over personnel and curriculum decisions, even though the board must approve expenditures in those areas.

?Policy dictates that I first go through either Dr. Epps or deputy superintendent Rubano to discuss any matters related to restoring laid-off positions,? Mack explains. ?If I get that permission, I can then pursue obtaining more specific numbers from the district?s human resources director. I will certainly try doing so.?

Board member William DeRosa, chair of the district?s personnel committee and an Epps supporter, earlier called on the superintendent to do whatever it takes in restoring cut teacher positions so that ?teacher to student ratios? are kept at manageable levels.

Yet at this point, DeRosa acknowledges, the key goal is making sure ?every classroom is manned by a certified teacher? ? even if class sizes must be larger.

Regarding concerns over Epps? extended vacation, and its possible impact on developing an adequate plan to restore teaching positions, DeRosa says he?s unaware of any controversy.

?I just returned from a vacation myself,? he says.

DeRosa pledges to work to make sure ?every classroom, particularly for science and math, as well as special education, is led by an accredited teacher once school opens.?

?It?s a fluid and unpredictable situation right now,? the former board president tells JCI. ?Unfortunately, for us, the teachers we?ve laid off but might want to bring back can decide to accept job offers elsewhere. We must do the best we can in dealing with that reality.?

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... jobs-hang-in-the-balance/

The word on the street? Is that as reliable as, say, the word on jclist?

Has a decision come down from the ALJ?

Epps appears to have lost the confidence of the board, and at least a section of the electorate (and one that happens to have been very involved and active). Seeking to immediately replace him seems more like a desire for a political scalp.

My daughter is starting school in September. I really am not concerned whether Epps is gone now, or at the end of the year, or, for that matter, at the end of his original contract term.

JP,
Points understood but word on the street is that Epps doesn"t have a contract right now. This is what makes the Fulop backed board members questionable in their braggadoshish boasts of ridding us of Epps now in oppose to later. One member, unidentified, was also quoted in the July 11th article, saying "Epps is on his way out" Right or wrong, many believed that these candidates, now board members, would deliver on this campaign promise when possible. Well, it seems possible now, so again....what happened?

Same question goes to Fulop, who backed them.

Also, a nat'l search can always coincide with Epp's termination and I would imagine that there is a second or someone who can step right in, successfully or not, until an effective replacement has been found. So, getting him out now, should not be a problem. Keeping him any longer....may very well be.

Currently, Epps is under contract through 2013.

That contract is being challenged, but as of now, he is still under contract. If the challenge was unsuccessful and the current school board summarily fired him, it would create a huge legal mess. Even if it is successful, it depends in part on what grounds the contract is found unlawful.

So for now, let's assume that the school board can get out of Epps' contract. Now what? If the board is going to do a nationwide search for a new superintendent, it will take months if not years. Even a more limited search will take time.

To the extent any of the newly elected board candidates promised immediate removal of Dr. Epps, that promise was, quite simply, one that could not be made good upon and irresponsible. To the extent people supporting the Fulop slate were banking on Epps being immediately removed, such reliance was misplaced.

A July 11th article from the JJ stated that Epps MAY be leaving??. It even quotes the board president as saying that they are negotiating and don't want to throw him out, by 2012.

NEGOTIATING????? 2012???? How nice of them!!

In this past election, I don't remember the Fulop backed candidates such as Adames and Harrison-Arnold say that they wanted to NEGOTIATE Epp's release. Heck, they ran on getting him out....like immediately. Wasn't there a quote in one of the papers on the day of their victory, saying "Epps, you're out".

I have one question.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Seems like that was all talk to me. Fulop and his folks have been talking about getting rid of Epps for the longest. He has backed several candidates and supposedly has the majority now, yet Epps is still alive and kicking as usual, with no end date in sight. This guy is Teflon.

The Fulop backed candidates, now board members are apparently future good politicians. Promises, promises!

And someone, perhaps the future mayor, can't seem to deliver.

Next??

Quote:

That's hilarious! Charles Epps' comment & yours! All I have to say is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"!

Board likely to show Epps the door, but timing uncertain

Published: Monday, July 11, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal


Superintendent of Public Schools Dr. Charles T. Epps, Jr. speaks during the PCUE community meeting in Jersey City on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009.

Jersey City Board of Education members are negotiating with Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. to get him to give up the reins to the district, possibly by the end of the next school year, according to several school board members.

Details remain elusive, and at least one board member expressed the concern that bringing the negotiations to the public?s attention would cause the deliberations to fall apart.

But BOE officials who spoke to The Jersey Journal, most under the condition that their names not be used, said Epps is on his way out.

?Everyone knows the writing?s on the wall,? said one board member.

Rumors to that effect have been circulating since April 27, when an anti-Epps slate of BOE candidates won the school-board race in a landslide. Carol Harrison-Arnold, elected to her first term on the board that day, began her victory remarks with, ?Dr. Epps, you?re out!? to a roar of approval from her supporters.

According to board members, the BOE in recent weeks has discussed various options that range from keeping Epps on until 2013, to firing him now and immediately beginning the search for his replacement.

The board has chosen instead to work out a deal for the schools? chief to leave possibly by the end of the 2011-12 school year, according to BOE President Sterling Waterman.
?We would negotiate when Dr. Epps would leave rather than having the misperception that we?re forcing him out,? Waterman said.

Last year, under different leadership, the BOE approved a contract for Epps that extended his term from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2013. That contract, though, is in legal limbo, while an administrative law judge hears a complaint from a group of residents who allege the board approved the new pact at a meeting that was not properly advertised.

Epps had originally resisted some board members? calls for him to step aside, but eventually agreed to take part in the negotiations to determine when and how he leaves, said one board member.

?His time is winding down anyway. He knows it,? the board member said.

Epps, a former assemblyman, joined the district as a teacher in 1967, and worked his way up the ladder until he was appointed superintendent by the state in 2000. After the local school board regained hiring powers, it re-signed Epps to a three-year contract in 2008.

Epps, who currently earns $268,200 a year, did not return phone calls to comment.

'Inexcusable'? Maybe, but what about part that's true?

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Earl Morgan
For The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr.'s remarks before a group of black clergymen, terming "bad" young girls "the community's worst enemy," adding to the $1 million cost the school district pays out to police its facilities, set off a furor.

"The young girls are bad. I don't know what they're drinking, but they're bad," Epps is quoted as saying.

School board members, educators and individuals have taken serious umbrage at Epps' remarks, complaining that he branded a wide swath of his female student body as out of control.

As erudite as Dr. Epps may be, he doesn't exactly have a reputation for making the nuanced remark. He may have painted his girl students with too broad a brush.

While I may not agree with his sweeping generalization, I'm reminded of a similar flap that occurred in 1968 over a CBS TV documentary, "The crisis in Black America," in which Bill Moyers pointed out at the time that black female teenagers had the "highest pregnancy rate in the industrial world and in the black inner city practically no teenage mothers got married."

In the opening scene, Moyers addressed a group of teen mothers with their infants and toddlers about the absence of fathers in their children's lives, to which the youngsters replied, almost like a chorus, "I don't need a man."

The program set off protests from black communities and leaders around the country who complained that Moyers painted a false picture of what was happening among black youth. No action was taken to craft a response to the issue.

Jump cut to 2005 and a Bergen Record front-page story that there were 2.1 million people incarcerated in the U.S.

Almost 550,000 of them, between the ages of 20 and 39, were African-Americans, comprising 12 percent of the black males in the country in that age group.

The story pointed out there are more black men in prison than in college. If you do the math it's not hard to imagine that some of the men languishing in prison were babes on the laps of those teenagers in the Moyers documentary.

The silence that greeted the story was deafening. Once again, neither the society at large or the black community and its leadership made a serious effort to respond to these dire circumstances.

I recall a column I wrote nearly 10 years ago after interviewing a Jersey City high school teen who was in turn angry, despondent and frightened by the violence she'd witness committed by her peers, male and female. She said she never left home unarmed.
earl.JPGEarl Morgan of Morgan's Corner

I have personally witnessed several rather vicious fights between girls.

Epps' remarks may have been over the top. But so too is the violence we are now witnessing among young people. It would be a mistake to completely ignore Epps' comments, because, even if only partially true, they warrant a better response than such matters have received in the past.

Quote:

teenage girls frankly scare the bejesus out of me. in fact, the only time I've had any trouble in JC, it's been at the hands of a teenager throwing her weight around on the PATH or the light rail. get them in a pack and they are downright terrifying.

but, I dunno, maybe the the schools and the parents could join forces and teach these children right from wrong?

Wrong words, wrong leader, writes assistant professor

Sunday, May 08, 2011, 10:01 PM
By Letters to the Editor/The Jersey Journal

On Wednesday, April 14, Dr. Charles Epps, Jersey City superintendent of schools, told a group of pastors that "Our worst enemy is the young ladies." He went on to describe Jersey City girls as "bad," "dirty," and "nasty."

As the mother of two young girls, I find these words personally hurtful. But I know he is not directing his comments at girls like mine -- middle class, white girls with highly educated parents. Yet that knowledge provides no comfort because we all know that he is referring primarily to black and brown girls, many of whom are from low-income families. He is talking about girls who might act out or engage in "unladylike" behavior because they have little hope.

The real question is why they have so little hope. Surely the fact that they go to failing schools matters. So while Dr. Epps blames the girls for destroying our community, shouldn't he be pointing the finger at himself for failing them?

For Dr. Epps to label, out loud to a group of clergy, the girls of Jersey City as the culprit of all that is wrong in our city is just reprehensible. Think about how deeply his words cut for these girls. Black women have been wrongly stereotyped as out of control and over-sexualized for nearly 200 years in this country, beginning in slavery.

For a black man in a leadership position like Dr. Epps to buy into and, even worse, to perpetuate that myth is inexcusable. He should know better.

We know the power of words. Tell a child that she is bad, and she will internalize that, at least in part. As an English professor at a public university in Jersey City, I work with students who are underprepared for college because they have been told that they are dumb or unteachable their whole lives. I spend many hours in the classroom helping my students identify and take ownership of the skills and knowledge they already possess. I do this because I know that these students, Jersey City's youth, have value and potential.

Yet when Dr. Epps says that our city's children are bad and nasty, none of their value matters anymore. Because he has reduced them -- in their own eyes and in the public imagination -- to nothing.

The destructive potential of Charles Epps is real, and it is time for him to go.

ANN E. WALLACE, Ph.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY

Incoming Jersey City BOE majority: 'no' on waiving salary cap for Epps

Wednesday, May 04, 2011, 6:09 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald - The Jersey Journal

An incoming majority of the Jersey City Board of Education, including three who swept in a landslide last week's BOE race, have released a joint statement expressing their opposition to a proposed salary-cap waiver for the schools chief.

Last month, The Jersey Journal obtained a copy of an unsigned letter to a county school official requesting a waiver to pay Superintendent Charles Epps Jr. more than the new state-mandated maximum superintendent salary.

The waiver would permit Epps' salary to remain at its current level of $268,200 annually. Without it, his pay would nosedive to a $204,000 maximum. And that's fine with the five board members who announced today they do not support a salary-cap waiver.

"Our opposition to this pay-waiver request should send a strong message to the superintendent that the Board of Education?s coffers are no longer his personal piggy bank," said Carol Harrison-Arnold, one of last week's victors in the school election.

Harrison-Arnold was joined by current BOE Vice President Sue Mack, Carol Lester and Sterling Waterman. Marvin Adames, who along with Harrison-Arnold was elected to the board last week, rounds out the opposition.

?State regulations require a board vote on this matter and the new board is eager to send a clear message that we do not support this," Waterman said.

When The Jersey Journal contacted state education officials about the proposed salary-cap waiver, a spokesman said the request had not been received yet.

Epps was not immediately available to comment.

"Dr." Epps - in the words of the immortal Satchel Paige: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."

Also see a page dedicated to Trina Hinton's story. Click "like" http://www.facebook.com/twentysevendayslater

Quote:

I'm not sure this was the best person to quote.

"Jersey City Girls Talk Back" Facebook page is venue for responses to 'worst enemy' comments made by school chief

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
By SUMMER DAWN HORTILLOSA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City students, parents and teachers are uniting on Facebook to "talk back" to Jersey City schools chief Charles T. Epps Jr. who earlier this month told a group of ministers that "young ladies" are the community's "worst enemy" and labeled some students "dirty, nasty, bad kids."

On April 19, a Facebook page called "Jersey City Girls Talk Back" was created as a place where students, educators, parents and others can "talk back" to Epps.

As of yesterday, the page had over 340 members, several of whom have shared positive testimonials about Jersey City girls.

Epps and his spokeswoman declined to comment about the page.

Here are few excerpts from the page:

Angela Kariotis Kotsonis: The superintendent cannot effectively serve a people or a community if he demonizes it.

Don'dre Bullock: I am not from Jersey City, nor do i know what the school system is like, but i do that i've met tons of girls from Jersey City and all them are far from Dr. Epps description of the typical " jersey city girl". The girls i've met in Jersey City respect themselves and have a certain confidence when approach. Jersey City girls are the mo...st friendly and have a good head on their shoulders when it comes to hard work and any other task put in their way.

Sofie Mumtaz: It's really upsetting to hear from an educated person that girls are "worst enemy" and their "dirty." Charles Epps should not be speaking like this towards Jersey City Public Schools, if anything he should try to make an improvement since he IS the superintendent of Jersey City Schools. I believe, he should face consequences for his negative remarks, instead of giving him a raise!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/JerseyCityGirlsTalkBack

Girl bashing: has the Jersey City superintendent lost his mind?

Published: Sunday, April 17, 2011, 5:59 AM
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board The Star-Ledger

In Jersey City, the community?s worst enemy is apparently not drugs or gangs or even the parking authority. It is young ladies.

At least, that?s the argument Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. made to a group of Jersey City pastors recently, while discussing public school safety.

?Our worst enemy is the young ladies,? Epps said. ?The young girls are bad. I don?t know what they?re drinking today, but they?re bad.?

Could it be hallucinogenic pills in their Nescafe? Epps didn?t elaborate. Instead, he went on to praise volunteers from the corporate sector who serve as mentors, who have ?signed up to help even the dirty, nasty, bad kids.?

Nice rhetoric, coming from a man who controls educational outcomes for 27,000 students. Epps later acknowledged the number of violent incidents is the same for male and female students. He apologized, saying he was speaking metaphorically ? by ?girls,? he actually meant, boys and girls.

Right. And exactly how much do we pay for this scholarly analysis? A $268,200-a-year salary, for starters. Then there?s Epps? car and cell phone on the district?s tab, a $10,000 annual annuity and approximately 500 redeemable sick days worth $86,000. He?s one of the highest-paid superintendents in New Jersey, earning even more than former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein, who oversaw a vastly larger district.

The undertone of sexism in Epps? comments echoes the historical blaming of poor and minority women as ?welfare queens,? or ?the cancer eroding the core of the traditional family,? noted Aimee Cox, an assistant professor of African American and African Studies at Rutgers-Newark, and Darnell Moore, a lecturer at the university, in an op-ed on Friday for the Jersey Journal. Given that teachers who demean students in class or on Facebook face firing, both publically called for Epps? termination.

Surprisingly few others have. State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) didn?t go that far, though she called Epps? comments offensive and unjust. ?Boys and girls do the same things,? she said. ?I think society just seems to be harder on girls and women. It seems they are held to a different standard, a standard that is not fair.?

In reverse, the same might be said for Epps: at a time when the governor is seeking to cap superintendent salaries, Epps is trying to bump his annual pay up to $270,000. Never mind that many of the city?s schools still fail to meet state and federal standards.

Presumably, it?s the young ladies who are to blame.

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$200,000-plus is a very decent wage.

We, as a society, should not be encouraging the "Dick Cheney" model of governance, i.e. the corporate/government revolving door.

Education reform is a burgeoning field. There are many highly qualified candidates chomping at the bit to reform our system.

The issue in Jersey City is not: "the money that we're offering just can't buy anything better."

The issue here is that we have a misogynist Superintendent who runs his office like his personal fiefdom.

There were a couple of responses to Dr. Epps' defamation of the female gender - posted by young female students who are currently enrolled in the JC school system - on NJ.com:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... says/2268/comments-7.html

For the sake of Jersey City's youth we need to reject Dr. Epps and his ilk. We need to complain to the state of New Jersey. I do hope this goes national. Jersey City does not exist in a vacuum.

The story is getting picked up by some national+NYC blogs:

http://jezebel.com/#!5792158/school-o ... n-badness-of-young-ladies

http://dropoutnation.net/2011/04/15/c ... ishing-ill-upon-our-kids/

http://gothamist.com/2011/04/14/jerse ... hool_super_says_young.php

Quote:

The mother was called by the office at Lincoln and told to "come pick up your child." She was not informed as to what had happened until she went to the office or nurses office and say her daughter bruised and bloodied. I believe she said that she had to personally take her to the hospital. It was sad because she contacted the administration and received no response at all. Sterling Waterman (current board member) spoke when she finished and discussed how the parent reached out to him with the information. He suggested that she speak at the Board meeting and tell the public what had occurred. Epps then spoke and stated that he was appalled, he would make sure the hospital bill is paid, and would launch a full investigation as to why he was NEVER informed about it. Ironically enough, Sterling pulled out a copy of the email she sent to Epps and the Board members about the issue. Epps did not know where to hide after that. Very sad and pitiful maneuvering by our school "leader."

Sadly, the BOE meetings are not recorded for public viewing so the people not in attendance will not be able to see this as it happened.