Failing schools fail our community. Kids without a high school diploma have the least chance of finding employment and have the highest rate of incarceration. Neighborhood crime rates rise and our property values are negatively affected.

Sources:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/education/09dropout.html

But finally big change is coming to Jersey City District Schools, and you are invited to be part of it.

At the September Board of Education meeting it was announced that Dr. Charles Epps, Superintendent of Schools, will step down after more than a decade of presiding over the district. Dr. Epps was made superintendent by the NJ Department of Education in 2000 after the state took over the failing school system in 1989.

While there was much hope for our schools when the state assumed responsibility, there has been little improvement since the takeover. 32 of 36 schools are still considered to be "in need of improvement" in math and English from the AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) Report. A district is deemed to be "in need of improvement" when its students fail at all grade levels for two or more straight years. Jersey City has received the designation for six of the past seven years. A third of all Jersey City kids never graduate high school at all.

Sources:
http://www.nj.gov/education/title1/accountability/ayp/1011/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/41151389/Jersey-City-School-Profiles-Under-AYP-Goals-2010-2011
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/26/nyregion/deciphering-state-s-takeover-of-jersey-city-schools.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Do you want to be part of the search for a new superintendent? BoE President Sterling Waterman, whose children attend Paulus Hook's local school, PS16 and VP Carol Lester, HPHA member and resident of Paulus Hook are reaching out to the community at large with an invitation to attend a Town Meeting on Tuesday, November 22, 6 pm at the Sullivan School #30, 171 Seaview Avenue. Please come out to better understand the process of the superintendent search and to share your input as a parent and/or community member.

For more information, contact Sterling Waterman at sterlingwaterman@jcboe.org