BOE Report: Race, Class, Gentrification and the Epps Contract
By Suzanne Wulach • Aug 12th, 2010 • Category: Featured, News, Politics
Photos: Steve Gold
Jersey City residents and public officials crowded into the small 6th floor conference room of 346 Claremont Ave. last night to share their opinions before the Board of Education (BOE) was expected to cast a vote on the proposed contract of superintendent Charles Epps.
But no such vote was held. As BOE president William DeRosa explained at the close of the meeting, Hudson County superintendent Timothy Brennan’s approval of the contract must be obtained before the board votes on it.
Still, the three-hour public hearing that preceded this announcement exposed fault lines in state, city and community politics that are likely to persist even after the board votes.
State
Epps’ chief opponent in Trenton seems to be education commissioner Bret Schundler, a former mayor of Jersey City and founder of Downtown’s Golden Door Charter School. Schundler was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie, whose education policies, including budget cuts and teacher layoffs, have been the subject of much criticism from educators statewide.
Former BOE member Edward Allen was one of several public officials to speak against both Christie and Schundler at last night’s meeting.
“What we have coming from Trenton is the blind trying to lead the sighted,” said Allen, who contrasted Epps’ status as a veteran educator with the relative inexperience of the governor and his education commissioner. “We should not allow that to happen.”
Gov. Christie’s move to cap superintendent salaries at $100,000 has been less contentious than some of his other education policies, but even this development leaves Epps unaffected, as it does not apply to superintendents overseeing districts with more than 10,000 students. While a salary cap for superintendents of larger districts is also in the works, it would likely apply only to contracts minted after the law is put into effect, thus leaving Epps’ $268,200 salary immune to reduction at least until 2013, when the proposed contract is set to expire.
The proposed contract does not permit any increases in salary and requires that all vacation days be used within the year the are awarded, but many residents present at the meeting were still incensed at the magnitude of the salary and the particulars of some of the perks that accompany it, such as a chauffeured car on loan from the state and retroactive payment for the hundreds of unused sick-days Epps has accumulated since he first started teaching for the district 40 years ago.
City
The attention of city officials was split between state politics and a more local controversy, as former mayor and former BOE member Gerald McCann (at left) alleged that former assistant superintendent Kathy Coyle was already being considered by several board members as a replacement for Epps.
McCann, whose 2010 bid for a seat on the BOE was unsuccessful largely due to the efforts of Ward E councilman Steve Fulop, implied that Coyle had used her connections with Fulop to secure the backing of board members Sue Mack, Carol Lester, Angel Valentin and Sterling Waterman.
According to McCann, Coyle had called on him to enlist the support of Sean Connors and thereby secure a majority within the board. Subsequent speakers, including a dean in Lincoln High School and members of the teachers’ union, said teachers, administrators, and schools suffered under Coyle’s administration. Fulop flatly denied all allegations that he has struck a deal with Coyle or enlisted board members in her support.
Community
The meeting’s array of speakers was divided not only by support or opposition to superintendent Epps but also by race, class and neighborhood affiliation. Likewise, the debate was not only about what should be done regarding Epps’ contract, but also a contentious one about who Jersey City belongs to, and who belongs to Jersey City.
The arguments of those supporting a national search varied — while some ridiculed Epps’ salary as inflated, others, including Matt Schapiro (at right), rhetorically asked the board “why not” undertake a national search.
“Wouldn’t a national search make it even more clear that you are the best candidate?” Schapiro asked of Epps, referencing the previous arguments in support of the superintendent.
“Whose going to pay for it?” an audience member asked, as word traveled through the conference room that a national search could cost anywhere from 50 to 300 thousand dollars.
Other Epps opponents drew attention to the 35 out of 40 Jersey City schools that were deemed not up to standard on at least one of several state measures. One speaker invoked the cases of other large city school districts — notably New York City and Washington, D.C. — that have had success in recruiting non-local experts to turn around failing schools and narrow the achievement gap.
Supporters of Epps outnumbered his opponents, who were for the most part seated in a different part of the conference room. Six students spoke in support of Epps, including two members of the citywide student council.
Several Epps supporters contended that while many Jersey City schools fail to meet state and national standards, Jersey City test scores as a whole have improved under the superintendent’s leadership.
Epps backers praised the superintendent for his long years of involvement with and intimate knowledge of Jersey City schools. This focus on Epps’ local provenance was coupled with questions about the motives of those behind the push for a national search.
“It makes sense that those who have been the beneficiaries of displacement in Jersey City think that the way to promote issues is to raze the field,” said Sandra McIntyre (at right), the daughter of a former Jersey City teacher whose own children are enrolled in Jersey City public schools.
Displacement and gentrification — and the subtexts of class and race — were much at issue throughout the meeting. Epps supporters in the audience noted which speakers lived Downtown, and audience members on both sides of the contract issue were eager to inform each other when an opponent’s children went to charter or private schools.
Felicia Palmer (at left), mother of a 1st grader and PTO president at PS 3, was the only speaker to identify herself as undecided on the contract issue.
She pleaded with Epps, the BOE and the community to focus not on the contract, but on student achievement.
“Regardless of if your contract is extended or not, you’re going to be here another year,” she said.
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Suzanne Wulach is a New Jersey native and itinerant adventurer currently based in Jersey City. She works in the education sector in NYC.
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