The Jersey City Independent "

The mood was jubilant at the 2nd Street headquarters of Ward E councilman Steven Fulop last night, as Marvin Adames, Carol Harrison-Arnold and Suzanne Mack won three-year terms on the Jersey City Board of Education (BOE). All three candidates were endorsed by Fulop as he continues to build a head of steam towards his 2013 mayoral run; they were also all endorsed by the Jersey City Education Association, the local teachers’ union.

Like a pack of sardines, an excited group of supporters joined the candidates in jamming the small office to celebrate the returns. And though the outcome seemed sealed early in the voting, based on initial returns from those voting at Downtown’s McNair Academic High School polling station, there was still an air of electricity filling the room given prospects for the coming change under a new majority.

“I want to just thank the Jersey City electorate,” Fulop said, adding that this vote shows that voters are looking for reform in the way the school district is run.

“We didn’t hide anything,” he said. “We wanted to bring significant change, hold people accountable, and tonight, the voters took to that.”

It is the second straight year that Fulop’s candidates have swept the school board elections, giving Fulop-backed candidates a new majority on the school board; last year his organization helped send Carol Lester, Angel Valentin and Sterling Waterman to the school board.

“This was a team approach, a collective process bringing in parents, community activists,” Fulop said, “people who came and supported education for the right reasons.”

Asked how the results reflect on his future mayoral ambitions, Fulop insisted his efforts in supporting the candidates were tied strictly to promoting improving education and not for purposes of self-promotion.

“I did not pick these candidates alone,” he told JCI. “A grass-roots committee recommended the choices based on factors that included their practical experience, their desire to improve education and their active work in promoting various community and youth programs.”

But as much as Fulop tried to stay above the fray, Democratic Hudson County freeholder candidate Arnold Williams, running against the party’s organization-backed candidates in the June primary, made no bones as to the political overtones.

“We’re going to come out of here with one religion,” Williams told the excited crowd, then leading it in a chant, “Fulop! Fulop! Fulop!”

Politics (mostly) ceded to policy as the new (Adames, Harrison-Arnold) and returning (Mack) school board trustees explained their priorities to JCI.

“The priority is to make sure all board members understand their individual roles and responsibilities in relation to the board as a whole,” said Adames, suggesting occasions have arisen where trustees have individually overstepped their bounds. “They also need to understand certain legal procedures remain solely in the hands of the administration.”

“We also must make it abundantly clear that all public records will be easily accessible to the public,” he added. “And we must make certain all board activities are made visible to the community in building the public’s trust.”

Mack, who will be entering her sixth term on the school board, said the focus needs to be on structural change.

“We need to reorganize at the board level,” she said. “Specifically, we need to reorganize various departments to focus more on curriculum.”

Mack, who was also endorsed by Mayor Jerramiah Healy, noted that it was the first time in her tenure that rivals from competing political organizations united in supporting her.

“It’s great to have endorsements from political leaders,” she said, noting she has enjoyed Healy’s support in the past and does not feel awkward. “It’s even greater to have endorsements from the voters, and I am grateful to them all.”

When asked of her priorities once taking a seat on the board, Harrison-Arnold offered the most focused answer of the three candidates, pointing to the district’s controversial leader.

“I do not want Dr. Epps to be part of the team,” she said of superintendent Charles Epps, who most recently has raised the ire of many for calling Jersey City students “dirty” and “nasty” kids. The renewal of Epps’ expensive contract has been another major sticking point for Fulop and other education activists around the city; a group of community advocates have gone to court to contest the validity of Epps’ contract renewal, saying the district’s school board did not follow proper procedure in approving the pact.

“My first priority is to change the leadership,” Harrison-Arnold said. “I believe Dr. Epps needs to resign.”

Photo: Steve Gold

Like what you've read here? Please consider making a donation or becoming a sustaining member. As a grassroots news organization, we rely on community support -- as well as paid advertising -- to survive.