Ronnie Greco, a Lincoln teacher and JCEA executive board member, confirms to JCI the association will work constructively with the district in trying to secure an initial $2 million allocation for September.

At the same time, the parties will need to resolve all personnel matters related to receiving the grant — a scenario covered in JCEA’s collective bargaining agreement.

Greco, JCEA president Thomas Favia and first vice president Bob Cecchini met with Epps on June 24, prompting the union to change its mind on filing a grievance.

“We all have to step up our game … I thank you for including us in the dialogue,” Greco told Board of Education (BOE) members at the board’s June 30 meeting. “Dr. Epps said that, moving forward, everything will be transparent.”

Had the union filed and prevailed before the Public Employee Relations Commission, it could have stopped any grant award, pending further negotiations. Epps, however, insisted that had the JCEA tried blocking an award, while losing on the grievance, it would have ultimately doomed Lincoln and every faculty member.

Under the proposed Lincoln SIG turnaround model, efforts will be made internally to take corrective actions in converting Lincoln from a regular high school to a “Leadership Academy” by 2014-15. Lincoln must show it is successfully using the grant’s resources over the grant’s three-year time frame.

The process is not without some pain and upheaval. Under the grant, 50 percent of the current teaching staff must be replaced by September. Teachers can reapply for consideration to remain part of the restructuring school, but there are no guarantees. Reassignments loom for certain teachers, making it an uncertain summer for many.

Lincoln is eligible for the federal turnaround grant because, under criteria defined in the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act, it has failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for two or more years.

But BOE vice president Carol Lester, a critic of the administration’s handling of the application, complained that the JCEA’s leadership seemed to suddenly drop pursuing what she views as valid gripes just to appease Epps.

In doing so, she suggested teachers were unfairly left to tilt in the wind.

“I’m a little suspicious,” Lester said of the JCEA leadership’s shift, adding that it seemed that union leaders “abandoned,” and chose to “leave in the middle,” the Lincoln teachers.

But Greco was adamant in denying that he and other union leaders left his Lincoln co-workers in the lurch just to make peace with the superintendent, saying that the decision to abandon the grievance procedure was made with the teachers’ – and the students’ – best interests at heart.

“When you see the kids in that auditorium, the issue is, ‘I am a teacher first and the kids are first,’” said Greco. “Test scores are test scores. It is what it is. We need the grant. Let’s move forward and do the right thing.”

Teachers have complained their signatures were misused in the application because the district falsely inferred they had agreed to the SIG’s terms and conditions. Lester further contended that she was also misrepresented in the application.

She alleged that the district used her signature to falsely infer she supported some harshly worded findings critical of school employees. In fact, Lester said, she was never consulted on the allegations.

Lester said she did sign a document tied to the application, but, as the teachers have contended in their own cases, it was only to register attendance at an informational session regarding the grant.

Among other things, the application has rankled the union by saying that a “toxic learning environment” exists in the Crescent Avenue building.

In offering his first detailed public comments on the month-long controversy on June 30, Epps essentially refuted Lester.

The superintendent took responsibility for the application and its negative evaluations, maintaining that the criticisms, though hurtful to some, were accurate.

New Jersey was already preparing to shut Lincoln down due to academic deficiencies unless the district applied for the federal grant, according to Epps. In fact, he said, the New Jersey Department of Education could have legally moved to shut Lincoln within the next two months.

“We didn’t want New Jersey to take over and make [Lincoln] a charter school,” Epps said. A charter – which Acting Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf could grant to a viable group – would have established a new staff and leadership structure (its own board of trustees and chief administrator). Such differences place charters largely beyond a local school board’s direct control.

Despite Lincoln’s problems, Epps said he is convinced there is enough teaching and administrative talent to reverse the school’s fortunes – if the federal grant is awarded.

“This gives us a grant to work to improve the school over the next three years,” he explained, insisting his act was a jobs-saving measure. “And if we get the money, and improve the school over the next three years, we start at zero.”

Board member Patricia Sebron said that the Lincoln analysis is on sound footing – even though teachers may not like the message.

“The preparation of our report didn’t just pull things out of the air,” said Sebron, maintaining the finished document resulted from “qualitative” procedures.

Still, Lincoln history and English teacher Patricia Holstein complained that portions of the report were written too vaguely for one to draw definitive conclusions.

Based on her own daily practical experience, she defended the staff as doing the best it can under trying circumstances.

“You have students who don’t want to show up and do the right thing,” she told the board. “We work with them, we work with them and we work with them … and what do we get? Parents yelling at us.”

“We don’t get the credit we deserve,” she added. “We never have.”

Holstein put the onus on the Epps administration, insisting that there is “no accountability” at the top.

While the teachers understand that “we can’t keep doing things the same way,” she said, it was up to the administration to end practices which “waste” teachers’ time during the school day.

“We know the saying, ‘A mind is a terrible thing to waste,’” said Holstein, who is determined to remain at Lincoln to help it prosper in the difficult years ahead. “So why are we wasting teachers’ minds?”

Unlike Holstein, Lincoln math teacher Nabil Youssef, a 2011 school board candidate preparing to run for the City Council this fall, has submitted his resignation – and is pressing Epps to do so as well.

“I know I gave the best I could during my time there, but we never received the support we needed from the administration in charge now,” said Youssef. “This grant application is a mini-version of the state’s botched ‘Race to the Top’ grant that forced Bret Schundler to resign as head of the state education department. Dr. Epps must do the same.”

“I have no comment, other than to say this application has been written and submitted to the state for a decision,” Epps told JCI following last week’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting.

Epps said nothing from the dais as he heard Lincoln teacher Ronnie Greco reiterate and expand on his complaints.

Greco, who is also a JCEA executive board member, expanded on the union’s initial criticisms first leveled May 25. This time, at least one attorney from the statewide union, the New Jersey Education Association, was on hand to take notes.

Greco complained that evaluation language used in the document Epps endorsed seemed unnecessarily mean-spirited and unfairly disparaged all teachers and students.

He condemned one finding — that “a toxic learning environment” exists within the building — as baseless and demoralizing.

If awarded, the district could receive up to $6 million from the U.S. Department of Education in seeking to radically overhaul the Crescent Avenue site’s academic program through 2013-14.

The feds have identified Lincoln as Title I, a seriously underperforming urban school, using criteria established under the No Child Left Behind Act. The criteria includes Lincoln’s failure to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) – as defined in the law – for at least the last two years.

The application calls for converting the school into a “Leadership Academy,” adding as many as 300 hours to the schedule and eliminating many of the current staff; only 50 percent of the current staff could be rehired under the new setup.

JCEA president Thomas Favia says the union is still considering filing a grievance, but it is hesitant because it would like to see the district receive the federal money for Lincoln.

“We are still evaluating the possibility of filing a grievance over this matter with the Public Employees Relations Commission,” he tells JCI. “We don’t want to because we agree the money is needed and could be put to good use.”

Even so, Favia insists that the district violated the letter of the law by not giving the school’s teachers and the union a seat at the table.

“The federal law covering the grant requires the teachers’ bargaining agent be appropriately consulted,” he says. “That never happened here. We’re asking the administration to formally meet with us, because the application raises issues affecting our collective bargaining agreement.”

BOE vice president Carol Lester says she expects the matter will next be taken up at a June 30 special board meeting to close out district business for 2010-11.

One of the JCEA’s biggest gripes about the grant application is its allegation that the district initially submitted close to 100 staffers’ signatures under the false guise they were properly consulted and agreed to the grant’s terms and conditions.

In fact, Favia has said, the names were taken from attendance sheets staffers signed during orientations on the grant request, when the parties never sat and negotiated issues as to how the grant could impact contractual work rules.

“These are the signatures of staff,” Greco said at last week’s meeting, while waving a petition, in announcing JCEA’s official endorsement of at least the application’s objectives that night. “We do need a grant based on AYP. But this was not done in the right way.”

Greco’s statement was greeted with thunderous applause from the Lincoln employees attending.

But district spokesperson Paula Christen tells JCI that the district never advised the state they were used to ratify an agreement.

“Teachers were asked to be part of the needs assessment by completing a survey, and they signed their names saying they completed this survey,” she explains, noting the same signatures were sought twice, on March 7 and 8, at separate forums related to the grant application.

“Each signed page clearly indicates the signature does not assume full approval of the needs assessment and application development,” Christen says. “Rather, the signature denotes participation.”

The application is now before the state Department of Education, which will review it before sending it to the federal government. DOE spokesperson Alan Guenther says the department has no comment on the local controversy.

Lincoln math teacher Nabil Youssef, who ran unsuccessfully in the last school board election, said the district’s actions have psychologically scarred him and other teachers at Lincoln, and he warned the board last week that it will lose in court if the application is not gutted.

“This grant should be denied,” he said. “I am urging you tonight to withdraw this application … because if you keep it, it will cost you more than $6 million.”

Meanwhile, BOE president Sterling Waterman says that despite Epps saying the district will pursue the grant, the final decision isn’t the superintendent’s to make.

“The matter remains under investigation by the board,” Waterman says. “Dr. Epps has no authorization to make that commitment.”

“Their signatures were taken from attendance sheets,” Jersey City Education Association (JCEA) president Thomas Favia says. “Yet the district is using them to tell the state those teachers agreed to the grant request. In fact, they had no idea their names would be used for that purpose.”

The controversy surfaced during the May 25 Board of Education (BOE) meeting, when the teachers union turned out in force to protest teacher layoffs and raise a number of other grievances. Among those was the allegation by Lincoln crisis intervention teacher Ronnie Greco that teachers never knowingly signed any document indicating they had endorsed the district’s grant request or its terms and conditions.

Greco, a member of the union’s executive board, alleged that the district acted under false pretenses by attaching signed names unauthorized for the purpose; at the meeting, he even questioned the authenticity of one signature.

“The teachers certainly were never made aware their signatures would be used for this specific purpose,” Greco told JCI in an interview following his board appearance. “So the signatures are not valid for the purposes they’re being used for.”

The application, which asks for $2 million for 2011-12, and possibly another $2 million each year through 2014, is now before the New Jersey Department of Education, which processes School Improvement Grant applications for the federal government. At the BOE meeting, board president Sterling Waterman and vice president Carol Lester both promised to investigate.

School Improvement Grants are made available to certain schools under the federal government’s No Child Left Behind law. The law established a system of evaluation, along with measures for corrective action. The most serious action is called “restructuring.”

Under the grants, teachers and administrators can ultimately be replaced if their schools don’t dramatically improve within a certain time frame. The grants can also alter teachers’ working conditions, triggering changes that lengthen the school day or create new incentives such as salary bonuses, for example.

Even so, Favia says, the union must still authorize any changes affecting work rules. Since it didn’t in this case, he says the JCEA will likely file a formal grievance.

“The matter has been forwarded to our legal counsel for action,” he says. “It has to be resolved as soon as possible because the school year starts in September, and there are numerous unresolved issues.”

The union and the administration never discussed proposed changes before filing the application, Favia says, adding that the JCEA has serious questions about the merit pay system proposed in the application.

“The grant establishes a system of merit pay, but we have concerns with that,” he says. “Why is it only available to certain teachers, such as in math and English, and not the entire faculty? And what happens if some teachers are specifically assigned students who are performing very poorly? How is that matter decided, and can it make getting merit pay more difficult for some teachers?”

The changes also call for Lincoln teachers to work more hours a week, according to Favia.

“You’re talking about extending hours during the week, and even adding time for Saturday programs,” he says. “The district can’t simply impose those changes on the Lincoln faculty. It has to negotiate with us.”

Lester tells JCI that the JCEA dispute was placed on the agenda of the board’s June 7 governance committee meeting, but it was bumped to June 15 given the committee’s preoccupation with other agenda issues.

“Frankly, I did not expect that an attendance form, containing signatures of stakeholders present at a meeting on the matter, would be used for the purpose of applying for the grant,” Lester says. “The teachers’ position is the administration needed to specifically request their consent, but never did.”

After initially telling JCI she would look into the union’s allegations, district spokesperson Paula Christen did not return subsequent calls or an email regarding the matter.

And Lester says the Epps administration has shown no inclination to respond to board members’ inquiries either.

“The administration has yet to address the topic and we need answers,” she says. “The board wants to hear the administration’s side in this.”

Waterman assures JCI that the board will ultimately issue a report.

“I can only speak from what I’ve heard: that a lot of teachers are concerned about a lack of communication with the administration, including during this [application] process,” he told us at a recent event. “We’ll look into it as best we can.”

A state Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson did not respond to an email or phone calls seeking a response, yet a DOE source did say concerned persons suspecting any irregularities in how School Improvement Grant applications are prepared can file comments through the department’s website at this link:

http://www.state.nj.us/education/grants/nclb/issues/complaint_policy.htm

Or they can also write to: New Jersey Department of Education NCLB Complaint Office, P.O. Box 500, Trenton, N.J., 08625.

The eight candidates that participated included Emilio DeLia and Andrew Hubsch from Dan Levin’s One Jersey City ticket; Joseph Cassidy, Betty Outlaw and Lori Serrano from Lou Manzo’s slate; Ronnie Greco and Frank Scalcione from Harvey Smith’s team (Noemi Velazquez was absent); and Abdul Malik from Phil Webb’s ticket. Independent candidate Marie Day did not attend, and the entire Team Healy At-Large contingent — Peter Brennan, Willie Flood and Mariano Vega — were noticeably absent.

Each candidate was given one minute for an introduction. Due to the time constraint, only a single candidate per slate was permitted to answer each question. The questions were asked by members of the audience.

The audience questions mirrored some of the concerns of Downtown residents, and included the looming property tax revaluation, dual job holding (double-dipping) and improving public schools. Ward E councilman and candidate Steven Fulop got to reverse roles at the forum by asking a question rather than having to answer one. He asked candidates to identify the major challenges facing constituents.

The candidates agreed that a revaluation would be painful, but offered few specific suggestions for lessening the burden. In addition, most candidates expressed their opposition to double-dipping.

Lori Serrano added that providing cars to public employees for personal use should be banned. Abdul Malik and Emilio DeLia stressed lack of accountability in government as a major problem. Dealing with problems of families and seniors, and encouraging young people to finish school were Betty Outlaw’s key platform points.

The final question also served as the closing statement since time was running out. It was noted by the audience member that there was a high degree of similarity among the candidates’ positions. What will each candidate bring as an individual to the position as council member? With the exception of Joseph Cassidy, who touted that his experience as a police officer would make hime “eyes and ears of public safety,” the candidates expressed their earnestness, and to be responsive to their constituents, but did not emphasize their qualifications.

“Before I came to the meeting I didn’t have a clear decisive position on who I was going to be voting for,” Paulus Hook resident Kirsten Greene said after the forum. “After hearing them speak tonight I at least narrowed it down to four or five but I have not decided yet.”

Forum moderator and President of the HPHA president Jennifer Wagner said the evening was a success.

“We had great participation both by our candidates and by our membership,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know the candidates’ names, let alone their positions. Our goal was voter education and to increase participation and we got positive feedback as people were leaving.”

Steve Gold contributed to this report.

Big thanks to JCList.com for shooting the video, to Tris McCall for allowing us to use his music, to the candidates for showing up, and to the Riverview Neighborhood Association for putting the event together.

TAX ABATEMENTS: All Candidates Were Allowed to Respond

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Andrew Hubsch, Noemi Velazquez and Lori Serrano

ROAD REPAIRS: Peter Brennan, Andrew Hubsch and Mariano Vega

SMALL BUSINESS CULTIVATION: Emilio DeLia, Lori Serrano and Ronnie Greco

TAXES AND GOVERNMENT WASTE: Betty Outlaw, Noemi Velazquez and Ronnie Greco

DEVELOPMENT AND CRIME IN GREENVILLE: Peter Brennan, Joseph Cassidy and Betty Outlaw

TAXES AND SENIORS: Mariano Vega, Emilio DeLia and Abdul Malik

Photo by Steve Gold

Candidates for the City Council At-Large seat gathered on Tuesday evening to introduce themselves and field questions from voters at a forum held by the Riverview Neighborhood Association (RNA) in the Heights. About 75 people crowded into the dining room of the Harborview Health Center to hear from the candidates.

Eleven of the thirteen candidates were present. From Mayor Healy’s ticket, incumbent council president Mariano Vega and councilman Peter Brennan attended; councilwoman Willie Flood did not. Also present were: One Jersey City candidates Emilio DeLia and Andrew Hubsch; Joseph Cassidy, Betty Outlaw and Lori Serrano from Lou Manzo’s ticket; Ronnie Greco, Frank Scalcione and Noemi Velazquez from L. Harvey Smith’s slate; and Abdul Malik, who is running with Phil Webb. Independent candidate Marie Day did not attend.

Each candidate was allowed two minutes for an opening statement, in which they were asked to describe their view of the role of an At-Large council member and name the major issues they see facing the Heights. These introductions were followed by ten audience questions. Because of the large number of candidates present, not everyone was asked to answer every question: three names were chosen randomly to decide who would answer each. However, a question about the value of tax abatements provoked so much interest from the candidates as well as the audience that all candidates were permitted to speak on the issue: organizer and RNA chair Becky Hoffman jokingly called it a “bonus.”

The questions covered a wide range, including Heights-specific issues such as the condition of roads and development plans, as well as hot-button citywide issues such as abatements, property taxes, the practice of holding municipal or county jobs while holding elected office, and support for small business. Overall, the tone of the forum was quite lively, with some candidates — Downtown businessman Frank Scalcione in particular — becoming intensely impassioned while speaking, and cheers and jeers coming from the crowd in equal measure.

RNA founding member Maria Tuzzo, a lifelong resident of Jersey City, capped the event with a brief but stirring appeal to those present to avoid voting on the basis of personality, looks, cronyism or other irrelevant criteria, but rather to cast a vote “to improve this city.”

A consistent thread in the questions as well as the responses was dissatisfaction with the current administration’s record. Greenville resident Monique Snow, who is backed by mayoral candidate Lou Manzo in her run for the 31st District Assembly seat, directed her question to Brennan, a former Ward A councilman. Citing what she called the lack of recreational facilities in her neighborhood, she asked, “what plans do you have for Greenville?” Speaking after the meeting, Snow said that “nothing has improved in Ward A” under the incumbents. For his part, Brennan had on hand a “complete manual of everything the city offers for recreation.”

While Brennan and Vega defended their respective records and laid claim to a catalog of positive changes, the challengers at various points cited a lack of accountability, fiscal mismanagement, corruption and high crime as reasons to remove the current administration.

Although the overall temper of the crowd seemed rather unfriendly to the incumbents, not everyone was impressed by the challengers. Jersey City resident Bob Pagano said after the forum that he would be voting for the Healy team. “There are always some candidates who think they can knock down the incumbents by talking about things like abatements,” Pagano said. “The incumbents are doing a decent job.”

RNA chair Hoffman said she was pleased with the turnout for the event and grateful that most of the candidates were able to make it. She did say, however, that the candidates “could have done a much better job” of addressing the specific concerns of Heights residents and of “answering the questions as completely as possible.”

In contrast to the rather tepid routinized performances of the mayoral candidates at the Hudson Media Group debate, those who participated in yesterday’s event were highly energetic and, for the most part, satisfyingly specific about their policy plans. Even with the time restrictions necessitated by the large number of candidates, each one was able to get across his or her unique approach to the office of At-Large council member. In the end, that’s the best result a forum like this can have.