2012 Board of Education

Candidate Questionnaire

Marilyn Roman, 4A
1) Why are you running for the Board of Education? How do Board of Education decisions directly affect you? The answer to that question is both simple and very complicated because part of the answer is factual and the other half is less tangible, more emotional and deeply seated within me. The facts are simple 1. I was born and raised in Jersey City and I care about our city and cant imagine living anywhere else, but I know that the quality of all of our lives has to improve for you, for me and for our youth and their families if people are to remain here. 2. I went all through the public schools at a time when students got a quality education and the schools were among the finest in the State; but not now, yet I believe they could be among the best once again. 3. I worked in the JC public schools for almost 32 years and was a successful teacher, instructional supervisor and director of the Ed/Bus. Alliance. When our students graduated from those programs they were ready to compete in the workplace., go to college and take their place in our community as productive adults. Many more students in our schools need to have this opportunity and we have to prepare them to do so. The other half of my reasoning is less tangible and more a part of who I am. 4. As a teacher I just cannot bear to see the loss of potential in our youth. Many of our students do not gain enough skills through the elementary school years and, therefore, cannot meet the demands of the high school curriculum. When they cant compete in the high schools they decide to drop out. I try to picture myself in that position but it is hard for me to do so. I believe in that situation none of us would remain in school when each day you go to school knowing that you are far below your peers and cannot keep up. I keep asking myself what their lives could be like if we worked harder and smarter to educate our youth because I know it can be done. 5. Having said all that, I would rather make a positive contribution to make things better than to sit back, watch and complain about what is taking place now. When approximately 1,000 students each year drop out of school in Jersey City, that has to have an effect on the lives of everyone in the city. In this economy, it is difficult for a high school graduate to get employment if they have few skills. What is the opportunity for a drop out? Their inability to obtain meaningful work leads to crime, violence, high legal costs to the city and prison. I have read that it costs $250,000 for every drop out

and the latest national statistics show that forty million Americans do not have a high school diploma. The cost is staggering, but even more depressing is the loss of opportunity that a poor education brings and what that does to our country. That directly affects all of us. 2) What are the two top challenges in the Jersey City Public schools? Accountability is critical in any school district and that is especially true in a failing district. If school personnel are not held accountable nothing changes and education continues to suffer. I believe it is important for the board to set policy and follow it up with questions and requests for program planning that will address our problems. Teachers are our greatest asset, but we need to develop programs for the district and allocate funds for ongoing professional development that will teach teachers to diagnose student skills problems and teach them to address those problems through innovative teaching methods and materials that take into account student learning styles and interests. 3) If elected, what are the first two issues you would like to focus on? It is critical that all of the Board members come together to plan a mission statement for the coming year and a strategic plan to carry out their plans. We all need to be on the same page so as not to be scattered and ineffective. Included in this statement should be the top challenges the Board will face. Since the main problem in the district is the poor quality of education, it is best to start there. Once they have determined their course of action for the year, board members are able to set policy for the district and their next challenge will be to choose a superintendent with whom they can work to plan for program improvement to bring about change. 4) What do you think the role of parents should be in the public school system? Parents play a critical role in the education of their children and should, therefore, take an active part in the school community by attending school activities for the children of the school, speaking to the teacher on student progress, both formally on home/school night and informally when they can make arrangements to stop by to speak to the teacher about anything regarding their child. PTO meetings are also extremely important because they provide an opportunity for parents to discuss problems they see in the school as well as ways they can participate in any way that will benefit the students. While most schools are very open to parent participation, some may not be. In that case, parents need to meet and plan a course of action which may include making an appointment with the principal or even the associate superintendent or superintendent in order to register your requests for more open parent/school interaction and cooperation.

M. Roman 4A

5) Classroom supply does not seem to be meeting current demand, particularly in the PreK and Dual Language programs. What are some of the ways you feel this can be addressed? Every school has a budget and if parents feel that the supplies are not adequate, their questions and requests should be addressed to the principal of the school. Parents may find that even the principal believes that funds that were allocated for a particular program are insufficient. There is usually one of two reasons for this. Either the principal requested more money and his/her budget was cut in that area or the need was underestimated. If that is the case, the principal can make a larger request in the next budget cycle, and use some discretionary funds to provide for more funding in the current school year. The last stop is to approach the associate as a group if the principal is unsuccessful in garnering more funds or doesnt think the additional funds are necessary. Working with school personnel, parents can approach the local business community or plan activities to raise funds. 6) Many parents feel Charter Schools are a better educational model than conventional public schools. What models do you think JC Public Schools can adopt to attract and retain families and improve schools? I firmly believe that we would not be talking about charter schools if the public schools offered its students an excellent education. They simply wouldnt be necessary. However, in planning for our schools, I would like to see more schools offer the dual language program, computer skills for all students and an integration model that offers our students a broad based well rounded education that connects the disciplines so that students will come away with a fuller understanding of what they learned. Thematic instruction is an excellent way to use a topic from any discipline and bring reading, writing, science, math, social studies, art and music into the teaching. It holds the interest of students and allows them to learn more about any part of the instruction, and depending upon grade level to research it, write stories and essays about any phase of the work and use creative in art and music to show what they have learned. In my more than 40 years in education, I have taught using this method and I have taught other teachers to use it as well. It is a very successful approach and can be adjusted to all grade levels. This is an urban district where we have many students who need to make money in order to provide for themselves and even for their families. I believe we should put programs in place in the high schools that will provide students with an excellent academic education coupled with courses in an area of student interest that will prepare them to gain employment after high school or while going to college. These programs should include partnerships with businesses that will provide training and internships while they are still in high school. When I was the director of the Education/Business Alliance in JC we had these programs, but unfortunately, the school district has not been successful in keeping and expanding them which is a great loss to the students. We should go back to this model and expand and improve it. I have been into some of the charter schools and they are as good as the administration, teachers and level of students they attract, but I havent seen many innovative methods being used in the ones Ive seen or heard about.
M. Roman 4A 3

7) What are the three most important qualities a Superintendent Candidate should possess? An excellent superintendent is one who has an excellent education and an educational background that has provided him/her with a broad level of experience. This should be coupled with leadership qualities and the ability to work with people at all levels including parents, businesses and the community at large. However, more than any other single trait, the superintendent should have a vision for how the district can work toward excellence and what education and skills a student should have upon graduation. Plans can then be made to build skills at every level. There seems to be concern amongst taxpayers about how the $650,000,000 budget has been administered. What would be the one major change you would like to see in the administration of the budget? I believe the public has a right to be concerned because in a budget of that size the administration has to be diligent about expenditures and often that doesnt happen. However, I believe that producing a zero based budget would be a practical approach to budget preparation because every expense would have to be accounted for which would go a long way toward alleviating hidden costs. Once we take a close look at the budget, there will be many other areas where we can make adjustments particularly on the programmatic side and contracts with outside vendors just to name a few places to start.

My reasons for running are both simple and very complicated because part of the answer is factual and the other part is much more complex. I was born and raised in Jersey City and even though I could move out of the city, I have never wanted to do so because it is my home. I believe, however, that the quality of life for all of us must improve and raising the educational bar can go a long way in addressing the problems we now face. I was educated in the Jersey City School System when it was safe and had one of the highest academic ratings in the state of New Jersey and I worked in the JC public schools for 32 years as a teacher, instructional supervisor and Director of the Education/Business Alliance The students who graduated from those programs were well educated and prepared to compete in the workplace, go to college or do both and could take their place as productive adults in our city. Those are all simple factual reasons for running for the Board, but the others reasons for my running have more to do with

M. Roman 4A