NJ Education Report

The Jersey City Parents for Progress group has an email  circulating (sorry, no link) that alleges that Mayor Jeremiah Healy is trying to intimidate a Jersey City School Board member, Angel Valentin, into abstaining when the school board votes on the next superintendent of the schools.

As members of the Jersey City Board of Education make their choices regarding the next superintendent of  schools, it’s important they feel they can vote their conscience without suffering professionally.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

The May 29 letter endorsing Franklin Walker for superintendent from Roger Knapp and Roger Jones, who are, respectively, chair and vice chair of the Jersey City Employment and Training program, is a clear attempt to intimidate board member Angel Valentin, who works for the program. The gentlemen have said the organization is interested in the schools because it works with the school system. But their letter, which was sent to some board members in envelopes bearing the Mayor’s seal,  mailed to PTA presidents and put in their boxes as schools in violation of rules that prohibit campaigning in schools, and handed out at Friday night’s Town Hall meeting, appears squarely aimed at intimidating Mr. Valentin into abstaining from voting.

We call on Mssrs. Knapp and Jones, as well as Mayor Jerramiah Healy, to make a public statement by the end of the work day Monday that no city employee will face repercussions because of a vote they make as an elected official. We ask you to join us in telling Mayor Healy that this letter, and the intimidation it represents, is out of bounds.