Author: nuveenmarwah

On October 20, 2018, we detected an update on the State of New Jersey’s website when 2018 statewide PARCC Test data was released.  We have analyzed the data and reported the results on our PARCC Score Reports page.

What are the main takeaways this year?

High Schools: McNair and Infinity Institute remain the top performing high schools in the area by a wide margin.  County Prep and Liberty High School rank as the next two schools.

Middle Schools: Infinity and AEP at MS 4 and Academy 1 remain the top performing middle schools.

Grammar Schools: Soaring Heights Charter School, LCCS, PS 5, and PS 27 all ranked quite highly among schools accommodating both elementary and middle school students.  Soaring Heights ranked number one, while PS 27 Alfred Zampella had 44 8th grade students that performed on par with AEP students on the Algebra 1 test.

Elementary Schools: PS 16 remains the positive outlier among elementary schools, but Jersey City Global Charter School and PS 6 rank as the next two schools.  Right on their heels are PS 33 and PS 25.

For more information on PARCC scores for Jersey City Public Schools, check out the JCBOE’s 2018 performance report here.

On Tuesday at the Jersey City Council meeting, the Payroll Tax proposal is on the agenda and open to public comment.  There is no doubt that there will be both strong support and opposition to this new proposed tax on all private employers’ payrolls of non-Jersey City residents (the tax is not levied on individual employee’s wages).  The tax revenues are intended to support the budget gap that Jersey City Public Schools face as the State of New Jersey begins to withdraw the funding that has long supported the city’s public schools.

For more information, check out the following links:

• NJ.com article on the November 20 city council vote on payroll tax
• NJ.com article on the November 7 introduction of the payroll tax ordinance
• Civic Parent (Support) – local blogger and parent who has researched and reported on taxes and the funding of our local schools
• Opinion Piece (GOP Opposes Payroll Tax) – Matthew Garofalo is a Jersey City resident and chairman of the Hudson County Young Republicans. Joshua Sotomayor Einstein of Hoboken is the NJ GOP State Committeeman representing Hudson County
• Opinion Piece (City Council Members Offer 5 Point Plan for JCBOE) – two Jersey City council members, James Solomon and Michael Yun, share a plan for filling the funding gap
• Opinion Piece (Real Jersey City Favors Income Tax Over Payroll Tax) – Michael Shurin writes about local news for his site called Real Jersey City
• NJ.com article describing business groups’ opposition to payroll tax
• Mayor Steven Fulop has expressed his support on social media, saying:
  • 1% is a small tax, which will be shouldered by large companies like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan
  • Newark and NYC have payroll taxes, which would mitigate any negative impact to Jersey City’s competitiveness
  • Small businesses hire locally, and there is an exemption for businesses that have Jersey City resident employees
  • Jersey City schools are underfunded by $150m
  • The payroll tax would help to avoid a 35% increase in property taxes
  • The payroll tax would help to avoid significant layoffs of Jersey City Public Schools faculty and staff

On Election Day, November 6, 2018, Jersey City residents will choose among eight candidates to fill three open board member seats coming to full term.  There are two independent candidates – Natalia Ioffe and Asmaa Abdalla, three candidates running on the Jersey City United slate, and three candidates running on the Education Matters slate.  The candidates are as follows, listed in the order that they will appear on the ballot.

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Education Matters

• Marilyn Roman (Incumbent, 1i) – Marilyn Roman is a lifelong resident of Jersey City, and she has been an educator for over 42 years.  She was involved in bringing the first preschools to Jersey City Public Schools, acted as interim Mayor of Jersey City in 1992, and has served on the JCBOE since 2012.

• Joan Terrell-Paige (Non-Incumbent, 2i)– Joan Terrell-Paige is a lifelong resident of Jersey City, having attended PS 14 and Snyder High School.  She has served as a former President of the Claremont Avenue Block Association and as an aide to a former Jersey City councilwoman.

• Mussab Ali (Incumbent, 3i) – Mussab Ali is a graduate of Jersey City Public Schools, having attended PS 23, PS 6, Academy 1, and McNair Academic.  He campaigned and won a seat in 2016 as the youngest member ever elected to the JCBOE.  He is currently a senior at Rutgers University.

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Jersey City United

• Vidya Gangadin (Incumbent, 4i) –  Vidya Gangadin is a resident of Greenville, having been elected to the board of education in 2012.  She was re-elected in 2015, and has served as Vice President, President, and Chair of the Finance Committee.
• Neil Abadie (Non-Incumbent, 5i) – Neil Abadie is the CTO for SafeBus, which offers technology solutions for school transportation issues to students and families.  He comes from a family of educators and seeks to continue this legacy on the JCBOE.
• Dominique Smith (Non-Incumbent, 6i) – Dominique Smith is a graduate of Jersey City Public Schools, having attended PS 33, as well as County Prep.  She currently works as a student development professional and seeks to apply her skills with a term on the JCBOE.

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Independent Candidates

• Natalia Ioffe (Non-Incumbent, 7i) – Natalia Ioffe immigrated to the United States in 1992 at the age of 11.  She and her family have been Jersey City residents for 13 years.  She has served her community on the parent council of PS 16 as President, Vice President, and Committee Director for the past five years.

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• Asmaa Abdalla (Non-Incumbent, 8i) – Asmaa is a graduate of Jersey City Public Schools, having attended PS 27 and Liberty High School, and a resident of 22 years.  She has served the students and families of Jersey City as a volunteer tutor, and she currently works as a medical lab technician

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