Teague: School board members attempting to jump ship at a critical moment
By Corey Teague
Published: April 23, 2016
I have had the privilege of meeting school board members from suburban school districts who have been serving for many years. At least one of them has been serving for nearly 30 years.
In Paterson, seats on the board of education are being utilized for a much different purpose. It is one thing to promise the voters that you will be committed to fighting for the children. It’s an entirely different thing to actually remain committed to that commitment.
I should point out that for the first time ever nearly half of the current Paterson school board is running, at the same time, to fill council seats in May.
Why would any board member want to leave the board at such a tumultuous and uncertain time.
While it’s not illegal to run for office, the level of commitment must be called into question.
When you seek a seat on the board of Ed, the idea is that you intend to remain there to fight for the children of Paterson – at least that should be the purpose. For many years that just has not been the case.
The question then becomes when will the madness end? When will the residents of Paterson start demanding consistency and commitment from everyone who seeks to be on the school board? If you want better than you must elect better.
Corey Teague
Activist and former school board member