Letter: No school board debates in Paterson? | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Letter: No school board debates in Paterson?

By Corey Teague
Published: September 20, 2017

letter-to-editor-hq

We are less than 50 days away from one of the most important elections in the City of Paterson. The board of education election is a pivotal issue because we as a community must go to the polls and make sure that we elected people to serve on the board who are not political operatives.

We need to have folks on the board whose agendas are solely focused at supporting the children and their academic futures. Sadly, politics seems to rule the day in this city. We have roughly 5 weeks till Election Day and there hasn’t been a single debate for school board candidates.

We have folks running with no vision, no ideas, no serious interest of serving our children or even a sincere desire to remain on the board if elected. But candidates are already posting up flyers, palm cards, banners, mugs, tee shirts and all kinds of campaign literature for exposure.

We cannot get caught up in the glitz and glamour of these fancy campaigns while losing sight of the issues which truly matter. Simply handing out book bags, free food and a handshake should not qualify one to serve in office. We must stand up and demand MORE. We need to know what they have done thus far to help improve the overall scope of Paterson’s educational scene.

How many times in the last decade have each candidate been to Trenton to address the state board of education concerning the funding issues? How many candidates have been to the SDA to address on record the state of the schools in our city? I could go on but we as a community must wake up and take a closer look at each and every candidate who is running. Our children’s futures hang in the balance.

Corey Teague
Former school board member


Copyright © 2012-2024 Paterson Times all rights reserved.