Over 120 Jersey City parents and community members attended an October 22 meeting sponsored by Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) with Dr. Charles T. Epps, Jr., Jersey City Schools Superintendent.

PCUE is the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC), as well as a member of the New Jersey Education Organizing Collaborative (NJEOC), which is engaged in a secondary reform campaign. See PCUE in Jersey City Rallies in Support of "Graduation for All."

Participants in the October 22 meeting included several Jersey City high school principals and district administrators, as well as Board of Education members Dr. Peter Donnelly, Mr. Sean Connors and Ms. Patricia Sebron. In addition, Councilwoman Viola Richardson attended the meeting. 

PCUE organized the meeting as part of its high school campaign, "Graduation for All!" The event, held at Metropolitan AME Zion Church on Belmont Avenue, was facilitated by PCUE First Vice President, Loyda Goldston. 

LueElla McFadden, PCUE President, began the meeting with an opening statement in which she said: "We are calling our campaign ‘Graduation for All’ because we believe that every child in this city, despite his or her color or creed, despite their family conditions and economic status, must receive – I emphasize again, Must Receive – a quality education and a high school diploma, prepared for college or other career track, where they can make a living wage and create a decent life for themselves."

McFadden told school and district administrators that they have an obligation to provide Jersey City youth a quality education. She also called on parents and members of the community to organize, take a stand and make sure that Jersey City schools give children the education they deserve.

Dr. Epps then thanked PCUE for putting the community meeting together. He introduced the school principals and district administrators who had accompanied him. Ellen Ruane, Associate Superintendent for High Schools, described the new Small Learning Community initiative that had been implemented since last year. 

After her opening remarks, Rosemary Nwabueze, a PCUE leader and President of the Parent Council at Dickinson High School, gave a PowerPoint presentation with data on the poor academic performance of Jersey City high school students. She also presented the list of immediate improvements PCUE is seeking.

Dr. Epps, in response to PCUE's concerns regarding graduation rates and test scores, stated that Jersey City high schools should be compared to similar districts, such as Camden, and not to state averages.

A long line formed for the question and answer portion of the meeting. Parents and community members raised a host of concerns, including cancellation of summer school; lack of sufficient time for, and generally poor, advising; limited SAT test prep; no afterschool classes; absence of a rigorous curriculum; the need for additional mentorships; and an inadequate number of math teachers.

The most emotional part of the question and answer session occurred when Maria Labrador, a mother with a child in Ferris High School, talked about her experiences at the school. She told the audience and the Superintendent that her son was being pushed out of high school into the Twilight Program. She said she wanted her son to stay at Ferris, and she pleaded for help.

When it was time for Viola Richardson, Councilwoman from Ward F, to speak, she praised PCUE for organizing the event and thanked members of the audience and the school district for a productive discussion. 

Throughout the meeting, Dr. Epps continued to respond to concerns and questions. He directed his staff to take immediate action to address parents’ individual concerns. He said that summer school was not being offered because it did not work. In the case of afterschool classes, he stated that he was collecting information to determine how effective they were and if they should be implemented again.  PCUE is calling for mandatory summer school and extended day for all students who fail any required courses.

The Superintended acknowledged parents' concerns about inadequate advising. He made a commitment to afterschool advising and an open house to accommodate students' needs for more help from their guidance counselors. He also stated that all students would be afforded the opportunity to take the SAT test prep course.

Roslyn Gibbs-Muse, PCUE member-at-large asked Dr. Epps if he would use his leadership as Superintendent to commit to increasing the graduation rate in Jersey City to the state average in three years. The Superintendent’s response was "maybe."

"Maybe" was again the response when PCUE asked if Dr. Epps would commit to ensuring that in three years no more than 10% of high school students would graduate using the Special Review Assessment (SRA), and when PCUE asked if he would commit to ensuring that Jersey City high schools would meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in three years, and when PCUE asked if he would commit to increasing average SAT test scores to the state average within the next three years.

Dr. Epps did say that all high school students will have individual academic portfolios within the next three years.  But he also said that he could not make a commitment to having all students take the SAT test because not all students want to go to college.

McFadden closed the meeting by thanking everyone for their participation and cooperation. She also called on everyone to stay involved and work with PCUE on the organization’s high school campaign.

For more information about the October 22 community meeting, the "Graduation for All" campaign, and PCUE, visit the organization’s blog. Also see the front page story about the meeting in the Jersey Journal.

Prepared: November 23, 2009