In a letter to the editor, Hoboken Board of Education Trustee Ailene McGuirk, speaking as a private citizen, explains why she’s supporting the “Moms Leading Progress” slate.
Dear Editor,
Anyone who cares about our future, but especially parents, need to make sure that they vote in the upcoming November 7 election for Hoboken Board of Education.
Early voting is now open at City Hall through Sunday November 5th.
Mail-in ballots can be returned at any one of three drop boxes around town, or at any mailbox, and polls will be open on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7th from 6 AM until 8 PM.
I am proud to support Moms Leading Progress for the Board of Education, Sharyn Angley, Chetali Khanna, and Sheillah Dallara. You can find the Moms in column D, ballot positions 2, 3, and 4.
While ⅓ of the nine member board of education is up for election each and every year, the ballot positioning often causes people to overlook, or even under vote this most important local position.
You have three votes for BOE, and I ask you to use those votes to support Sharyn, Chetali, and Sheillah.
The Moms bring a wealth of experience as current and former BOE trustees who have driven policy that elevates academic achievement, extracurricular programming, district community and pride.
Additionally, between Sharyn, Chetali, and Sheillah, they have eight children, all of whom have spent their entire academic careers enrolled in the District Public Schools.
One frequently asked question on the BOE campaign trail is: “Will you send your children to Hoboken High School or Hoboken Middle School?” That is not a hypothetical question for this team; Sharyn has two sons at Hoboken High, and one at Hoboken Middle School.
Chetali has a daughter at Hoboken High, and a son at Hoboken Middle School. Sheillah has a son and daughter at Hoboken Middle School, and an adorable son in Pre-k 4.
The Moms are not just talking about change they want to see, they have lived it through their work on the Board and their families’ commitment to remain in the public school district.
Here are a few of the results seen during their tenure on the BOE:
● The State of NJ recognized the Hoboken Public School District as a High Achieving School District
● State and county academic rankings improved
● Hoboken High School graduation rate reached 98%, up from 83% in 2015
● The district was recognized as a Best Community in Music Education
● The new aviation and innovation labs at Hoboken High School opened
● The district was selected for the first North American school production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (coming to the High School auditorium, May 2024).
This leads me to my last point, which is something else that has been heard on the campaign trail this year. Many supporters have commented that the Moms “have this” or “not to worry.”
But we can’t take this election for granted.
Sheillah pointed out at the campaign launch that two of the Moms are guaranteed to win, but one is not. Every single vote matters for this team, and winning two seats is not enough to keep the progress and innovation going at the Hoboken Public Schools.
Furthermore, the candidate in the first ballot position is promising that if she is elected the Board would “behave” differently.
If you are considering a vote for the candidate in position one, I urge you to ask her what that means, and why she suggests write-in votes for sitting BOE members (myself included) on her campaign literature.
Hoboken’s children deserve BOE trustees who take the work seriously.
I am confident that you will conclude that the best path forward is to vote for Sharyn, Chetali, and Sheillah. The future for Hoboken’s children is too important to do otherwise.
Please vote Moms Leading Progress column D 2,3,4. Thanks for your time!
Ailene McGuirk
While the author of this letter, Ailene McGuirk, is a member of the Hoboken Board of Education, the letter expresses only Ms. McGuirk’s personal opinion and has not been authorized by or written on behalf of the Hoboken Board of Education.
Will these candidates try to blindside and try to rush the taxpayers of Hoboken with another $300,000,000 boondoggle construction plan ?
The Hoboken School Board has lost pretty much all their credibilty and will have to try to start to earn it Back.
Dr Johnson and Mayor Bhalla must be really frightened of Pat Waiters to have one of their proxies stay to keep residents from voting for Patricia Waiters. Having any one on the Hoboken Scholl Board they can not control must be terrifing to them.
https://hobokenhorse.com/ravi-bhalla-set-to-give-senior-role-to/
Now that’s a ringing endorsement for Patty!
Patty apologized. Unlike others who haven’t for trying to shove a $300 million dollar high school down Hoboken taxpayer’s throats.
Vote Patty!
Waiters, a former aide to indicted Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia, did not apologize for her remarks, and others.
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JDA6XuNM5RE/VfhB6tdHnlI/AAAAAAAALPU/X2L0ZRMTpDQ/s1600/waiters%2Bhha%2Bapril%2B10%2B2014-03.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QfFbTu2oFXk/VfhEeO_ih1I/AAAAAAAALPg/ZEobhxQ5-5E/s1600/waiters%2Bhha%2Bapril%2B10%2B2014-04.jpg
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rejaxgB5XJU/VfgyM2uKIYI/AAAAAAAALOg/UQUwzagwyA4/s400/HR%2BPatty%2Bwaiters%2Bcarmelo%2Bgarcia%2Banti-semitic.jpg
Patty Waiters? This Patty Waiters? The indicted Carmelo Garcia’s legislative aide?
https://archive.hudsonreporter.com/2014/05/11/zimmers-allies-take-control-of-public-housing-board/
“Councilman says legislative aide should be fired over ‘anti-Semitic’ remarks
City Councilman-at-Large David Mello said at Wednesday’s council meeting that a paid aide to a Hoboken-based state assemblyman should be removed after she made remarks about Jewish people at a public meeting last month. A transcript of the meeting, revealing the remarks, became available this week.
Patricia Waiters serves as a $10,000-per-year aide to newly elected state Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia. Garcia also serves full-time as the paid director of the Hoboken Housing Authority. Waiters’ remarks were made at a heated Housing Authority meeting last month.
At that meeting, Waiters said that since Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who is Jewish, took office, she has been appointing only Jewish people to various city boards. Waiters also said, according to the newly released transcript, “Since Dawn’s mayorship, we have a real estate place on every corner. What is his name? Weitzman, Heller, Einstein, every corner okay?”
Waiters said that an examination of contracts awarded under Zimmer would reveal that everyone hired by the mayor is Jewish.”
Only one vote this year: Patricia Waiters.
The candidate in first ballot position is Patricia Waiters.
A black woman, mother, and has consistently a proven to be a large vote getter in past elections.
That’s the perfect picture for the story.
And the first line tells you all you need to know about what they think. That parents are the ones that should definitely vote, we will just take everyone else’s tax money, but make sure they dont vote.
I voted NO on the Referendum but I support Moms for Progress and the entire BOE based on all the other amazing changes they have done in our district.
In 2011 Connors School had no playground, proper music class or a proper cafeteria.
Today Connors in the most in demand Elementary school in the district and both Grana and McGuirk sent their daughters there.
Happy to be a Hobbit for Moms for Progress.
A pathetic try at deflecting from McGurik’s blatantly racist attack on Waiters.
The over whelming majority of Hoboken voted NO on the bloated Referendum that McGuirk tried to hustle past the taxpayers.
Vote for Pat Waiters.
Patricia Waiters has my vote.
Re-electing the existing ruling elite can’t be the right answer for our kids. In a highly diverse school district, it would be helpful to have at least one African American voice on the 9 person board. Pat has spoken out (and maybe at times shouted out) about transparency for decades. Pat has my vote, and hopefully yours too!
Yes, lets vote for people that never did their due diligence on an employee and then were complicit and took no action on someone that lied for 14 years about their academic credentials.
Regardless of what they accomplished, lying about your “Dr” and then doubling down on it is completely unacceptable.
Christine Johnson who couldn’t do the math when it came to telling the truth about her 3/4 of a billion dollar school bond, has done the math and is frightened that Pat Waiters who has a real proven voter base she can and has called to the polls many times can win a seat on the HBOE.
Having a person like Waiters who asks question and demands full public answers must be terrifying to Christine Johnson and her rubber stamp Board.
Pat Waiters has said many times that she is not going away and this Election Day she has a very real chance of becoming a Hoboken Board of Education Trustee.