In a letter to the editor, retired teacher and Hoboken resident Mary Beth Yakoubian says she’s voting “Kids First” in the board of education race since they “are not beholden to the current entrenched school board.”
Dear Editor,
No Kids in the school system? Your vote is just as important!
Kids already grown? Haven’t started a family yet? Not planning on having children? BOE elections impact all residents, those with children in the school system as well as all residents who pay rent and taxes.
The BOE makes decisions that impact our students and decisions that impact our tax dollars. We all fund the school system and we should all have a voice in electing the board that has financial oversight of our community dollars.
I’m a lifelong Democrat and a 30-plus year resident of Hoboken. I’m also a retired NYC teacher who knows very well how critically important a quality education is for kids’ lifetime prospects.
I want to help boost the success of Hoboken High School, where the education kids receive will properly prepare them for college and careers.
While test scores are not the full story, they are a significant factor that prospective families consider when making decisions for their children.
How might we achieve upward change in test scores and college readiness? NOT by building an amenity-rich building in the dead of winter, through an election process intended to suppress voter turnout and subvert democracy.
Instead, we should invest funds in enhanced and innovative teaching methods and academic-focused support programs.
We should provide more academic after school and summer programs and allocate funds for additional teaching assistants who can provide hands-on support to help struggling students.
The three independent “Kids First” candidates are not beholden to the current entrenched school board.
I’ll be voting for Pavel Sokolov, Cindy Wiegand, and Donna Magen to shake up the Hoboken Board of Education, and I hope you will too.
Mary Beth Yakoubian
Hoboken resident