Assemblywoman Angela McKnight (D-31) received full support of the Jersey City Council to rename Public School No. 20 after President Barack Obama (D).
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“While in office, our president has done great work regarding education reform,†McKnight said during the public portion of Wednesday’s council meeting, also referencing the “Every Student Succeeds Act†Obama signed on December 10, 2015.
“(The act) prepares students success for college careers and more importantly guaranteed steps are taken to help students and their schools improve.â€
Additionally, McKnight mentioned that Obama is the only president to propose that students can attend a two-year community college for free.
“President Obama recently stated and I quote, providing two years of community college at no cost for every responsible student is one of the best ways to do that, and I’m going to keep fighting to get that started this year, it’s the right thing to do.â€
Jersey City Ward A Councilman Frank Gajewski gave McKnight his full support on her recommendation, saying he will submit a resolution to rename PS. 20 after Obama.
Gajewski also reminded McKnight that there are protocols to follow as well, including a dialogue with the school’s staff, the Jersey City Board of Education and the community.
Councilwoman-at-Large Joyce Watterman agreed with Gajewski, again reminded McKnight about the importance of community support.
“I just want to suggest to the assemblywoman that when it comes to naming any building, that you always get the community to support you too. And the reason why I said that is because we named the West Precinct after Melvin Santiago – and we did find resistance.â€
McKnight told the city council that her next step is to follow “proper protocols with the Board of Education to get all the information needed to pursue the renaming of P.S. 20.â€