Wow.
A 2 out of 3 fresh slate of candidates was elected to the Jersey City School Board last week including Carol Lester (center right in photo) who runs a charter school. The winning candidates were backed by our reform-minded city councilman Steven Fulop.
Results according to NJ.com
Sterling Waterman - 7,183 votes
Angel Valentin - 6,678 votes (incumbent)
Carol Lester - 3,988 votes
Also the teacher's budget was approved, which is a big commitment from the community considering that property taxes here are already sky high.
We'll see what they can do with limited resources, but overcoming the machine candidates and getting fresh perspectives onto the board is very impressive.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
School Board Elections are NOT BORING
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Pilot Program
I want to put together a one-day conference to brainstorm about an interactive civics program for kids. The idea would be to get together some of the people I interviewed in the film and develop a curriculum for a short time frame - like once a week for 6 weeks. Then try the program out here in Jersey City, maybe this summer. The project could be filmed and made into a short piece to be used as a model for other schools.
The program will be called "Become Your Dream" - based on the phrase that the artist DE LA VEGA tagged all over NYC. I spoke with him, a while back and he was cool with the idea.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Blogging Again
I voted today for 3 positions on the Jersey City School Board. It was the most depressing time I've ever voted. There is no money for the schools, and the taxes already are crazy high. I talked to a woman at the local city council office who described herself as broker than broke. People are unemployed/partially employed (that would be me) and they would normally support a raise for their teachers, but the teachers are asking for a 4% raise each year with zero inflation - and no one on the board has even seen a copy of the contract that was negotiated. Everything here in NJ seems to be done in some swapped-out deal in a deep dark back room and now the state is totally broke, and a lot of elected officials are either under indictment for something or pleading guilty to bribery and corruption charges. Meanwhile there are plenty of people at the top of the School Administration system and other government offices still making 6 figure salaries and driving mercedes. The vote was for 3 School Board positions and whether or not to ratify the contract for the teachers. If you ratify the contract the taxes go up and if you don't ratify it the teachers are devalued and either way there's going to be layoffs.
Total lose/lose scenario.
Friday, November 28, 2008
PolitiFact.com
PolitiFact.com. Cool website for factchecking.
They've got an article up now researching Hillary Clinton's foreign affairs experience that is relevant to her upcoming Secretary of State nomination.
Dick Morris' comments about her are particularly offensive,
"Clinton critics like Dick Morris, a onetime political adviser to President Bill Clinton, ridiculed her foreign agenda as little more than ceremonial fluff.
'During her international travels, there was no serious diplomacy, just a virtually endless round of meetings with women, visiting arts-and-crafts centers, watching native industries and photo opportunities for the local media,' Morris wrote recently."
As though "meetings with women" are inherently trivial. Grr.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Fashion Slide Show - Michelle Obama
I like how she is always smiling, and radiates such warmth and energy.
And here's an article on the dress she wore on election night.
Universal Voter Registration
New York Times is reporting growing support for a federal system that would automatically register all eligible voters. This is way past due. We don't have a Department of Voter Registration in the federal government because states have authority over election issues. But we really need federal oversight, or help at least. My understanding is that most of Western Europe uses this kind of system. I spoke with a woman from the BBC who said that in England when you turn 18, you get a notice in the mail, saying your voter registration is ready, and you just have to go down and sign it. The system proposed in this article sounds even simpler, you would be registered automatically. One question I have is - what are the opportunities to register for people who for some reason get accidentally left out?
"There is also increasing support for broadly expanding voter registration rolls, possibly by having the federal government require the states to make registration automatic for all eligible voters. Supporters say universal registration could reduce registration fraud and the confusion at the polls that results when voters are purged from the rolls.
Such a plan would be costly and technologically difficult, and it could run into resistance from Republicans who have been wary of expanding registration, citing concerns about ineligible voters being added to the rolls. Some state officials say they would prefer to set registration standards themselves.
But independent experts say easier registration and voting methods would ensure that huge crowds like those on Tuesday turn out without being discouraged by the long delays experienced in many states."
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Triumph's Advice to Voters
Here’s the cool video that Triumph made for the “Holler Back” benefit.
The music is from Corb Lund - who is in the soundtrack of the film. The track is called Expectation and the Blues. It's an awesome song.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
