STOP BRET SCHUNDLER.COM

"He cited a charter school program could achieve "real reform" at a much lower cost, citing that the proposed new School 3 in Jersey City would cost $35 million." Schundler's elementary Golden Door charter school cost in excess of $10 million for 500 students with minimal sports facilities. He duped the council and got his funding immediately. (see CHARTER SCHOOLS) School 3, an elementary and middle school, is projected to house 1700+ students. The current building was built in 1909 and the parents have been waiting for 20 years for a new school. Trailers are used to house the over-flow of students. (see NEIGHBORHOODS FIGHTING CITY HALL - extend Jersey Avenue)

If Schundler is so concerned about people having a right to vote why did he fight to deny JC voters the right to vote on tax abatements, which give away hundreds of million of dollars in future tax revenues for the city and ultimately the taxpayers. Schundler fought us on the Millennium Towers referendum vote, see NEIGHBORHOODS FIGHTING CITY HALL- MT.  WE lost the referendum vote but Judge Feuntas ruled that the Planning Board decision was illegal, therefore the 20 year tax abatement was null & void... killed the scam for now but the developers are appealing.   What could be more extravagant than giving away tax revenues for luxury housing and state of the art office buildings on prime real estate during the greatest real estate boom of all times while the city can't pay its bills and continuously lays off needed city personnel??? (see LAYOFFS)

How about a referendum vote, instead of a closed door deal, in the selling of the JC car pound property at Liberty State Park to a consortium of developers including Joe Barry (see CAMPAIGN FINANCES) for a "Chelsea Piers 2 Sports Complex". Where were the public meetings then? At what cost and where will the car pound be relocated?

Added 6/12/01

Mayor Schundler has misstated facts about our schools for too long

June 10, 2001

Dear Editor: During an appearance on Michael Aron's Reports Roundtable on NJN television, Jersey City mayor and gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler made a statement that the dropout rate in the Jersey City public schools is 60 percent. His website also carries the claim that the dropout rate in Jersey City public schools is "nearly 2/3." Mr. Schundler's assertion is simply not supported by the facts.

According to statistics released late last year by the New Jersey State Department of Education, Jersey City, had a lower dropout rate in 1999 than at any time since it became a state-operated school district (October 1989). In addition, the 1999-2000 average daily attendance of 93.2 represents a one-year increase in attendance of 3.7 percent, and it exceeds the state's student attendance standard of 90 percent! For the mayor's information, the percentage of dropouts in Jersey City schools was in the single digits for the year 2000 (the second consecutive year). The 9.9 percent dropout rate (621 students) reported in 1999-2000 is nearly 5 percent below the 14.9 percent rate (914 students) reported in 1996-97. These improvements have not occurred by chance. The district has implemented a Developmental Guidance Program for the elementary schools that helps students deal with issues that may contribute to attendance and dropout problems later in their academic careers. For high school students, our "fifteen together" program assigns mentor/counselors to rising eighth-graders who have been identified as being at risk of dropping out of school. The counselors take on a mentoring role, helping their students develop coping strategies that keep them in school and learning. Last year, the third year of implementation, the "fifteen together" program reported that 63 percent of the students in the program successfully moved on to junior year. While these results are highly encouraging, the district, under the fine leadership of Dr. Charles T. Epps, Jr., is striving to do even better. In September, the district will add a Twilight Program, an after-hours school for students with issues that may cause them to drop out of school. Jersey City continues to excel in activities to provide quality early childhood instruction, increase parental participation in the schools, strengthen the district's ability to equip its schools with state-of-the-art technology and work with community partners to increase learning opportunities for students and their families. Jersey City Public Schools have been recognized for many successes, particularly for earning a record 16 Best Practices awards in five years from the Department of Education's Best Practices/ Star Schools program. Best Practices/Star Schools helps identify locally developed programs that have proven to be highly successful and worthy of emulation throughout the state. Anyone may occasionally misspeak in the heat of a political campaign, but Mr. Schundler has continued to misstate the facts about Jersey City schools far too loudly, and far too long. Suzanne T. Mack Chairperson, Jersey City Board of Education

ŠThe Jersey City Reporter 2001

In March 1995, the owner of a building at Claremont and West Side Avenues successfully had their tax assessment reduced from $5.8 million to $2.1 Million! The Limited partnership, 346 Claremont Associates, included Gerald Quentzel, an attorney, who had donated at least $1000 to Mayor Schundler's re-election campaign. (Form R-1, 9/9/96, $1000)

In January 1997, The JC Board of Ed decided to purchase their central office at Claremont & West Side Avenues for $8.7 million from 346 Claremont Associates. JC taxpayers pay 67% of the $ 9.5 million of 20-year bonds, to purchase and renovate the 71-year-old building with one elevator.

In 1996, Jersey City sold Caven Point, for $8.9 Million to the JC Public Schools. This is another blatant example of the Mayor’s contempt for public schools by wasting their bonding capacity to avoid a tax increase. He plugged his municipal budget deficit with the proceeds from the sale of Caven Point. The he crows how he has stabilized taxes but won't admit all the one shot deals that increased the city's debt so he could avoid tax increases. The City already owned Caven Point and hadn’t paid off the prior bonds to purchase and renovate the facilities. Now JC taxpayers paid twice for the same city owned land!!! He sold it to us through the school budget. (see CITY FINANCES). One shot deals are no substitute to long term economies but that's a lesson Schundler has never learned.

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