On Behalf of Sangeeta Ranade:

We are in the process of finalizing a new superintendent for our Jersey City Public Schools, Dr. Marcia Lyles. To bring her to Jersey City the elected members of the Board of Education need to vote to approve her contract this Wed. I am one of those elected members and I strongly believe that Dr. Lyles would bring outstanding leadership and accountability to our schools- something that has been lacking for over a decade. We know what happens when we don’t have leadership- our students don’t achieve. For reasons I cannot understand, 4 Board Members are holding out on the contract. Can you please send a link to this online petition to your distribution list?

http://www.change.org/petitions/jersey-city-board-of-education-don-t-fail-jersey-city-s-children-ratify-the-superintendent-s-contract#

I wanted to outline a few reasons why we should be excited to bring Dr. Lyles to our school district

1. When she was Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning for the New York City School District math and reading scores saw some of their highest gains.
2. She is data driven and uses it to inform decision making. This allows her to pinpoint where to focus improvement and how.
3. She is a career educator and moved from an English teacher up to Superintendent with experience at almost every job in between. She has a strong understanding of how a good district should be run.
4. She is not beholden to any special interests in Jersey City. She will put our children first rather than the interests of the adults who work in the system.

Being Superintendent of Jersey City’s 28,000 students may be the hardest job in Jersey City. We have found an amazing person who can change the direction of our district. To bring her here we need a contract signed this week. A person of her caliber will get snapped up in a second if we do not move. Let’s not miss this opportunity. Please get as many people as you can to sign this petition by end of day Monday, August 20.