Mayor Dawn Zimmer Endorses Kids First

Here's what Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said about Kids First in an e-mail last month. 

Change is finally taking place in Hoboken. 
In just a short time the Kids First Team has made great strides toward creating the kind of effective, accountable and affordable school system that Hoboken's children and taxpayers deserve. 
There is much more work to be done, and this April's School Board election is critical to keeping our schools moving in the right direction. 

In a letter to the editor to the Hoboken Reporter on April 18, she wrote: "Our schools are the future of our town, and this is the team that our town needs to keep moving our schools in the right direction." 

Zimmer also mentioned that Kids First will be bringing in the AP Honors program. The current International Baccelaureate Programme will be eliminated after next year's class graduates, according to current Board President Rose Marie Markle, who is up for re-election on the Kids First slate. 

Zimmer wrote also about the four Kids First candidates: "They have also kept school taxes flat this past year despite the loss of millions of dollars in state aid. Per pupil costs have been reduced from nearly $25,000 two years ago to $20,054 this year. The ratio of administrators to teachers has significantly improved as a result of attrition. The days of having eight principals for five schools are over."