Real Results Holds Kick Off Rally

Wild Ginger was decked out in balloons and posters as the Real Results team held their Board of Education campaign kick-off rally Sunday afternoon.

Real Results—made up of candidates Kathleen Tucker, Liz Markevitch, Perry Lin and John Forsman—are all running for the first time for seats on the board with the slogan "Higher Standards, Lower Taxes."

Forsman, who has lived in Hoboken for five years, works as a financial advisor and health care specialist for a private financial company.

"The current board is over spending and under providing," he said at the rally.

According to Forsman, Hoboken spends more than $800,000 to manage 18 athletic teams in the public school system, while the town of Madison spends a little less to manage 40 teams.

"There are seventh and eighth graders with no sports teams, there's no school band," he said. "Where's the school spirit?" 

"The current board doesn't have the stomach to make the tough decisions," he added.

Perry Lin has lived in Hoboken for six years and works as regional manager for a medical device company. While he does not have any children in Hoboken's school system, he said: "We all aspire to have children and put them through Hoboken's schools."

He said that spending cuts are feasible because "Hoboken already spends much more than any other city." One of the examples he gives of how this could be done is through the re-registration of students enrolled in Hoboken schools to weed out those who are illegally attending from other districts.

"The administration now is not delivering on their promises," he said.

Kathleen Tucker has been a Hoboken resident since 2004 and works for a marketing and media agency. She said her passion for education reform stemmed from two influential history teachers in West Morris who helped to fuel her interest in the subject in college.

"I see the apathy in my own nieces," she said, who attend public schools in New Jersey. "I'm not sure if they're learning the curriculum."

"I've talked to young parents, who are concerned about the school system here and think they have to move to the suburbs. They can stay in Hoboken," she said. "There needs to be more of a focus on the curriculum."

Liz Markevitch has been a Hoboken resident for 20 years and has been involved in Hoboken schools and the Hoboken Boys and Girls Club. Markevitch is the only candidate on the Real Results team with a child enrolled in the Hoboken school system.

"I supported Kids First last year, but they don't have a backbone. There's no good management," Markevitch said.

She mentioned that Hoboken currently pays "hundreds of thousands" to Stan's Sports Center for equipment and uniforms – and that is too much, she said.

Markevitch said that there are ways to bring improvement to the schools with no cost, such as free tutoring programs by Stevens students.

"We need to accentuate the great things," she said, " the things that don't affect kids should get cut."

Current board member Maureen Sullivan, who recently severed ties with her former Kids First team, is now endorsing the Real Results team.

"I'm endorsing Real Results because they represent what I stand for: fiscal responsibility, open government and a real commitment to students," Sullivan said. "We need changes, not the status quo."

The elections will take place on April 20. Kids First also held a campaign event on Sunday.