Running for School Board, Elizabeth Markevitch Makes Reading #1 Priority

If you ask Elizabeth Markevitch, the biggest problem currently facing the school district is a lack of consistency in management.

"Every year everything is changing," Markevitch, 54, said in a recent interview. "The teachers and the students have suffered from a lack of consistency."

The other issue that needs to be tackled: reading ability of the district's students.

"Students know a lot," Markevitch said, "but their reading ability is very low." A way to fix the problem, Markevitch continued, is to add resources and hire more teachers to improve students' reading skills.

While Markevitch said that Superintendent Mark Toback has been addressing the issue, there still needs to be "incredible, incredible improvement."

As a parent of a high school student—Markevitch's daughter is in 11th grade—the candidate has said she is happy with the programs at the high school. Her daughter is taking Advanced Placement classes, takes part in the theater program and "has excellent teachers every year."

The AP program at the high school is another area where the district needs improvement, said Markevitch, who has lived in Hoboken for the last 26 years.

Part of the success has to do with the amount of parent involvement, another issue that should be addressed by the school board, according to the candidate.

"My husband and I have spent many hours and a lot of time helping our daughter," Markevitch said. "But I know that's not possible for all parents to do."

This is not the first time that Markevitch, who is a Republican, has run for school board. In 2010, she ran with Real Results, but didn't get elected.

While she said she is campaigning in much the same way, she feels better about it this time around.

"I think it’s very important to talk to as many people as possible and educating people about what’s going on," she said, "we weren’t able to do that enough in the last campaign."

Markevitch—together with Anthony Oland and Felice Vazquez—makes up the Move Forward ticket that is trying to take the majority of the school board from the Kids First coalition. While the two slates differ on many issues, there seems to be one area where all candidates agree: Superintendent Toback.

If elected, Markevitch said she, and her teammates, wouldn't "micro manage" Toback, indicating that that's what the current school board does.

In her professional life, Markevitch is an executive recruiter and a career adviser. She has been a frequenter of the meetings for the past few years.

When asked why people should vote for her, Markevitch said that she will advocate for the public and "listen to the community."

"I just think it's very important that when you have a great town," Markevitch said, "you have great schools."