A growing number of Atlantic City parents have Marcia Genova on the top of their sh*t list. So do Atlantic City taxpayers. Genova is the not-so-likable President of the Atlantic City Education Association; a.k.a. the infamous Teachers Union.
Is Genova, who lives in neighboring Ventnor, best suited to stick up for Atlantic City school kids? As union chief, Ms. Genova is paid to defend the best interests of union teachers. That’s her job. So, who sticks up for the kids and taxpayers of Atlantic City? Who pushes back against one of the largest line-items in the municipal budget?
Declining graduation rates and the rising cost of an AC education seem to be of little concern to this teacher’s union chief: one that has never taught a single class, one that doesn’t even live here.
Concerned parents in Atlantic City are demanding more choice in public schooling. WATCH VIDEO >
Are the days of expensive union influence over AC kids numbered? School reform advocates think so. They point to greater efforts from Lt Gov Kim Guadagno as more proof. And much to the chagrin of the sour-puss Genova, the national landscape for education is also changing for the better. See recent selection of School Choice friendly; Betsy DeVos, as Secretary of Education.
It’s disturbing that so many politicians can choose the best educational opportunities for their kids but refuse to allow underprivileged families the same benefit.
Marcia Genova:
- Opposes education reform, vouchers & charter schools
- Supports health-care opt-out payments. (costing AC taxpayers $5mil per year)
- Education costs AC taxpayers $26,000 per student
- AC High School: 7th worst graduation rate in NJ. Only 67% graduate.
- AC: Second-highest median teacher salaries in NJ: $94,000.
Atlantic City High School Students:
- 14% test proficient in Math
- 27% are proficient in English
A poll of over 600 African-American families shows a desire for school choice in the form of public charter schools.
- AC Councilman Marty Small’s wife is the principal at the spiffy, new Pennsylvania Avenue School in Atlantic City. Annual salary: $141,000. Ms. Small is one of 9 PRINCIPALS and 13 vice-principals in the district.
- Donna Haye is a recently retired AC Superintendent. Haye recently retired from her $177,000 a year job. She served just 12 total years in the AC School district, the last 3 were as Superintendent.
- Last year, the NJEA donated over 20 Million dollars to NJ Democratic election campaigns.
- The school budget was exempted from the State Takeover legislation by Senator Jim Whelan, who just so happens to be a retired Atlantic City School teacher.
Genova supports Healthcare Opt-out Payments for Atlantic City Teachers.
There is a current union lawsuit against the Atlantic City school district. Genova is not happy that teachers no longer get those sweet healthcare opt-out payments. Employees who decline health care coverage from the school district have been getting payments that cost Atlantic City taxpayers over $5 million a year.
The AC school district’s state monitor, Carole Morris, stopped these payments last year due to projected budget shortfalls and additional staffing cutbacks.
Not-so-fun fact: The Atlantic City municipal budget is wholly responsible for all tax appeal refunds. The AC school district doesn’t have to chip-in for tax refunds.
Why does our education system look so similar to the way it did 50 years ago? Millions of students were failing then, as they are now — and it’s because we’re clinging to a business model that clearly doesn’t work. WATCH VIDEO >
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