To the Editor:
They say the most important job you can have is to be your child’s parent. Even for those who choose not to have kids, how parents teach and educate their children affects all our futures. And parents and our society depend on our public schools to also instill life lessons and create well-rounded and educated adults.
Gov. (Philip D.) Murphy loves to say our public schools are the best in the nation. At the same time, he pushes an extremism in schools that undermine them and our common values.
First, it was age-inappropriate sex ed. Now it has gotten to the point where his administration is suing school districts if they notify parents if a child is identifying as a different gender at school. His administration’s lawyers extend their belief parents don’t have a right to know even to 5 year olds.
As per a recent Monmouth University poll, the majority of New Jerseyans, regardless of ethnic or political background, disagree with the Murphy administration on this.
This is very relevant to us here in Hudson County. Hudson County Democrats all have been longtime supporters of Murphy, including Assemblymembers McKnight and Samson and County Commissioner Kenneth Kopacz.
McKnight and Samson have shown no independence from the governor, and have little to show for their time in office. What have they done to address learning loss from school closures during the pandemic for example?
Mr. Kopacz has an even larger role in this. He makes almost $200,000 a year as an administrator in the Bayonne school district that ranks near the bottom third in the state, despite high taxes in the city.
So here are today’s questions? Will McKnight and Samson ever speak out on parental rights and fixing our schools? And is Mr. Kopacz more loyal to the liberal extremists who have hijacked the New Jersey Democratic Party and denigrated our schools or is he going to finally start doing his two jobs representing Bayonne students and parents?
I offer a common sense alternative. Schools need to educate and respect students and parents again. People like McKnight, Samson and Kopacz have done nothing but enrich themselves while giving approval to the latest political fads that harm our children and diminish our future. It is time to elect new people who actually care about our community.
Luis Soto
State Senate Candidate
Kearny
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.