Ryan
Curioni, Candidate for Lodi Board of Education
1. Tell
us about yourself. Who are you? What is
your role in the community?
I am currently completing
my first 3 year term on the Lodi Board of Education. I am a lifelong resident of Lodi. I graduated from Lodi High School in 1999
ranked #7 in my class. I attended
William Paterson University on a full academic scholarship where I attained a
B.A. in Mathematics and Secondary Education.
After college, I was a public school Math teacher for five years. I find my background in education to be very
valuable in my role as member of the board of education.
2. What
motivated you to seek a position on the Lodi Board of Education?
I was disgusted by the
rampant corruption, nepotism, waste, and abuse that has consumed the district
for too long. I didn’t believe that when
a business administrator retired after 38 years, he had the right to name his
son as his successor when the position was never advertised and nobody else had
a chance to compete. I believed the idea
of spending $8,000,000 (all Lodi tax dollars) on a new administration building
for 22 employees was absurd. I didn’t
believe it was appropriate for a superintendent to promote immediate family
members of board members when those board members were giving the
superintendent $25,108 bonuses or a 20% raise.
I felt that 6% and 7% increases in school taxes in 2010 and 2011 were
outrageous and unacceptable. I felt that
nj.com ranking Lodi #1 in New Jersey for towns with the worst school tax burden
was unacceptable. Too many politicians
were enriching themselves at the expense of our students. I wanted to see more money going into the
classrooms and not into the pockets of politicians. I wanted more accountability, transparency,
and independence coming from the board.
3. What
is one idea you have for enhancing teacher morale? How do you propose attracting and keeping
excellent school employees in district?
I believe that fair promotions and
equal opportunities for all would enhance teacher morale. All teachers should have the same opportunity
for assignments such as elementary basic skills teacher. Those positions should not only be reserved
for board members’ children and in-laws, family members of politicians,
councilwomen etc. Stipend positions
should not be gobbled up by LEA leaders when other teachers are not given a
fair chance. The best and brightest
teachers should move up the ranks to supervisors and principals if that is the
path that they choose. Principal jobs
should not be decided at birth.
To attract and keep excellent teachers,
I believe that starting teacher salaries and the lower steps on the LEA pay
scale should be increased. More
assistance and support should be given to middle school and high school
teachers to meet the district’s policy to make everyone pass. If a teacher is working really hard and doing
a great job, additional burdensome paperwork can be quite frustrating.
To attract and keep
excellent employees (all employees), I believe the district needs to do a
better job in protecting employees from politics and harassment in the
workplace. If someone is doing their
job, it must be a horrible feeling knowing that someone is watching them on
camera all day just to get a gotcha moment.
I believe that all employees should be given due process because many
have been targeted for politics. I have
witnessed many double standards while serving on the board.
4. What is your vision for the Lodi Public
Schools?
I envision a district
centered on the student and not the politician.
We should spend all our time focused on expanding student opportunities. I would like to see a possible partnership
with Bergen Community College where more students are given an opportunity to
attain more college credits while in high school and to enroll in electives
that really interest them.
There is a high demand
from Lodi parents to send their children to Bergen County Technical High School
in Teterboro, the Charter School located at Mount Virgin, and others. Our district should be asking parents what
attracts them most to those options and then see if our district can deliver
similar opportunities.
I believe that
parents/guardians do not have enough say in their children’s education. I believe that all students should have the
same opportunities despite their family’s income or status.
5. What
do you think would be the ideal relationship between the Lodi Board of
Education and the Lodi Education Association?
I served on contract negotiations for
Registered Nurses and Custodial/Maintenance.
I found the employees representing both units to be respectful and
fair. The representatives came with
facts and had an honest discussion. I
felt that both sides were working together in a fair manner to benefit our
schools. I did not see any personal agenda
from any of the representatives (where one group in the unit tried to benefit
at the expense of another). In fact, the
reps appeared to care about all members of their respective units.
Unfortunately, some LEA
leadership has not behaved in the same manner.
The current president of the LEA has clearly demonstrated that she cares
more about politics than education. She
cares more about the interests of her family than the interests of the rank and
file teachers. She is heavily involved
in the political campaign of her sister-in-law Nancy Cardone. She has been heavily involved in every
political campaign of Lodi’s corrupt political machine for decades.
Where other teacher
unions fight for fair hiring practices, some LEA officers lashed out at me for
saying that teacher positions should be advertised in newspapers and that
nepotism is a problem. Where other
teacher unions speak out against excesses for administration, some LEA officers
were fighting and cheering to get Frank Quatrone a 20% raise and almost
$200,000 for sick days.
Unprovoked protests in
front of board members’ homes, obnoxious behavior at board meetings, and
constant negativity is not productive.
Ideally, everyone should
set aside their politics and focus on education. Everyone should respect one another and
appreciate different points of view.
