The Teaneck Board of Education elections will take place November 3, on Election Day. The board epitomizes the partnership between district schools and the community and is dedicated to providing leadership and citizen oversight of Teaneck schools, with an eye toward ensuring excellence in our children’s education.
Each year three of the nine seats are up for elections, and this year there are three notable candidates who each bring a fresh perspective: Danielle Gee, Damen Cooper and Harold Clark. Though the candidates are not running on a platform together, they are each uniquely invested in the town and dedicated to giving the children of Teaneck the best educational experience possible.
Originally from New York and living in Teaneck for seven years, Gee works in strategic and operational planning for a non-profit organization. She has a financial background and a familiarity with school and municipal budgets from her time with an advisory firm dealing with municipal bond issuance. On a personal level, her motivation for running in November are her three boys—third grade, first grade and a 1-year-old—who attend Bryant and Whittier public schools. Being a mother to elementary school-aged children puts Gee in a prime spot to see how decisions the board makes impact students.
Gee’s time volunteering on the PTO and the Beyond Diversity Committee showed her how to get things done behind the scenes. Last spring’s COVID-19 school closure spurred her to run for the board: “The lack of flexibility on the board’s part to accommodate or address concerns of parents was the straw for getting involved. Asynchronous learning was a disaster that I saw firsthand with my children…” One of the main challenges she saw was “making sure the virtual learning structure was one that worked for all students.” According to Gee, the “board is reactive. They mean well, but we need to be proactive.”
This school year, Gee has created a family pod for her older children, collectively hiring someone to help the children manage their schoolwork and get the socialization they need.
Gee is aware that not everyone has these resources and worries especially about those who need extra help, like children with special needs: “How do we safely get high-risk students back in person—special needs, early learners—because the current learning environment doesn’t work. We don’t know what hours of screen time will do to these kids.” She continued, “Teachers are doing the best they can, being creative, moving around every day but it’s hard. We need to get creative to figure that out.”
Gee is running independently to stay true to her beliefs. She is passionate about a number of issues including school security, raising academic performance of consistently underperforming demographics and ensuring higher student performance across the board. “These are not new issues. We need change,” said Gee.
Damen Cooper is a proud Teaneck native who grew up in Teaneck public schools and has never left. A lifelong educator, he has worked in the Teaneck school system as a special education teacher and supervisor, assistant principal and principal. His current position as director of personnel in a different school makes this the right time for him to give back to the community that gave him and his family so much. Cooper’s two children attend Whittier and Ben Franklin schools, giving him a vested interest in seeing the system succeed.
Cooper’s secret weapon is his education background. “Many boards of education don’t have many educators on them. I will be able to be part of the bigger conversations of programming and curriculum and planning for kids’ success.”
Cooper does not discredit all the hard work done by the Board of Education, and said his approach is: “Where I think I have good insight from a classroom perspective, as well as a school leader, is you can’t come in with a plan for change—you have to evaluate first. I want to work with the other members of the BOE and evaluate what needs to be addressed and then do that with the superintendent.”
As in every school system, there are always areas that could use improvement. Cooper would like to revisit the math and reading curriculum at the elementary school level to address shortcomings at the high school level—such as low numbers of students taking AP classes. “My knowledge base from being an educator will help in this position.”
Regarding COVID-19, Cooper reasoned, “Every decision schools make now regarding COVID is going to be unpopular since that’s the nature of a pandemic. What’s more important is that we try to bring back kids who we know are not doing well with virtual learning.” As a special education teacher, he understands more than most how kids in these programs struggle virtually, and as hard as parents try, they aren’t trained to deal with these day-to-day learning issues.
Cooper’s dedication and love for his community and helping children learn optimally comes through loud and clear. His deep roots in the Teaneck community spur his wish to give back and improve the system for his and others’ children: “I’m not a politician. I’m not using this as a platform to move onto something else. I’m an educator at heart. I’m not running against other candidates. I see myself as running for the kids of Teaneck.”
Harold Clark is running from a different place than Gee and Cooper. The Hackensack native’s children have gone through the public school system and are now successful adults. Clark himself went from an average student to a successful entrepreneur, retiring at age 57. He grew a successful construction business, later becoming a Teanck police officer. He used his position to be a positive influence and mentored many African American boys who had no father figure in their lives. He was also a beloved football coach at the high school level for years.
Clark believes in education and has tremendous respect for those who go on for higher degrees, but at the same time he recognizes that path is not for everyone. He knows there are kids like himself, who may not be great students, but have other skills and talents. He wants to expand their opportunities and show them other options that might be a better fit for them than a straight shot to college. He advocates bringing trades back into schools: wood and metal shops, horticultural programs, STEM and entrepreneurship: “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to have a great life…I have a doctorate in survival and success…What are we doing as a board to make sure that kids are going to be successful? Everyone learns differently. There should be an alternative to the main path.” With employees for union jobs in demand, Clark urges these options be made available just like an AP class is made available.
Clark wants to survey students as early as eighth grade to see where they see themselves in five, 10 years to get an idea of their direction. “We shouldn’t base our success on graduation rates, but on success down the line. Anyone can push through and graduate… Social promotion is doing kids a disservice.”
Clark also wants to be a part of the discussion on how money gets spent in the school system. He advocates for getting students with special needs back into the classroom so they don’t have to struggle to learn virtually. He also feels strongly about not letting budget cuts remove important mental health resources that kids need, especially at this time when the pandemic is posing so many challenges.
All three candidates have respect for and good relationships with the Jewish community. Gee notes the town’s diverse population was one of the things that drew her family to Teaneck. Clark, Cooper and Gee are all opposed to holding board meetings at times that conflict with religious observance, such as Saturdays and Sunday mornings. “You have to be inclusive of everyone,” said Clark.
Teaneck Councilwoman Karen Orgen endorsed these three qualified candidates: “At a time when our Board of Education requires a new vision, I am grateful that these three stellar candidates who are parents, educators, coaches and administrators have stepped up to run.”
Each of these three candidates, Gee, Cooper and Clark, brings a unique and impressive background to their campaign. They are each genuine, hard working, motivated and truly want to give back to their community and make a difference in families’ lives. They have clear goals and a strong desire to breed success and invest in the future of Teaneck’s children.
By Michal Rosenberg
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