Criticism
There is much criticism of Mr. Epps' pay as superintendent (over $240,000 annually), particularly because Epps also is a member of the New Jersey Legislature ($49,000 annual pay) and the Jersey City Public Schools is one of the lowest performers in the state.
As the Trenton Times editorialized about Mr Epps in an unsigned attack on double-dippers in state government: "Assemblyman Charles Epps Jr., D-Jersey City, spends at least two days a week at the State House, which is time when he's not back home running the troubled Jersey City school district, for which he receives $240,022 a year as superintendent."
In May 2006, Epps fell under attack by Assembly colleagues after the New Jersey 101.5 radio station reported on lavish expenses incurred by Epps on a trip to England—including a $500+/night hotel room—all paid for by taxpayers. A number of politicians called for his resignation as evidence of his fiscal irresponsibility surfaced.
The number (and salaries) of administrative staff housed at the Jersey City Board of Education has increased substantially in the 10 years since Epps became superintendent. Executives on the 8th floor of the Board of Ed Building on Claremont Ave. are notorious for not coming to work before 10 am and leaving early. While the school district is faced with budget cuts, hundreds of teachers received pink slips in April and May, while very few administrators/executives have been laid off, especially Epps' hand picked assistants.
In April 2011, Epps came under criticism for denigrating his constituency in an address to the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Jersey and Vicinity. In his speech, he referred to the young females in his district, as his "worst enemy". He then elaborates, "The young girls are bad. I don't know what they're drinking today, but they're bad." Later, he thanks corporate volunteers for having "signed up to help even the dirty, nasty, bad kids."
Read more about this topic: Charles T. Epps, Jr.
Famous quotes containing the word criticism:
“It is from the womb of art that criticism was born.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
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