EDISON — Six candidates are vying for the three, three-year term seats that are open on the Board of Education in the November election.
Ralph Errico and Shivi Prasad-Madhukar are seeking re-election for their second terms on the board, while newcomers Elizabeth Conway, Harish Verma, Yunxia “Yuna” Chen and Anthony DeAmorin are seeking their first terms.
Board member Paul Distefano is not seeking re-election.
Yunxia “Yuna” Chen, 42, a township resident for more than three years, is married with one child attending the Edison public schools.
“As a parent, I care deeply about my child’s education,” she said. “I believe that parents should be more involved in the education system, not passively accepting the status quo. We need to be proactive, contribute to the decision-making process, and collaborate with the schools to best benefit our students. Therefore, I’m running because I want to be an advocate for the students and parents of Edison. I want to serve as a bridge to connect parents and the schools.”
If elected, Chen said one area she would like to work on is the budget.
“Overcrowding is the biggest challenge for Edison schools,” she said. “Our school district has over 16,000 students, well above the capacity of our current facilities. To tackle this problem we need to revisit our budget. We need to cut fraud, waste and abuse from the budget. This means oversight and accountability. The money saved needs to be applied to the overcrowding problem. With my financial background and strong analytical skills, I’m confident that I can offer valuable input.”
Chen earned a doctoral degree in theoretical and computational chemical physics from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in statistics. She has more than 10 years of professional experience as a data scientist for a top U.S. financial institution and routinely works with large budgets.
In the community, Chen has helped build several playgrounds in disadvantaged towns and led local park cleanups, raised money for the annual Race to Outrun Hunger, and has been an active volunteer in various school activities.
Elizabeth Conway, 64, who has been a township resident for almost 36 years, is married with three children and one grandchild.
“I am running for a seat on the Board of Education because I feel the board needs a person who has new and fresh ideas that would help the district move in a more positive direction,” she said. “The district has a number of problems and I feel that my background would be very beneficial and contributory.”
Conway said even though the hiring of a superintendent and the overcrowding of the schools are monumental focuses that need to be addressed, she said, if elected, she would like to also focus primarily on the curriculum of the special education department.
“It has changed so drastically since I started teaching in the district nearly 20 years ago,” she said. “[The] children with special needs’ curriculum has been watered down and I feel that this needs to be addressed.”
Conway, who is a retired teacher, earned her bachelor’s degree in special education and her master’s degree in urban education.
In the community, Conway serves as chairperson of the PTA/PTO Scholarship committee, a member of the Overcrowding Taskforce, and a member of the Community Relations Committee.
Anthony DeAmorin, 37, has been a township resident for 34 years. He is a 1999 graduate of Edison High School.
“I am running for a seat on the Edison BOE to be the conduit between the board and the public,” he said. “In doing so, [it will] serve as its purpose to protect the interest of the citizen while upholding the integrity of the ‘people’s’ school board against the ever growing political elites.”
If elected, DeAmorin said he will immediately begin to lead the long overdue effort to fight for and assist dedicated teachers who, on the front lines, are responsible in the ultimate goal of having the district’s students read and comprehend at higher levels to improve their readiness for their journey of continuing education.
DeAmorin attended Middlesex County College and attended a semester at the University of Hawaii. He currently is in charge of security for a computer refurbishing company Joy Systems in Somerset.
In the community, DeAmorin said as a resident for well over 30 years, he has developed unique relationships within a wide range of diverse groups of the citizenry.
“After being educated in the Edison School District, I have gone on to be an engaged and when needed, outspoken resident against many of our local government failures,” he said. “And currently, as the elected committeeman in my district, I continue that activism of uniting my fellow neighbors in whatever difficult challenges we may face.”
Ralph Errico, 59, who has been a township resident for 29 years, is married and has three adult children, all graduates of Edison High School.
“I’m running for re-election to continue to fight for our fair share of state funding and to fix our growing overcrowding concerns in our schools,” he said. “I also want to ensure that we select the best candidate for superintendent to lead our district to great achievement levels. I will continue to get out in the public to hear and listen to the concerns of students, parents, staff and community. I will continue and always serve, to the best of my ability, the students, parents, staff and community.”
Errico said his biggest concern for the district is overcrowding. Earlier this year, he was selected to co-chair the board’s Overcrowding Committee.
“This committee met and brainstormed many ideas with very good input from our students, parents, staff, community, local, county and state officials,” he said. “Our buildings are way too crowded for students to learn and teachers to teach. This problem must be addressed now.”
Errico has a master’s degree in educational leadership from New Jersey City University. He is employed as an elementary school principal in a public school.
In the community, Errico serves on the Edison Township Zoning Board of Adjustment, serves as state commissioner for Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth Baseball, and serves as regional commissioner for Babe Ruth Girls Softball, which covers five states. He is the former president of the Edison Township Parent Teacher Advisory Council of all school parent organizations, former PTO president of Herbert Hoover Middle School’s PTO, former president of Edison Girls Softball, and former board member of Edison Boys Baseball.
Shivi Prasad-Madhukar, 48, who has been a township resident for 15 years, is married with three children.
“I am running for a second term because one term is not enough to meet all goals,” she said. “Besides overcrowding and fair funding, I want to bring attention to safety, over-testing, and bridging the achievement gap between different parts of Edison. The motto of my campaign is ‘Every Child Every School.’”
Prasad-Madhukar said she has had many advocacy successes in her first term, which include “finally getting more state aid that will ultimately reduce property taxes, policies that reduce student stress — no homework during major holidays and crisis counselors — and moving away from a technology-centric curriculum [of] cursive writing, fitness center, more textbooks, and socioemotional skills.
“I want to focus on bringing in more state aid and private investment to Edison so we can improve schools and stabilize taxes at the same time,” she said. “Taxes are high in Edison because we receive only a fraction of the share due to us by law. Our schools are overcrowded, lack basic amenities like air-conditioning and need better security. To maintain our property values and educational excellence, these issues must be addressed urgently. We can do this by relentlessly petitioning the state for our due share, creating an educational foundation to attract private wealth, and investing in a grant-writer.”
Prasad-Madhukar, who is employed as a policy analyst, has a master’s degree in public administration specializing in public policy from Wagner School of Public Service. She also attended New York University.
In the community, Prasad-Madhukar has been an active member of the PTO for Martin Luther King Elementary School, served as president of John Adams Middle School PTO and was involved with the John P. Stevens PTSO until she was elected in 2015. Recently, her most active role was coordinator between the community and Board of Education.
“I regularly engage in conversations with parents on how we can improve as a district,” she said. “Many of the suggestions I bring to the board are direct inputs from the community.”
Candidate Harish Verma could not be reached by press time.
Polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.