The Jersey City Education Association is backing Bill O’Dea for mayor in the November 2025 non-partisan municipal election, union president Ron Greco said today.
“Bill O’Dea’s record of service to education in Jersey City is well documented throughout his political career,” Greco said. “We are excited at the prospect of having a leader such as Bill in City Hall.”
O’Dea, a longtime Hudson County Commissioner, faces former Gov. James E. McGreevey and City Council President Joyce Watterman in the mayoral race.
Greco took a shot at McGreevey, saying he “constantly surrounds his campaign with former Christie allies who have set the educational system back decades.”
“He even had Steve Sweeney, one of the architects of the chapter 78 healthcare reform plan, which decimated teacher salaries and is a direct link to the unprecedented teacher shortage, headline his mayoral announcement,” Greco charged. “We have finally rid our district of leaders put there by the State. Their inefficiency has cost the district millions of dollars and cost our children even more.”
The teachers union leader also criticized “out-of-town power brokers” who are backing McGreevey over O’Dea.