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Links/Legislation

 

Letters: Christie's wrong to treat teachers like the enemy

The Christie administration's decision to skip this year's New Jersey Education Association convention is an example of what's wrong with government today. Too often, we've seen confrontation take precedence over consensus. It's time for that to end. It's no secret that Gov. Christie and the NJEA don't get along. Yet, the governor has said consistently that his problem isn't with teachers, but with the NJEA leadership. This was a great opportunity for the administration to speak directly with those teachers, but since confrontation was the apparent priority, that golden opportunity was lost. Political gamesmanship like this does nothing to improve the education of children.

The governor has spent a lot of time speaking to mostly friendly audiences. But only by speaking with those who disagree with you can consensus be built. The acting education commissioner's decision not to speak to the NJEA sends a disconcerting message about the administration's priorities. This sort of adversarial tone will only continue to hurt New Jersey schools and those who work hard to support them.

I urge both sides to continue working to find a way to make up for losing this opportunity. Perhaps another meeting can be scheduled, or, if easier and more practical, a teleconference held so teachers from across the state and the administration can speak directly with each other to try to accomplish the shared goal of improving education.

Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D., Essex)

New Jersey General Assembly

Trenton

 

Speaker Oliver,

On behalf of the 1,200 members of the Vineland Education Association, I thank you for your recent letter condemning the Christie administration's decision to boycott the NJEA convention.  Your letter was read aloud at the Cape May Co. Legislative Action Team meeting and received a rousing applause.  As you correctly pointed out, dialogue is essential to building solutions.  The Governor's placement of political gamesmanship above true dialogue and a discussion of the issues hurts not only school employees, but our students and communities.  We have been waiting for the Legislature to take a stand against the Governor's demonization of school employees and our union.  We are not the enemy, but a critical component in building the best quality education, in the most economically efficient manner, for all students in New Jersey.  Once again, thank you for defending educational public employees and our union.

Respectfully,

Louis Russo

Vineland Education Association

Vineland, NJ

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National Education Association

NEA Member Benefits

New Jersey Education Association

Special Education Administrative Code

IDEA '97 Law & Regs

Maternity/Family Leave Document

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Cyberlobbying

We make this easy for you in the "members only" section of NJEA's website.  If this is your first time, here's how it works:

 *   Go to njea.org<NJEA>

 *   Log in by entering your PIN (it's on your membership card) and your password (it's the last four digits of your Social Security number).

 *   Click "Legislative" on the left-hand side, and then "Cyberlobbying" on the drop down menu below it.

For those of you who live out-of-state, visit the NJ State Legislature website<link> to find the names and numbers of the legislators you would like to call.

TAKE ACTION TODAY - YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT!

 

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To lobby in New Jersey

 

To lobby at the Federal level