Good morning, and on behalf of the APEA, I want to welcome ALL of you back to the start of a new and very challenging school year. As members of the APEA, we are like family; and just like any other family, we may not always see eye-to-eye, but we are connected and need to support each other in good times and bad. We’re here today because we ALL have ONE fundamental thing in common; we’re ALL educators, and we’re ALL proud to serve the children of the Asbury Park School District. The work we do during the school day, after the school day ends, on nights, weekends, and even during the summer is VITAL to the future of our students, and to the future of society. That’s an ENORMOUS responsibility and one we proudly accept, despite the challenges we are facing.
Our world has changed considerably since this time last year. In September 2009, we had a governor who supported public education. He increased school funding during a recession and was the only governor in 16 years to PUT money into our pension system. A year later we have a governor who constantly uses CONFRONTATIONAL, rather than COLLABORATIVE tactics in dealing with school employees and their representatives. He has called us “greedy” and accused us of using children as “drug mules.” He and his accomplices in the Legislature are attacking our salaries, benefits and collective bargaining rights. This governor’s budget cut $ 1.2 billion in school funding. Our schools are cash-strapped. We are being asked to do more with less. Programs are being cut. Class sizes are increasing. Too many of OUR teachers and educational support professionals are on the unemployment line instead of HERE AT WORK where they belong.
This hostile governor and an unsupportive Legislature, are not just threatening our rights as professionals; they are destroying the quality of the great public schools we worked so hard to achieve. Make no mistake our public schools are under attack. WE are under attack. The governor has a so-called “toolkit.” Right now we are facing four bills that if passed would have a devastating effect on us. These bills are designed to CRUSH our collective bargaining rights and make it impossible for us to earn a decent living. These so-called reforms are nothing less than a direct ATTACK on us. And they are a direct attack on our public schools. Information will be forwarded via email as I receive it. So if I don’t have your email, please let Pat Errico know immediately.
Since the beginning of collective bargaining 42 years ago, New Jersey’s public schools have become the gold standard for the rest of the nation. Property values have soared. Home buyers and business owners cite our public schools as a main reason for locating in New Jersey. We’ve attracted the best and brightest college graduates to our profession. Our bargaining doesn’t MAKE the economy, it follows it. In times of prosperity, salary increases have been higher. Times are tough right now and settlement rates reflect that. That’s how bargaining works. We cannot allow this governor or this Legislature to destroy a system that works for our members, for our students and for our community. WE are not an insurance policy to fall back on in tough times. Membership is a commitment to ACTION. We are engaged in all-out war to protect public education. And that also means that the administration must join us in this fight. We are in the frontline trenches and sitting it out is not an option.
The good news is that we have the POWER to win. We know that collective action works. This summer, NJEA members sent over 64,000 e-mails to our legislators in Washington to pass the Ed Jobs bill. As a result, 3,900 teachers and educational support professionals in New Jersey are slated to get their jobs back. As late as last week, we met with Central Office to return 5 more teachers back to work from the RIF list. I thank Central Office for working with me, even though I respectfully disagree with some of the other decisions that have made, and I have made my opinion very public about it.
So, I am calling upon every person in this room to join this fight. Fight for our schools, our students, our profession, our unions, and ourselves. We need to mobilize parents to support our schools and the work we do. We need to lobby our legislators and remind them that the decisions they make impact the state’s most vulnerable citizens – our children. We need to educate our communities that an investment in public education is an investment in our future prosperity and remind business leaders that the workers of tomorrow are sitting in our schools today.
Only we – professional educators – know how to make our public schools great. We know which reforms truly work and we know which ones don’t. We know how to motivate students. We know what resources our schools need to serve our students. So WE should lead way. We deserve respect, we deserve recognition, and we deserve a voice. We need to lead the dialogue about public education instead of just responding to the accusations of our critics who have no background in education.
As we begin a new school year, I am asking each of you to make some new year’s resolutions. Over the summer I reached out to you to contact legislators, attend board meetings, talk with parents and participate in community events or even join a committee. I am going to continue to request your help. The activities you choose will be up to you, but you MUST do something. We are facing a monumental challenge. If you sit idly by and allow legislators to enact these laws, our profession and our public schools will be irrevocably harmed. Our rights to bargain professional salaries and benefits will be diminished and our public schools will begin a downward spiral.
However, if we take a determined, COLLECTIVE stand, we can emerge even stronger than ever before. We can take back control of our profession. We can take back control of the dialogue. We can continue our journey to achieve great public schools for every child in Asbury Park. We know firsthand how much things can change in one year. I know the people in this room care far too much to let any governor or any Legislature diminish the quality of our schools.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
So today let’s vow to organize, advocate, and fight for our members, our schools, and most importantly, the children that we educate on a daily basis.
Thank you and have a great year!