DEAR NJEA…

Posted in: Education Opinion on August 2, 2010 at 8:30 am |

By Jeff Meyer

I’ve been meaning to write you for a while now – but I’ve been a little pre-occupied with the state budget crisis, millionaires’ tax, World Cup Soccer, Cap 2.5 (which became Cap 2.0), the All-Star Game – and the flap over funding for family planning services.

So since I have some time on my hands, I figured it was appropriate to drop you a note.

My former college baseball coach had an edict he used when instructing our team on how to play strong defense.  The saying was fairly straightforward and to the point: “positioning is the difference between winning and losing.”  He was referring to how our team would “position” ourselves in the infield and outfield before each pitch.  Our coach was adamant about his positioning concept, signaling to us with his hands before each pitch was delivered to move in a certain direction in order to get into a better “position” to win.

This same concept – and way of thinking – can be used by you, the New Jersey Education Association, to thwart the public battle being waged by Gov. Christie and the GOP establishment on your organization’s very existence.

Let’s be honest with one another, this hasn’t exactly been a banner year for you.  And this is probably the best time to change course.

Let’s recap this past year: Gov. Christie cuts public education by $820 million – check; Gov. Christie tells towns to oppose school budgets and in response a historic number of towns shoots them down – check; an NJEA member makes a joke on Facebook about wishing Gov. Christie were dead – check; and state Democrats sat rightly by while the media – NJ 101.5 included – played Whac-A-Mole with the president of your organization.

As you can see, the current strategy and “positioning” of the organization hasn’t exactly worked.

Here’s why: one only needs to drive down the New Jersey Turnpike and pass by one of your billboards with a picture of a teacher on it and the text under that teacher’s picture which reads, “I am NJEA.”

What?  Are you serious?

No teacher in New Jersey thinks of themselves as a union, an entity.  And certainly no student in New Jersey leaves the public school system and thinks to themselves, “Thank God for the NJEA or I never would have made it into college, or even graduated from high school.”

Again, back to coach’s concept, the “positioning” is wrong.

Public school teachers make the difference in students’ lives every day – not the NJEA.  The reason why New Jersey has some of the highest SAT scores, graduation and retention rates is because we have some of the best public schools in the nation – and some of the best public school teachers to accompany them.

You, the NJEA, should be telling that story.

You should be telling the story of how public school teachers motivate, inspire and encourage students to reach for the stars, shoot for the moon and never give up.  You should be telling the story of how a public school teacher’s job doesn’t begin and end at the sound of a school bell.  That in today’s world a public school teacher is more than just a teacher; they’re mentors, social workers, motivational speakers, therapists, guidance counselors, and so much more.

They are the reason why New Jersey produces one of the highest rates in the nation of students who go on to graduate and attend a four-year baccalaureate degree program.

You should be celebrating your membership and defining them as difference-makers in the lives of millions of students who pass thru their classrooms each year, not as an organization that’s housed on W. State Street.

A union didn’t inspire me to succeed in life.  It was a long list of public school teachers with names like Mr. Cogan, Ms. Dinotti, Mr. Antinori, Ms. Fusco, Ms. Stout, Mr. Patrick and Mr. and Ms. Talent.

It’s these individuals and their hard work who you have let down.

NJEA, it’s time to change the “positioning” on the field of play and make teachers and their work your number one talking point.

Jeff Meyer, a commentator on Millennium Radio and blogger on statehousesteps.com, is a Democratic strategist.  He may be reached at jgmeyer14@gmail.com.

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