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.

Jeff Meyer

By Jeff Meyer

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg is hot.   Why?

This tough and fearless lawmaker is disgusted by Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to cut $7.5 million in funding for family planning services.  Plus, he’s refused to meet with the veteran lawmaker after she penned him a letter, held multiple press conferences, and made two treks to his office.

Now that’s just rude.

Weinberg is not alone in her fight to restore funding for women’s healthcare.  She has a major league roster of powerful wartime consiglieres at her side, including: Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono, Assemblywoman Linda Stender and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver.  This is not exactly a group of shrinking violets, folks.  These women mean business.

Here’s what the actual fight is over: Gov. Christie cut $7.5 million in funding for family planning services in the budget for FY 2011.  This funding supports over 136,000 women and men, provided over 70,000 screenings for breast cancer and over 65,000 pap smear tests.  As you can see, these numbers are significant and serve a real population.

Gov. Christie and his administration are suggesting that these services will be picked-up by Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers – which couldn’t be further from the truth.  Planned Parenthood’s Executive Director Michelle Jaker knows that better than most.

“The FQHCs simply cannot take on a sudden influx of 40,000 new family planning patients,” cited Jaker in testimony before the Assembly Budget Committee.

Some within the GOP have rumbled that this funding is really slated for abortions.  Again, wrong!

According to Weinberg, last year alone this funding prevented 40,000 unplanned pregnancies.  She used the word “prevented” not “aborted.”

“This bill is about birth control,” stated Weinberg at a State House press conference.  “A battle that I thought was fought early in the century.”

Speaker Oliver reinforced the point saying, “Family planning centers is not a Roe v. Wade argument…it is a healthcare issue, access to healthcare.”

Hear, hear, Speaker Oliver.

This $7.5 million in funding will support 59 health centers around the state and provide “uninsured and underserved” women with the access to healthcare they need.

The best criticism of Gov. Christie’s intolerant policy came from Assemblywoman Linda Stender.

“We do not believe in a policy of barefoot and pregnant which is what New Jersey will be in the absence of family planning funding.”

Bingo!   Stender get’s points for style and delivery, highlighting the new guv’s “Little House on the Prairie” circa 1974 mindset on women’s healthcare.  It’s time for a reality check for Gov. Christie.

Here’s what’s real: The state of New Jersey has been supporting basic reproductive health care services at family planning health centers since the early 1970’s.  That means Republican governors Cahill, Kean and Whitman all previously supported this funding.  If this funding is cut, Planned Parenthood estimates that 40,000 current patients will not receive services next year, health centers will close, programs will be eliminated and over 100 staff members (mostly nurses and medical staff) will lose their jobs.

To borrow a line from SNL “Weekend Update’s” host Seth Meyers, “Gov. Christie, Really!?!”

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

Jeff Meyer

By Jeff Meyer

While Republicans Joe Kyrillos, Jay Weber, and Kevin O’Toole were beating their chests on the floor of the state Legislature about the supposed virtues contained in Gov. Christie’s FY2011 budget, Democrats Barbara Buono and Joe Vitale were trying to add a conscience to a budget that badly needed one.

Conscience?  I know.

After all, this is a budget that eliminated the state’s property tax rebate program, cut school and municipal aid by $1.27 billion, and passed over public employees by skipping a $3.1 billion pension contribution – a public commitment that Christie went back on.

And don’t forget, our state’s 16,000 millionaires are still getting a free ride, while at the same time all of New Jersey Transit passengers will be paying more for theirs.

This week, the sparring on the floor of the Senate occurred on two fronts: (1) to approve legislation to restore $7.5 million to support family planning clinics; and, (2) to adopt legislation to enroll an additional 39,000 working poor parents into the state’s Family Care low-cost health insurance program – considered one of the best programs in the nation.

Both of these bills would have a significant impact on women.  And nobody knew that better than Sen. Barbara Buono.

“We can’t allow women’s health to be held hostage by ideology.  Let’s have a little compassion here.”

Bravo!

Thanks to Sen. Buono, 58 family planning clinics throughout the state will have $7.5 million in funding restored to them; the bill (S-2139) passed the Senate by a veto-proof 30-10.

Now on to Sen. Joe Vitale, who is considered by many in Trenton to be a healthcare expert and has a serious track record of expanding New Jersey’s healthcare infrastructure to cover historic numbers of uninsured residents.  Vitale, who sponsored the bill (S-2134) to enroll 39,000 working poor parents into the state’s Family Care program, has never been shy when it comes to fighting for New Jersey’s most vulnerable.

“There’s simply no reason why we would deny uninsured New Jerseyans the same benefits we enjoy as enrollees in the State Health Benefits Plan, particularly when funding for the program comes largely from the federal government.”

Vitale makes an excellent point.  The Obama Administration will provide us with $45.7 million in federal funds if we spend $24.6 million.  That makes a lot of sense.

The Senate passed Vitale’s bill by a vote of 23-17 – which is unfortunately still vulnerable to a Christie veto.

Buono and Vitale – two veterans of the state Legislature – took-up a valiant fight to restore funding to programs that make a real difference in the lives of countless New Jersey residents.  This fight – which never even made it on the radar of the GOP – was the right fight at the right time.

Let’s be clear: these two compassionate Democrats lent their voices to the chorus in the Senate Chambers, striking a different tune, and adding a conscience to a budget that was void of one, a sobering reminder that there are people out their fighting for fairness.

And those people are Democrats.

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