In June of 2015 when I testified against your appointment as Newark school Superintendent, before the NJ State BOE I claimed then and every action you have taken since then proves that I was right—you came here to finish the job. The job of charterizing the entire district. I know the pretext under which you were sent here—to return local control, etc. but what do you plan on returning to us? A chartered district with a few segregated schools for Special Needs and a building or two for Bilingual and ELL.
As Superintendent you continue to waste tens of millions on lawsuits against tenured teachers in an effort to place fear in the hearts of their colleagues. That money could be used to enhance education and making the lives of children and the staff who care for them better, but your reform/charter training won’t allow that. Aides and Clerks continue to work in a hostile environment for fear of receiving a lay off letter. We are able to win all the tenure cases and get back some of the aides and clerks but not nearly enough to do the job. We were forced to go to court to get back Attendance Counselors whose jobs are required by Title 18A. An Administrative Law Judge had to issue an Initial Decision that Cami Anderson & Co (NPS) violated the Law and acted in Bad Faith when they terminated NPS Attendance Counselors during the creation of the cockamamie "Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow" policy or as I predicted it would become, Pretend Today, Deceive Tomorrow.
In 2012 as commissioner you approved a contract with the teachers, aides and clerks. In exchange for some reforms you agreed to not charterize the district. The so-called alternative schools under your reform model are all failing and out of control.
Since that agreement we have had to go to Arbitrators and Judges to get even the simplest reform effectuated. Simple language such as the provision regarding our fringe benefits “open-bidding process” is completely lost on your staff. In June of 2015 you were advised by your own attorneys that an attack on the fringe benefit prescription plan was “premature…and rather than litigate a losing cause, it should probably be negotiated.” “To ignore the fund and act unilaterally is not sustainable.” You ignored that advice and are now in the courts, surprise! And to demonstrate the complete disdain your staff have for NPS employees I share this quote from a senior staffer to the Office of Medical Benefits “Please do not speak about this now since the stakeholders will not be aware of the change until after New Year.”
You are completely surrounded by staff who feel that workers should have no rights and they should be lucky to have a job.
You speak proudly to any press or media outlet that will listen to cuts you’ve made without harming children. Do you truly believe that cutting millions from local school budgets and forcing principles to choose which staff to fire and which programs to cut doesn’t hurt children? Forced to choose between hiring a full time teacher with benefits or using a substitute all year because they’re cheaper doesn’t hurt children? I believe you believe that because you are not educators, you are destroyers.
KIPP INC charter school is building its own athletic field directly in front of West Side High School (which doesn’t have a field of its own). How many cut NPS teachers & cut aides, clerks, cafeteria cuts, security guard cuts, etc. did it take in transition cuts from your school to allow Kipp Inc. to get this slap in the face built?
Are our fields so full of the blood, sweat and tears, & the cooties of poor working class children that the athletic fields our children are forced to play on aren’t good enough?
Lastly, and now you intend on giving away a dozen school buildings because you are not trusted to do so by the community you serve and as you claim, you are not in the real estate business. Well, I’m sorry but you are the schools Superintendent. New Jersey school Superintendents hire Department Directors, they manage properties, they find uses for buildings, they work within the confines of labor agreements; Princeton, Hoboken, Mendham, all manage pretty well.
Superintendents find uses for space; class size reduction, expanded Pre-K, adult literacy and vocational training. I’m certain the people in this room can find plenty of uses for Dayton Street School, a school shut down by your predecessor for no reason other than to promote her failing One Newark Plan.
So;
If you’re not a School Superintendent—resign.
If you’re not a teacher, aide, clerk or administrator—resign.
If you’re not a cafeteria worker, security or crossing guard—resign.
If you’ve come only to destroy you can leave now—we don’t want you here, we don’t need you.
John M Abeigon
President & Director of Organization
Newark Teachers Union, Local 481, AFT, AFL-CIO