In a letter to the editor, Jersey City resident and former board of education candidate David Miranda says that the local teachers union has to shoulder some blame for their ongoing contract struggles.
Dear Editor,
Last week, over 700 students in one school of the Jersey City School District woke up to the news that their school ranked as one of the top high school in the state.
Students and teachers at the prestigious McNair Academic in Jersey City should consider themselves to be stars in terms of overall performance – a staggering 97 out of 100 according to the NJ Department of Education.
About 5,000 other students attending some of the largest high schools in Jersey City, received some of the poorest scores in state, including Henry Synder (8.7 out of 100), James J Ferris (12.8 out of 100), William Dickinson (18.5 out of 100) and Lincoln High School (7.5 out of 100).
The Jersey City Education Association (“JCEAâ€) has suffered yet another setback with their
contract negotiations. The JCEA controlled Board of Education (seven out of the nine endorsed members) is at another impasse and teacher moral is at an all-time low, this time about compensation and benefits.
The Red Shirts (a coined term of the JCEA shirts which distinguish union members) may be
on the brink of another strike/walkout which has been caused by their own doing, at the expense of our students.
The Board of Education has historically been almost a forgotten governing body – with good reason. Outsiders may see it as highly dysfunctional and chaotic, with public meetings at times running three to four hours long.
Some teachers in the school district do not trust the board. nor their own union leadership which adds to the fiasco.
The Union’s poor selection of candidates which currently sit on the board, has enraged some teachers prompting them to leave the district amid reports of nepotism, cronyism and lack of internal opportunities.
Our teachers deserve the best leadership possible to be able to deliver to our students.
While the success of one school deserves praise for its performance according to the NJ Department of Education, let’s not forget about the other 5,000 other students in our school district who did not achieve that commendation.
David Miranda
Jersey City resident
You need:
A. A fact checker.
B. Spell check.
C. A grammar class.
D. To pull up your big boy pants. You lost the election, time to move on.
E. Ear plugs to tune out how many people are laughing at this.
In solidarity,
A proud JCEA member, Jersey City educator, and someone who still has high MORALE.