Maybe NJEA Should Rethink Their Lesson Plan?

Aron: Grenier is said to be an arch-conservative, pro-Trump, pro-Christie and doesn’t believe in climate change, that’s who the NJEA is with?

NJEA is pissed off at Sweeney for aligning with Christie so now they support a guy that aligns with Christie? It appears it is all about vindictiveness and stupidity!



Richardson: Fran Grenier is running for state Senate in legislative district three and on the issues that we had put in front of him through our screening process, a very extensive screening process, Fran Grenier aligns with our issues. He supports our positions on school funding, on charter schools, on steps to prevent the privatization of support staff in schools who have active contracts, pension funding.

How can Grenier align with our issues and align with Christie too? Is NJEA really that naive as to believe him?
I kind of remember someone who aligned with NJEA interests until he got elected anyway!! 

If Grenier wins all the Dems in Trenton (and possibly including a new Governor) will be plenty pissed at NJEA.
If Sweeney wins (which seems to be most likely);he's already pissed and is likely to convince the rest of the party to feel the same. So how can NJEA possibly win by supporting Grenier.
They want to teach Sweeney a lesson and unfortunately it may be they that learn an unpleasant lesson!! (and so will the membership).

I Wonder If They Will Be Tough Enough to Face Up to the Trenton Bullies

New leadership elected for NJEA

Steinhauer, Blistan, and Spiller prepare to take the reins

Published on Thursday, May 16, 2013

 NJEA members have elected three educators from among their ranks to serve as officers for two-year terms beginning this September.

Wendell Steinhauer, a high school mathematics teacher from Riverside in Burlington County was elected president of the 200,000-member NJEA.  Steinhauer currently serves as NJEA’s vice president, a position he has held since 2009 following a four-year stint as secretary-treasurer.  Prior to becoming an NJEA officer, Steinhauer held a number of other offices and served as president of the Riverside Education Association and the Burlington County Education Association. 

He will succeed Barbara Keshishian, whose term expires on Aug. 31.

 Steinhauer  

Marie Blistan, a special education resource center teacher from Washington Township in Gloucester County, will be the Association’s next vice president, following four years as secretary-treasurer.  Before her election to NJEA office in 2009, Blistan served as president of the Gloucester County Education Association and held a number of offices in her local association as well.

Blistan  

Sean Spiller, a science teacher at Wayne Valley High School in Passaic County, is the newest addition to the NJEA leadership team after being elected secretary-treasurer.  Spiller is currently the president of the Wayne Education Association, and holds a number of other leadership roles in the Association, including serving on the Delegate Assembly, NJEA’s policy-making body.  Spiller is   also a Councilman in Montclair, where he resides.

The new team of leaders takes office at a critical time for public education in New Jersey.  Steinhauer expressed confidence that he and his fellow officers are up to the challenge. 

Spiller

“I look forward to working with Marie and Sean to keep New Jersey’s public schools the best in the nation,” Steinhauer said.  “We have a tradition of exceptional public schools here, and I intend to make sure we continue it.  

“That starts with respecting the talented and dedicated men and women who work in our schools,” said Steinhauer. “We cannot continue to attack and tear down teachers and support professionals and expect students to thrive.  When we treat educators as the professionals and experts that they are, schools benefit.  I want to rebuild a culture of respect, where educators have a voice in the decisions that affect our profession and our students, and I will be a strong voice for NJEA members whenever the public discussion turns to education.”

Steinhauer also vowed that under his leadership, NJEA would continue to work to promote great public schools for every child in New Jersey. “No one cares more about education than the members of NJEA,” Steinhauer said. “We’ve devoted our lives to making sure our students learn and succeed. I’m committed to carrying on NJEA’s tradition of advocating for great public schools, and that means we must be willing to consider new ideas and try new things when the research points us in that direction. 

“But it also means taking a strong, principled stand against some of the destructive ideas that are being imposed on our schools today,” he added.  “Parents and educators alike are very concerned about things such as the over-emphasis on standardized testing, which is eroding the quality of education children are getting in their classrooms.  I am very open-minded, and I welcome challenging discussions.  But I will not stand by and watch our public schools be sold to the highest bidder.”*

NJEA officers are elected by a vote of the entire membership and serve a maximum of two consecutive  two-year terms in each office.
* Or the most politically connected!!

Confronting The "Educrats" NJEA Style ?

I sure hope there's a better  NJEA  Plan C because Plan A (a lot of whining with little action) didn't work too well and if this is Plan B (essentially cuddling up into a fetal position), it won't work either!

Profitable Non-Profits (For Some!)

Well the day has come (and by the way, with the blessing of NJEA)

Copyright © 2010-2011, njSPOTLIGHT. All rights reserved.
Fast-Tracked and Rewritten Bill Could Put Some Public Schools Under Private Management
By John Mooney, January 4, 2012 in Education
First proposed by Gov. Chris Christie and since taken up by South Jersey Democrats, a plan that would open up select public schools to nonprofit or even some limited for-profit management appears poised for passage in the final days of the legislature's lame duck session.
And in the Star Ledger last week:


Now I got to thinking about the “non-profit” and “limited for-profit” qualifiers in the articles. I took the time to investigate the operation of one of the largest “non-profit”, educational entities in the country. Here’s what I discovered:
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Corporate Culture and Big Pay Come to Nonprofit Testing Service
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: November 23, 2002

Buoyed by growing revenue, the Educational Testing Service, the not-for-profit group that produces the SAT, the Advanced Placement exams and the Graduate Record Exams, last year gave one-time bonuses of as much as $366,000 to 15 of its officers.
E.T.S., the world's largest testing organization, has traditionally paid salaries comparable to those at colleges, universities, and groups like the College Board, which administers the tests that the service devises for it.
But under the leadership of Kurt Landgraf, a former chief operating officer of the DuPont Company who became president of E.T.S. two years ago, compensation has soared.
Mr. Landgraf himself received nearly $800,000 for his first 10 months on the job -- about twice as much as Gaston Caperton, who heads the College Board -- and more than all but two college presidents in the nation. One new vice president earned $25,700 for her first five weeks on the job and received a one-time payment of $212,306.
E.T.S. was founded in 1947 as a tax-exempt organization to meet the growing demand for admissions tests for colleges and graduate schools. In large part, the pay changes reflect the service's conversion from an entity staffed mostly by academics to one that is run by executives recruited from the corporate world and that had revenue of more than $700 million in the last fiscal year.
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Sounds pretty profitable for the guys at the top, however for the average employee:
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Average Educational Testing Service Salaries from http://www.simplyhired.com
“The average salary for educational testing service jobs is $53,000. Average educational testing service salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits.”
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It will be interesting to see if the same compensation pattern plays out at the newly created “non-profit” and “limited for profit” schools that are being created by the New Jersey Legislature and Governor.
I think you probably know my guess! What’s yours?