Bob Braun reported on politics and education in New Jersey for 50 years. Now he has his own blog. Watch for the wisdom of a seasoned journalist.
In this post, he notes that Cami Anderson, superintendent of schools in Newark, sent out a letter to families announcing that she was closing the schools for two days on November 7 and 8 because many teachers were attending the NJEA state convention. Anderson warned that the city would be “less safe” because the schools were closed.
Braun writes:
” What?
“Forget for a moment that national statistics do not support her contention that juvenile crimes increase when children are home from school. In fact, the opposite is true. Juvenile crime peaks on school days in the hours after children are released from school. It is less on non-school days. There is evidence, of course, that after school programs deter that problem—but Newark is located in Christieland where “you people” don’t deserve money for after-school programs.
“But the real question is this: How can someone who believes the children of Newark will go on a crime spree on non-school days serve as the superintendent of Newark’s public schools? Can anyone imagine the superintendent of the Westfield or Millburn or Mountain Lakes schools saying such a thing?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Agreed that Anderson’s correlation between day’s off school and increased crime in low income communities is reprehensible. What about teachers refusing to teach kids? Newark teachers aren’t even a part of the NJEA.
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Alice Mercer’s blog says “Just to clarify, The NJEA Convention is a long-standing educational conference that offers professional development. I’ve followed it via Kevin Jarrett’s posts for years. But, even if it was a union meeting with lots of cigar smoke, booze, and what-not, her comment would still be racist”
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A better question would be whether someone should be superintendent of a place like Newark if they deny that there’s a youth crime problem there . . .
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I thought Newark teachers were AFT, not NJEA members. Did I miss something?
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Title 18:a–NJ school law–states that New Jersey teachers, including non-NJEA members, cannot be penalized for attending the NJEA convention. Though many Newark teachers are UFT, they traditionally attend the annual event; the only difference between them and NJEA members is that they have to pay admission. (A Convention pass is free to all dues-paying NJEA members.)
NJEA offered over 300 workshops this year, and approximately 30,000 teachers from all over the state attended. Nowhere else can teachers find so many professional development opportunities in one place, so it’s no wonder that so many educators from all over the state attend. (There’s a link to the 88-page Convention brochure in the post listed below.)
In her letter, Cami Anderson managed to insult both Newark’s citizens and teachers in one concise page. Disgraceful.
http://teacherbiz.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/cami-anderson-njea-convention-drives-newark-children-to-crime/
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Thanks for the explanation. I honestly had no idea that non-members who are not related to affiliated members could attend. I knew that family of members could go for an admission charge, but my understanding was that they had to be escorted by members.
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I know Dr. Ravitch’s main point here is to highlight the comment regarding criminality, but…shouldn’t educators’ conventions be held in the summertime so schools don’t need to be closed like this? I attended public schools in NYC and taught there for four years and never heard of such a thing as this (the closing of schools like this).
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Atlantic City (with its Convention Center and dozens of hotels) is the only venue that can accommodate the tens of thousands of educators who attend the Convention. (30,000 attended this year.) AC can’t host the event in the summer or during holiday breaks, because doing so would force it to sacrifice lots of money in revenue.
NJ students still attend school for at least the 180 days mandated by law; they just build the two days schools are closed for the NJEA Convention into the calendar elsewhere.
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In fact Newark schools are slated for 186 days, 6 days beyond the state minimum
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Ah…thanks for the explanation…makes more sense.
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Not sure if part of the concern is whether or not those days are paid–they are unpaid. As well, the NJEA holds the convention during November because it is still early enough in the school year to apply professional development, not too early to interfere with the opening of school, and later in the season so that Atlantic City gets some business in the off-season. Teachers and para-professionals are not away for the school year like many may be during the summer.
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Right. And it’s no coincidence that New Jersey’s schools are among the best in the nation (even though Governor Christie says unions cause schools to become “failure factories”).
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/new_jersey_students_among_the_best_in_nation_according_to_2013_report_card.html
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/christie_promotes_education_policies_at_orthodox_union_breakfast_in_teaneck.html
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Amazing, isn’t it? Yet the voters in NJ do not seem to understand that our chief state government official is a bully. They have somehow rationalized their choice as if obnoxious and deceitful behavior is the right example for NJ.
I love your blog, by the way. You have gained a new follower. 🙂
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SC Math Teacher: in Minnesota every fall for at least 60 years that I’m aware, teachers’ conventions meet on the third Thursday and Friday of Oct. Schools across the state have always been dismissed. My guess is that this is common practice across the country. It is the norm for professional associations of any ilk to hold conventions, workshops, and seminars during the workweek.
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In SC we have “teacher days” for stuff like that. The bit of information given made it seem like he school closing was a bit of a big deal. From the explanations given, it seems that there are enough days built in for the kiddies to get what they need. Thx!
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The NJEA teachers’ convention in Atlantic City has been going on forever. Anderson and Christie raising objections to the convention are so bogus, so disingenuous as to be laughable. It’s not held in the summer because many teachers work in the summer or travel and the convention hall in A.C. would be much more expensive to rent out than in November. There are many great lectures, seminars and teaching materials available at the convention. It’s just another excuse to beat up on the teachers’ union, it’s the state sport in NJ. The union haters constantly label the union members as goons and thugs. I’m wondering, does this kind of rabid union hating go on in Finland or Norway or Denmark?
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From the mere 11 posts here so far, we can see that the Newark Supt of Schools’ letter to 700 Newark families (after which it was apparently quashed) raises a false-scare issue, & in its intimation that schools shouldn’t have been closed for 2 days [despite the fact Newark school are open 6 days beyond state reqt], appears designed to create a negative pall among locals over a highly-reputed & largest-in-nation PD conference which has long been attended by members of NJEA, NTU, & others looking for a quality ed conference– something which should be an issue of state pride. In summary, a gratuitous anti-teacher message to parents from admin.
From a personal, parental point of view, ‘NJ teachers’ week’– granted, an event which has long made November a too-short month– was among many of us middle- & upper-middles– those of us who pony up tons of taxes to keep Newark schools afloat–a fun community thing. Can’t tell you how many of us would keep bumping into each other at Disneyworld or Sesame St Place or the local Y et al childcare places, those 2 days.
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Way to deconstrict that fallacious rhetoric,
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Dear Parents, this memo is to inform you that criminals have infiltrated our public schools . Many are racists. Others are clleptos. Most are bald faced liars. We realize it may come as a shock to you, but there is no way to indict or convict white chalk criminals for lawless professional activity because the system is insular, and our own policy protects them instead of the public. We ask that you become hyper vigilant and attend BOE meetings at your districts as well as the union that your teachers will be policing with you as well . They are committed to your cause. We are committed to our rotten core. We apologize for the incinveinence and thank you in advance for your commitment to this community and its children,
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I doubt the reformers had much to fear: the convention offered only a tepid response to the outrages described on this blog. Attendees listened to Chris Cerf and Charlotte Danielson and explored ways to implement the Common Core Standards. So, what is the problem? Appeasement is not enough? Do other unions invite “management” to their conventions?
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