Political education message at AFT membership meeting at Thomas Edison State College with Sen. Linda Greenstein, Sen. Shirley Turner and Sen. Barbara Buono.
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Category Archives: Political Education
Video: Donna M. Chiera says ‘Barbara Buono is us’
Photos: Sen. Barbara Buono speaks at Thomas Edison AFT Membership Meeting
Sen. Buono talked about funding for education and respect for collective bargaining. Seated at table from left: TESC-AFT Vice President Jennifer Montone, CWA shop steward Carol Smith, TESC-AFT Secretary Deborah Ware, AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera, TESC-AFT President Charlene Martucci
Sen. Linda Greenstein talked about the state budget
State Sen. Shirley Turner gave a welcome to her home district.
TESC-AFT membership
TESC AFT President Charlene Martucci chaired the meeting
Sen. Buono and Kelli Parlante-Givas
AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera joins TESC AFT officers in applauding Buono
Sen. Buono is the presumptive Democratic Gubernatorial candidate
Sen. Buono met with members
Thomas Edison AFT members
Buono lawn sign
A Handy Reference Guide on Who is Donating to Corporate-Style Education Reform
By Jessie Ramey
As Big Money continues to shape public education, it can be hard to keep all the players straight — from wealthy individuals, to foundations, to corporations. Here’s your guide.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/solar
The way some of them throw around the green stuff, you’d think corporate style education reformers were made of money. Oh, wait. Some of them are. As Big Money plays a bigger and bigger role in shaping public education, it can be hard to keep all the players straight— from wealthy individuals, to foundations, superPACs, astroturf groups and corporations. Here’s a handy reference guide:
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Update: Police chiefs endorse Christie, teachers for Buono
By Andrew Segedin, Staff Writer, The Montclair Times.
[...]
Christie’s stop in Cedar Grove marks the second time in as many weeks that a gubernatorial candidate was in the area to receive and endorsement. On April 18, Christie’s likely opponent, state Sen. Barbara Buono, was at Montclair State University to receive the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ).
“I am honored to receive the endorsement of the AFT and its members who work everyday to build the foundation of New Jersey’s future,” said Buono in a statement provided to The Times.
Utilizing Montclair State as a venue was meaningful to both Buono and AFTNJ, according to federation president Donna Chiera. AFTNJ represents Montclair State’s faculty while Buono is alumnus of the university.
When deciding who to support in this year’s election, the choice became increasingly obvious, according to Chiera.
“It really wasn’t a difficult decision, because when you look at her voting record on women’s rights, public schools, higher education, millionaire’s tax, she’s clearly on the right side of everything that’s middle class,” Chiera told The Times.
Chiera said that the federation is looking for a governor who will sit down and collaborate with them on issues ranging from statewide expansion of pre-K to keeping New Jersey’s college-bound students in-state.
Asked if there was one thing in particular that AFTNJ is looking for in New Jersey’s next gubernatorial term, Chiera did not hesitate.
“Sen. Buono,” she said.
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Christie faces potential legal fight over school vouchers
By Jarrett Renshaw/The Star-Ledger
TRENTON —If Gov. Chris Christie gets his coveted pilot school-voucher program through a stubborn Legislature next month, he may quickly find himself battling in another arena: the courtroom.
Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger
The Republican governor’s proposal to allow public school students to get vouchers to attend private or parochial school has hit a legislative roadblock, so he’s put a $2 million pilot program in his proposed state budget and hopes to use it as a bargaining chip during talks with Democrats.
But the Education Law Center, which represents poor school kids, has warned leading lawmakers that creating vouchers through the budget would usurp their role as policymakers — and violate the state constitution.
Leaders of the group say that unlike Congress, which can attach all kinds of unrelated items to a bill, New Jersey’s constitution requires each piece of legislation to be limited to a “single object.”
“The governor is using the budget bill to create a program that he can’t get through the Legislature,” said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. “The budget is used to fund existing programs, not create them.”
Sciarra said his Newark-based group “would strongly consider bringing a challenge, but I don’t think that will be necessary.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey also said the voucher program violates the state’s strict safeguards against funneling public dollars to religious institutions.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has said voucher programs that are properly designed are constitutional, Ed Barocas, the legal director for the New Jersey ACLU, said the state constitution is much stronger on the issue.
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Un-Civil Wars: Christie Administration Pushing for Sweeping Civil Service Changes
Rebuffed by Legislature, Christie goes for major regulatory changes through Civil Service Commission
By Mark J. Magyar
Tired of waiting for the Democratic-controlled Legislature to send him a new civil service bill to replace the one he vetoed two years ago, Gov. Chris Christie is pushing sweeping changes through a Civil Service Commission he effectively controls.
Gov. Chris Christie. Credit: Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
Christie’s civil service overhaul is the latest in a series of high-profile battles with public employee unions that have defined his governorship and propelled him to national prominence. These have ranged from school vouchers and merit pay for teachers to a landmark pension and health benefits bill that not only forced public employees to pay more, but also eliminated the right of unions to bargain on health benefits for four years.
The Christie administration’s proposed civil service regulation would effectively reduce and consolidate the number of job titles by eliminating competitive examinations for promotions within broad “job bands,” giving managers greater flexibility in deciding which employees to promote.
Christie asserts that stripping away civil service restrictions will make government more efficient and thereby enable local governments to lower property taxes. But union officials say the proposed changes will substitute patronage and favoritism for merit in the promotional process.
“This latest Christie scheme to gut civil service will create more patronage and corruption at all levels by putting every single advancement at the mercy of political pressure,” Hetty Rosenstein, New Jersey area director for the Communications Workers of America, said yesterday.
“The whole point of the Civil Service system is to prevent managerial decisions based on politics,” said Adrienne Eaton, chair of Rutgers University’s Labor Studies and Employment Relations Department and also president of Rutgers’ American Federation of Teachers/American Association of University Professors chapter. “This would undermine that principle.”
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Photos: North Bergen Federation Endorses Barbara Buono for Governor
- President Elizabeth Lynch and Sen. Buono
- COPE chair Jeffrey Trifari
- North Bergen members
- North Bergen members
- North Bergen members
- North Bergen members
- North Bergen members
- North Bergen members
