Following weeks of calls and emails from NJEA members and other public education advocates, New Jersey’s Senators are united in their opposition to Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education.

On Tuesday, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez announced he intends to vote NO on the confirmation of Betsey DeVos as Secretary of Education. Senator Cory Booker pledged to vote NO on the DeVos confirmation last week.

Menendez and Booker agree: Betsy DeVos—President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education— is not fit to be Secretary of Education.

DeVos has no experience with public education. She’s never worked as an educator or in a public school in any capacity. She didn’t attend public schools, and did not send her children to public schools.

Instead, she has spent her career working to undermine public education. DeVos has lobbied for and bankrolled failed schemes like vouchers, which take money away from public schools to fund private schools at taxpayers’ expense with little or no accountability.

As a result of public scrutiny, her confirmation vote was already delayed twice. Now it’s been rescheduled for January 31, so we need to keep the pressure on.

Here are a few ways to do that:

1. Tell the members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that we need an experienced, qualified secretary of education who actually wants to strengthen and improve all public schools. Contact those senators now and tell them to vote NO on Betsy DeVos.  Click here for a list of members and links to their contact information.

2. On Wednesday, January 25, 2017, show your support for public education by wearing red. Encourage your colleagues to wear red, too. Show your solidarity with our union brothers and sisters across the country by posting pictures of you and your colleagues wearing red on social media sites using the hashtags #DumpDevos and #StandUpForPublicEd.

Together, we cannot be ignored!

Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald congratulates NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer after the pension vote.

The New Jersey State Legislature today took a first step to put a question on the November 2016 ballot that would constitutionally require the State to fulfill its pension obligation and make quarterly payments.

The NJ Senate was the first to pass SCR-184 along party lines with a vote of 23-16. Several hours later, the NJ Assembly passed ACR-3 with a vote of 43-27 with one abstention. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said that this is an important resolution that should be taken to the voters because the State of New Jersey has not kept their promises to public employees. “They have been making their payments. We have to do the same.”

“This is an historic day for NJEA as we advance in our mission to resolve the pension crisis once and for all,” said NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer. “These are two preliminary victories that we will have to repeat in the new Legislature and then the real work starts with our members organizing to deliver a common-sense, fair resolution to the pension funding crisis that will ultimately benefit every taxpayer in the state, including our members.”

Nearly 200 NJEA members lobbied the Legislature to pass the resolutions. They crowded the halls of the Statehouse and waited outside caucus rooms until the votes were taken.

The pension funding amendment would require the state to make quarterly pension payments and would mandate full annual payments after a short ramp-up period.

The strategy is very similar to the funding mandated under Ch. 78, which Gov. Christie has disregarded.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled last year that a constitutional loophole prevented it from enforcing Ch. 78.

This amendment would close that loophole and finally put in place a legally enforceable pension funding requirement.

Today’s lobby day brought out many active and retired NJEA members who spoke to legislators about the need to put a responsible, enforceable pension funding requirement into the constitution.

Last week, each of NJEA’s three officers testified on the bills. NJEA President Wendell Steinhauer testified at the hearing held by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, while Vice President Marie Blistan and Secretary-Treasurer Sean Spiller testified before the Senate State Government Committee. Read their testimonyhere.

It’s been 13 years since the failed No Child Left Behind Act kick-started the nation’s standardized test obsession.  It’s time for a new way.  Educators, parents, and students across New Jersey have demanded that state leaders roll back unfair standardized testing that narrows the curriculum and diverts time and resources away from learning.

Without federal action to relax testing, state efforts can only go so far.

In July, both houses of Congress passed different pieces of legislation reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (H.R. 5 in the House, S. 1177 in the Senate).  Both bills would roll back high-stakes testing in different ways—but the Senate version is better overall for public education.  Congress must rectify these different pieces of legislation with a bipartisan bill.

Tell Congress to get ESEA right by doing the two actions, below:

• Call 1-866-331-7233 (enter your zip, follow the prompts, pick Senator Booker when given a choice)

• Send an e-mail at GetESEARight.com

Organize

Use these materials to organize your members:

• ESEA Ten-minute meeting
• ESEA Flier
• ESEA sign – #GetESEARight

When Gov. Christie announced his illegal plan to slash pension funding, the unions representing public employees vowed to sue to protect our members’ rights. Together, we are moving forward to file that suit quickly.

But you can do even more.  Under the law governing pension payments, the pension plans themselves have the right to sue if the state fails to make its full, required contribution. We are urging pension plan members to demand that the board of their fund sue on their behalf as well.

Please take a few minutes to send a letter to your pension board.  The legal language is provided for you.  You simply provide the requested information.  We will print and submit your letter to the secretary of your pension fund.

Click here to submit your letter today!