Politicians are so deeply entrenched in public education, that it's time for educators to reciprocate. My name is Marie Corfield. I’m an art teacher from Flemington, NJ, and I'm running as a Democrat for State Assembly in LD16. Here's why...
Last September, at the start of the ’10-’11 school year, Governor Christie held a town hall meeting across the street from where I work. Like many other states, the New Jersey ’09-’10 school year ended on a terribly depressing note. Christie bolted out of the inaugural starting gate in January '10 slashing school funding by almost $1 billion, bashing teachers and other public workers, and waging a one-man campaign to get every school budget voted down if teachers didn’t take a pay freeze (most budgets were voted down). For many districts throughout the state the ’10-’11 school year began with drastically reduced budgets and staff. My own budget for approximately 450 students was reduced to a little more than $1200, or about $2.66 per child.
I had about $100 in my checking account that day—I don’t get paid during the summer, and my part time summer job paid about $10/hour. I was furious at the vitriol the governor was spreading about teachers in one of the top public education systems in the country. He has referred to us as a privileged class; accused us of using students as drug mules; called us bullies and thugs—this in the state that consistently scores in the top three in NAEP testing (which his spokesman dismissed as irrelevant).
I went over on my lunch hour thinking I might catch the end. However, just as I entered, they announced that the governor would begin taking questions. With that, adrenaline kicked in and I walked right up to the microphone, introduced myself, and… well… here you go. I have not seen this video in its entirety. After all, I was there. Nor have I read the comments. Friends have told me not to because they’re pretty bad. I did get the last word in, although they apparently edited that out. But these are his constituents, his fans across the country. Gives you an idea of what public employees are up against here in New Jersey. It's also an example of what teachers from New Jersey to California are facing as education 'reformers' fill the media with sky-is-falling rhetoric about America's public schools.
For the record: out of over 2400 schools, New Jersey has about 200 that are deemed 'failing'. They exist in places like Newark, Camden, Trenton, and Paterson. Any educator worth their salt knows that there is a direct correlation between poverty and poor school performance, and that most of this country's successful schools are in mostly white, suburban areas. And while no one wants to see any child not living up to his or her fullest potential in school, we should be focusing on helping those under-performing schools, and not trying to 'reform' those that are already doing an excellent job.
In the weeks that immediately followed, I received hate mail and phone calls from people all over the country. Then on January 1 of this year, The New York Times featured me in a front-page story about the plight of public workers. The next night I was on The Ed Show, followed by an interview with CBS Evening News (it was bumped in favor of a story about the homeless DJ) and Fox and Friends. I have also been interviewed by local television and newspaper outlets as well as Swedish National Radio.
And along the way, the Democratic Party came calling.
At first I said, "Thanks, but no thanks". I've never held public office, nor have I ever run for one. I still have one child living at home. And besides, what could I offer? But they convinced me to give it a second thought, and I did. I asked a teacher friend of mine who said, "Marie, you have to run! Teachers need someone to rally behind—someone to believe in!"
So, here I am.
The education ‘reform’ movement’s proposals are so devoid of logic and reason, and fly in the face of sound pedagogy and years of research as to be laughable. But this is no laughing matter. Can you feel the earth rumble beneath your feet as Noah Webster, Friedrich Froebel and John Locke all roll in their graves?
This is a very well organized, well-funded attack. The pockets of education ‘reformers’ are deep and their influence is insidious. But, as Diane Ravitch said in her speech to teachers at the SOS March in Washington in July, “Education ‘reformers’ are few, but we are many.” That’s why we must stand up, speak out, get involved and, if necessary, run for office.
If public employees and the middle class can recall legislators in Wisconsin, if they can collect 1.5 million signatures on a petition to recall SB5 (the anti-collective bargaining bill) in Ohio, then the middle class here in New Jersey can take back our rights, preserve our excellent public schools, and help those most in need (children, poor, seniors, unemployed, women).
But we must work together.
I am asking you, my fellow educators and progressive thinkers from all over the country, to join me in my fight to keep public education in New Jersey truly free and available to every child; to bring real reform to struggling public schools in the form of quality teacher instruction and professional development, smaller class sizes, and full funding as required by law; and to help children caught in the grip of poverty come to school equipped to learn. The SOS March was just the beginning. We can turn the tide on this horrendous movement one school, one town, one state at a time. Teaching is a collaborative profession. If we all work together in a nationwide network, we can do this.
Education issues are just part of the middle class struggle. I am also fighting for job creation, the environment and women's health issues. So far I've been endorsed by the New Jersey Education Association, AFL-CIO NJ, NOW-NJ and The New Jersey Sierra Club.
I'm going to be blunt: I need to raise a lot of money, so I'm asking you for your support. You don't have to donate hundreds or thousands of dollars. Any amount you can afford will help me reach my goal. For more information about how you can help my grass-roots campaign for state assembly, go to my website and read my special letter to teachers, make a donation, and share the link. And please let me know how your efforts to save public education are going in your state, and if I can help in any way.
Thank you.