The NJEA convention would be a lot better in the summer, no?
Did you know the New Jersey Education Association convention — happening right now in Atlantic City, where our public educators are undoubtedly gambling and engaging in wild orgies — is protected by law?
Yep. Right there, New Jersey statute 18A:31-2. It reads, in part, “Whenever any full-time teaching staff member … applies to the board of education by which he is employed for permission to attend the annual convention of the New Jersey Education Association, such permission shall be granted for a period of not more than two days in any one year and he shall receive his whole salary for the days of actual attendance.”
What a crock, eh? As it turns out — and thanks to an article from WHYY.org a few years back penned by former Lawrence school board member Laura Waters which saved me from 49 different phone calls — New Jersey is one of only three states in which we allow teachers to go to their union shindig during the week, during the school year. The others are Minnesota and Utah, two states that could probably use a wild orgy anyway.
This is nutballs. I mean, could you imagine if the trash collector’s union held a convention and garbage pickup was cancelled for two days? There would be outrage. But teachers do it, and we just accept it.
Of course, the biggest issue I have with the two days of no school is that I now have three kids home during the workweek. When this law was written back in 1923, I suppose it was no big deal. Could just put the kids out in the fields to milk the cows, or, alternately, just send them to random street corners to scream, “Extra! Extra!” while wearing knickers. But today, there’s childcare issues. (Full disclosure: I may be gambling and wild orgying myself right now. Dumped the kids off at my parents’ for two nights.) (There must be a better way to have said that. Gimme a sec.) (OK. Let’s try that again.) (My wife and I decided to share the joy of our little ones by allowing my parents to spend quality time with their grandchildren so we could gamble and have wild orgies.) (There. That feels better. Anyway …)
Anyway, I spoke with a few teachers I know. Maybe it’s the crowd I run with, but …
“I love teachers convention. Gives me a chance to go away with another family of educators and our kids,” one teacher told me. “We’re leaving for Florida tomorrow. I’ve never gone to the convention.”
Another teacher has gone to the convention before, and, to be fair, he has gotten something out of it.
“Most teachers that go there do go to the convention at some point,” I was told. “I don’t go to the classes, but I usually walk the convention floor for two or three hours and check out the new technology, collect freebies, and talk to some textbook reps.”
Not all lost, in other words. The rest of the time? “Dinner, booze and gamble.”
See? Teachers: They’re just like us!
To be clear, I don’t blame the teachers for going to Florida or boozing it up and engaging in wild orgies (seriously: There HAS to be orgies, right?) If I were a teacher, I’d certainly take the days off without question.
But it’s ridiculous. Let’s be real. No reason the convention can’t be in the summer, when teachers aren’t — you know — working.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for the Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.