UNION VS. UNION
Trenton teachers union ‘appalled’ by NJEA’s decision to support charter school
TRENTON » The brothers and sisters of unions generally stay united.
But there is an all-out war brewing in the capital city between the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and the Trenton Education Association (TEA), which is the capital city teachers union.
NJEA recently signed on to support the International Academy of Trenton Charter School (IAT), which is facing closure of the end of June due to poor performance. Teachers at IAT unionized within the past year and they are represented by NJEA — one of only 17 charters schools in New Jersey to be aligned with the state’s powerful union.
“The opening and closing of charters in the City of Trenton is a racial and social justice issue, because real harm is being done to our students, local school system and our community,” TEA President Naomi Johnson-Lafleur said Friday. “For more than two decades, the opening and closing of charter schools have resulted in gaps in learning, impeding the academic progress of black and brown children in urban districts like Trenton. That is why the Trenton Education Association is appalled and shocked that NJEA President Marie Blistan has decided to signon to an appeal of the closing of International Academy of Trenton Charter School in Trenton.”
IAT was informed earlier this year that it would be stripped of its charter effective June 30 by the New Jersey Department of Education for poor student performance and classroom mismanagement.
The charter school is appealing the decision with the help of NJEA. IAT’s representatives think it will be successful.
“I’m fairly confident that there’s never been a case where the NJEA has argued to keep a charter school open but they’re doing it here,” IAT’s attorney, Paul Josephson, said Friday. “If you call Marie Blistan, she’ll be the first person out there telling you that the school should stay open.”
In a statement, NJEA spokesman Steve Baker confirmed the union represents the employees at IAT.
“We support our members in their effort to keep their school open,” Baker said in an email.
TEA members said they were blind sided by the news on Friday.
Johnson-Lafleur pointed to a March 29 interview on NJTV news where Blistan stated “(Charter schools) are not held accountable to quality continuum standards that we have in this state, and that’s very important because that covers the instruction that the children receive. It covers the resource they receive.”
“Blistan and the NJEA have even called for a moratorium on charter school growth, but this recent action highlights their double talk and utter hypocrisy,” TEA’s leader said. “NJEA spends a lot of time talking about the importance of social
justice and the evils of institutional racism. However, the shallow and hallow rhetoric has been exposed as meaningless with the recent decision to support burdening the people and students of Trenton with a dubious charter school that has been judged by even charter proponents as unacceptably poor.”
The Trentonian reported this week that the Trenton school board voted Monday to lease the former International Academy of Trenton (IAT) Charter School at 500 Perry St. to house the district’s 9th Grade Academy. Trenton Public Schools is leasing the building from EPR Properties at a cost of $1.645 million with an option to purchase for $18 million to $20 million, according to a copy of the school board meeting agenda.
But a company that owns the property where the charter school is situated said it has only signed a “non-binding” letter of intent with Trenton Public Schools to lease the property.
“Finalization of a lease between the Trenton Public School District and EPR Properties is dependent upon the outcome of the appeal process that IAT is currently going through,” EPR Properties Vice President Brian Moriarty said Thursday night in an email.
Prior to the start of this school year, IAT sunk $17 million to revamp the dilapidated
Trenton Times building into a state-of-the-art learning center.
IAT’s attorney contends no lease exists between EPR and Trenton Public Schools and it will only be “consummated” once the outcome of the charter school’s appeal is known.
IAT has an uphill battle to save the school.
No school in the state’s history has won an appeal to overturn the loss of a charter.
“Many people have told me that there are things that I could never do and I’ve done them,” Josephson said. “Stay tuned.”
But the charter school’s attorney does not expect the battle to be won in court on appeal.
Josephson said IAT is asking the New Jersey Department of Education acting Commissioner, Dr. Lamont Repollet, to reconsider the decision from Gov. Chris Christie’s administration and accept the charter school’s turnaround plan.
“And that has been done before,” IAT’s attorney said. “Turnaround plans have been accepted by the commissioner before to undo anticipated non-renewals.”
However, TEA believes IAT was evaluated fairly and should not be given another chance.
“International Academy of Trenton Charter School was judged by the extremely procharter Christie administration as being unacceptable and that it ‘failed to provide a strong educational program and sustained organizational stability,’” Johnson-Lafleur said. “According to a letter written by former Commissioner Kim Harrington, state officials found ‘frequent disturbances’ in classrooms, including roughhousing and students speaking ‘inappropriately’ to each other and teachers. It is outrageous that NJEA Marie Blistan would support a school with such a poor track record for its students without consulting with the Trenton Education Association.”
IAT Director Dominique Taylor told staff in an email this week that a meeting was scheduled with Gov. Phil Murphy but it needed to be rescheduled due to the last nor’easter. She encouraged employees to “stay the course.”
“We have a lot of dedicated and relentless professionals who are working on our behalf and the fate of our student body,” Taylor wrote in the message obtained by The Trentonian. “I stress the importance of continuing the hard work your are doing with our students. This is the only way that we will gain the confidence of the department to change their decisions.”
Taylor also said Blistan was “committed” to “do everything possible to keep the school open.” She also warned that the Department of Education commissioner may visit the school.
“My opinion is that this visit will be unannounced,” IAT’s director said. “This means that it is important that we keep the faith and continue to work hard to ensure our students are engaged in instruction.”
What troubles TEA the most is the impact a reversal will have on Trenton Public Schools. The district has experienced massive layoffs, privatization and school closures in recent years due to the expansion of charter schools.
If IAT is forced to shutter, it would send more than 650 students back to the district. A reversal could have a doomsday effect on Trenton Public School’s budget.
Before Christie left office, he also authorized the opening of Achievers Early College Prep Charter School in Trenton, which could siphon up to 360 students from the district until 2022.
The previous administration also authorized the increase of enrollment by 650 students to STEMCivics in Ewing. The charter school will scale up enrollment between the next school year and 2023.
Foundation Academies in Trenton was also allowed to increase enrollment by 30 students for kindergarten through third grade.
“The Trenton Education Association has been an NJEA affiliate since 1962, and has eleven hundred educators who are constantly impacted every time a charter opens or closes in the City of Trenton,” Johnson-Lafleur said. “However, we were not consulted before the appeal was signed. We were not asked how this would impact the city and that’s a problem.”
The union boss said TEA’s members have been “working hard” as six of the district’s schools — Grant, Franklin, Columbus, Washington, Hedgepeth Williams and Trenton Central High School — are now out of priority status.
TEA said students have been returning back to the district the past four months since IAT’s status was announced.
“We demand that Marie Blistan publicly reverse her decision to support the appeal of the closing of International Academy of Trenton Charter School,” Johnson-Lafleur said.