Trenton teachers union president blasts superintendent finalists
TRENTON >> The head of the Trenton teachers union does not like either choice for the next superintendent.
Trenton Education Association President Naomi Johnson-Lafleur told district leaders and Mayor Eric Jackson at a Board of School Estimate meeting on Tuesday morning that the two named finalists for the open superintendent position will not be accepted by the community.
“You need to open your eyes and you need to start acting in the best interest of Trenton Public Schools,” Johnson-Lafleur informed the board consisting of the mayor, school board President Jason Redd, school board Vice President Gerald Truehart, and Councilman Duncan Harrison. “This is the best that surfaced to the top?”
On Monday night, the school board named SergioPaezandMargueriteVandenWyngaard as finalists for the superintendent position.
Bothcomewithbaggageasalludedtobythe union president and articles about their pasts.
Paez was rejected by the Minneapolis Board of Education in January due to “widespread public distrust and concern over allegations of abuse” at his previous school district, according to a Star Tribune story.
Harvard University-educated Paez was the superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools in Massachusetts from 2013 to 2015. A couple days aftercontractnegotiationsbeganinMinneapolis,a Massachusetts advocacy group released a scathing report alleging that Holyoke staff “physically abused special education students” at a school during Paez’s reign, the report outlines.
“This individual who lacks leadership skills and a spine was just rejected by the Minneapolis School Board to be their next superintendent based on allegations, which are probably stillnotconcluded,thatrelatetodoingharmto special needs students,” Johnson-Lafleur said. “If others find that this is significant enough to bring harm to their district, why would you bring it to Trenton?”
Johnson-LafleuralsoclaimedPaezwas“antiunioninnature”and,citinganarticle,saidthat he put up “No Trespassing” signs against his previous district’s union.
“We do not tolerate anti-union animists in Trenton Public Schools,” the union president warned. “We will fight to fight to death anyone who comes in here and tries to break TEA, (Trenton Paraprofessionals Association) or anyone else. We will fight to death and I do mean that.”
If that wasn’t critical enough, Johnson-Lafleur went on to call Paez’s competition “even more dangerous.”
TheTEApresidentnotedVandenWyngaard, who resigned in January as superintendent of theCitySchoolDistrictofAlbany,isagraduate of the Michigan Leadership Institute founded by Tim Quinn. Her resume confirms she received her superintendent certificate from the school in 2005.
Quinn then partnered to form the The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems and the Broad Superintendents Academy, which the union believes its graduate learn to corporate-management techniques to weaken teachers’ job protections. Johnson-Lafleur nicknamed the graduates “Broadies.”
“We don’t want and we will not accept a Broadie,” she said, noting the district has gotten ridofpreviousBroadies.“Youseetheheadlines that are happening now with Wyngaard having bugs and all kind of high security against the members there. We’re not going to tolerate that because we’re not the walking dead.”
Taking no prisoners, Johnson-Lafleur also alleged the state has had plan for “quite some time” to damage Trenton Public Schools, insinuating New Jersey has been successful in doing so in Newark and Camden.
After the meeting, Mayor Eric Jackson said he heard the union president’s statements and wants to make sure the next superintendent understands the needs of the city.
“I want to make sure we have a superintendent who understands that while charters are here, the emphasis, the importance, the criticalness of making sure that we have a district that not only sustains itself, but improves itself to compete not only against charters, but to compete statewide and beyond is of upmost importance,” he said. “I clearly do not want to see and will not while I’m mayor support the abolishing of a public school district. I’m propublic schools.”
UNION >> PAGE 16