Thursday, November 5, 2015

An important message for all @NJEA members


Dear Fellow NJEA Members,

I'm pleased to formally announce today that I'm running for NJEA Secretary-Treasurer. The election is in April, 2017. Having to reach members from High Point to Cape May, this race, unlike an assembly race, is a marathon, not a sprint, so it's essential to start early. 

From the moment I stood up to Gov. Christie at a Town Hall Meeting in 2010, I've been fighting for our great public schools, students and education professionals—you! Whether running for state office, testifying before the State Board of Education, blogging about education and social justice issues, speaking to crowds at protest rallies or appearing on national television, I've worked hard to fight the attack on public education. But I want to do more. That's why I'm running for NJEA Secretary Treasurer, and I'm asking for your vote and your support.

My decision to run for state assembly in LD16 in 2011, '12 and '13* was born out of a passion for public education and a committment to fight corporate education 'reform' which is designed for one thing only: to turn neighborhood schools into profit mills - threatening not just our profession, but the ability of every child in New Jersey to receive a thorough and efficient education. I will not sit back and watch that happen to one of the best public education systems in the country—that we built! 

On day one, I will fight for an iron-clad guarantee that the state will fully fund our pensions and return cost of living adjustments to our retired members. I will work to restore the honor and respect we deserve as educated, experienced professionals, ensure fair and equitable funding of our public schools, and eliminate the punitive effects of standardized testing on our students and teachers.

Social justice begins with free, open and accessible public schools for all students. I will fight to stop the educational apartheid that closes schools and marginalizes special education, ELL students and students of color in our poorest communities . I will stand up to the corporate interests that want to privatize our schools, turn our students into test-taking machines, destroy our association and reduce our profession to one of low-wages and high-turnover. 



I will not stop. I won't give up. I won't back down. Send me to NJEA so I can work for you, and together, we can work for our students!

For more information, including ways you can help me help you, please visit my website and like my Facebook page. And of course you can find me on Twitter @mariecorfield.

Thank you for all the work you do to make ours one of the very best public education systems in the country, and thank you for all you do for the children of NJ. 

All my best,
Marie


The work we did in '11, '12 and '13 helped pave the way for what looks to be a flip of at least one seat in the district, and move the state one vote closer to a veto-proof majority. As of this writing the NJEA-endorsed challenger Andrew Zwicker leads incumbent Donna Simon by approximately 70 votes. 


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