Welcome to 2021. Despite the new year we expect the same education struggles here in the “Rising” city. Where the changing of calendar years typically fosters a refreshed optimism the possibilities of a new 365 days presents, for many of us here in Camden with respect to public education, not much of what of we’ve faced for years is going to change simply because the calendar now reads “2021”. Everything worthwhile and just will have to be fought for deliberately and vigorously in this new year. Here’s a brief overview of what 2021 is carrying into the new year from 2020…
The effort to preserve public education here remains an urgent concern due to our NJ Legislature and then-Governor Christie passing the Urban Hope Act of 2012 which, effectively, is a plan to push traditional public schooling in Camden toward the brink of extinction. And while 2012 was the year when our planned demise was initiated legislatively, a succession of state-appointed superintendents aided the plot to collapse Camden schools. Those charged with the responsibility of leading the Camden City School District made the decision that preserving their own professional careers gained through politics, and maintaining connections with the politically powerful, superseded taking actions warranted to protect, grow, and help our schools reach their fantastic potential. Our current superintendent is even going so far as to renege on an agreement made between New Jersey’s prior Education Commissioner and our union to save the very same schools she is considering closing currently. Only seven months ago, an agreement was made for the District to take steps to grow our schools’ enrollment Districtwide; foster greater connections between elementary parents and students and principals in secondary schools to help bridge gaps and promote a more seamless transition between our family schools and high schools; improve our District’s CTE offerings to prevent the annual loss of hundreds of 8th graders to county technical schools, and make our schools more compatible to city working city parent’s daily realities by providing Before-care and greater after school programs. Instead of operationalizing a plan she agreed to, the superintendent abandoned those simple and modest approaches that would help this District grow and be better, in favor of simply closing schools. After all, closing schools takes less work, less thinking, less energy, and less imagination. That our Camden schools have a superintendent that would rather take the off ramp of schools down rather than doing the work of building and improving them is not going to change because it is 2021.
Referenced in earlier posts and above, the Urban Hope Act is a passed easily due to two factors, the South Jersey Democrats in NJ Senate and Assembly are beholden to an extremely wealthy political operative and Camden exploiter in George Norcross, and because consequences of this predatory and discriminatory law does not impact individual lawmakers’ constituencies. (For full perspective of the reward system loyalty to Norcross yields, consider the original sponsors of the bill: Donald Norcross has moved on from his state senate post when he first proposed the bill, and is now a US Congressman; Angel Fuentes is now the Deputy Camden County Clerk and city councilman, and Gilbert “Whip” Wilson is now the Camden County Sheriff.) There are no ramifications for NJ lawmakers from other localities for voting this bill that cripples public education in Camden, and only Camden. And while the language of the bill appears to be politically neutral, in practice, the law isolates only Camden public schools and its educators for exploitation and victimization. Our schools have been closing in rapid succession since 2012, and Camden schools have lost nearly 1100 educators, support staff and an unknown quantity of custodial staff. What many in the public do not fully appreciate is that what is happening in Camden is not an expression of parental school choice akin to parents opting to enroll their children in a charter school. The Urban Hope Act is a politically crafted maneuver to dismantle Camden’s public school system by flooding this nine square mile city with up to 15 renaissance schools irrespective of any evidence of need or parental preference. Worse still, to ensure renaissance schools viable student enrollment when it has not been exhibited prior to opening, our District superintendents, playing the long political game, opted to either turn our existing public schools over to renaissance school providers, or close nearby public schools to force parents to enroll their child in renaissance schools. Unfortunately, the law still stands in 2021 and is not going away on its own nor is not going to be amended based on the proactivity or goodwill of our state lawmakers. It is further safe to predict our current superintendent, like her predecessor, will do very little if anything, to protect her own District from the ravages of the Urban Hope Act in any way.
In the new year, our educators are still going to have to fight that for nearly three years and over 900 days, they have been working without a contract. And while the pursuit of a new contract for financial benefit is not, personally, my primary concern as I prioritize fighting for the survival of our schools and our members’ jobs, there is no doubt that our educators deserve the professional respect and decency of working under a fair and current contract. Our educators purposefully have made reasonable and infinitely doable asks in compensation and working conditions, conservative even, yet our District Leaders insist on taking the stance that disrespecting their educators and support staff is the appropriate way to proceed. For folks who may not be aware, our educators despite working without an up-to-date contract for this long, have still found it within their hearts to donate food and toys to families in need, tens of thousands of dollars of their own money in scholarships, make donations for families whose lives have been upended due to household fires, and recognize local nursing home staff and first responders for performing heroically during this current pandemic. Further, in demonstrating that the same things we wish to see for ourselves, we want for everyone in our community, we have called for city politicos to initiate a municipal ordinance mandating a $15 minimum wage for all Camden employees working for national and multinational corporations here. Sadly, but not unsurprisingly, we’ve seen little movement from city leaders to look out for our fellow working residents, just as our District leaders have done nothing toward ending a nearly three-year standoff with educators they claim to value. Whether either changes in 2021 without struggle is anyone’s guess, but it is unlikely.
More than anything in Camden public education, 2021 is shaping up to be consistent with what has been witnessed in 2020, 2019, 2018, and years before that. Educators and commonfolk here have to fight those with more institutional power for what is plainly, and simply, right. How much intellectual energy has been wasted when educators have to struggle to simply maintain what they have? How much demoralization has set in when District leaders refuse to negotiate like professionals that acknowledge the contributions and value of their employees? How much goodwill has been expended when educators are saddled with a superintendent leader who breaks her word as easily as one changes their socks? Whose commitments mean nothing? To be sure, on the surface 2021 looks much like any other year in Camden City Schools. But I do know, however, that our educators’ fuse is getting progressively shorter in response to such protracted fights to simply exist, and the prolonged disrespect from our superintendent which can potentially make 2021 pretty interesting after all.
