By Kathryn Coulibaly
The 2022 school board election in Sparta brought unwelcome changes to education in the district. After endorsing pro-public education candidates who were ultimately unsuccessful in their bid for office, the Sparta Education Association faced months of confronting a political agenda that included policy changes and book bans.
“Things that were happening across the state, but that hadn’t ever happened here before, began to happen in Sparta,” Angela DeLuccia, the president of the Sparta Education Association (SEA), recalls.
A school librarian, DeLuccia was on the front lines of the attacks. Books were being challenged and staff, including DeLuccia, were being personally attacked.
DeLuccia and her colleagues confronted every challenge, but it was wearing them down.
“We were spinning our wheels and I thought, ‘How can we try to slow down what is going on?’” DeLuccia says. “It was exhausting, and it was daily.”
A focus on community relationships
DeLuccia tapped into the resources of the community. A resident of Sparta, she had connections and relationships and knew the community was ultimately supportive.
“I reached out to people beyond the association,” she says. “We started a group to talk about how we wanted to deal with the book bans and the resource policy issues.”
The group began meeting in February 2023. Soon, other like-minded residents joined and helped to speak out, write letters to the editor, circulate petitions and continue to bring awareness to the community.
“We worked to find community members who were willing to use their voice at the table,” DeLuccia says. “That was a big thing given the high profile of the board of education in the past year. We tried to expand our reach beyond the people who always stood up and spoke out at meetings. We knew we needed fresh voices. By June, we had 50 people sitting in a room talking about what we wanted to do.”
The group deliberated over what to do about upcoming board elections.
“At that point, we had three open board seats and only one person who had filed the paperwork to run.”
Reluctant to engage in endorsements, as they had in the past, the SEA believed it was more important to focus on these community conversations and relationships and let people know what the real impact of the board’s actions were on students and staff.
“We had a long conversation, and I gave the group the perspective of an educator and a member of the association,” DeLuccia says. “I told them where we were, how we felt, as a group of educators and as individuals. We had a lot of strife, uncertainty and unrest in our working lives, and we needed that to stop so we could provide the best instruction, the best resources and the best support to our students. How can we do that if we’re on the defensive against attacks?”
One of the members of the group was Chad Wood, a recent graduate of Sparta High School and one of DeLuccia’s former students. Wood had served as the student council president and the student liaison to the board.
“Chad had felt his voice was stifled by the board as a student representative,” DeLuccia says. “By the end of the meeting, he had his petition to run for the school board signed and was ready to go.”
The group knew they needed a broad message to really reach voters. While the book banning issue was important—and bad policy—the bottom line is that treating educators poorly costs money. Everyone cares about money.
“We had a 5.8% tax increase, and we still lost staff in this district,” DeLuccia says. “We needed change.”
The NJEA Center for Honesty
DeLuccia reached out to her state affiliate for support and found strong partners in NJEA Vice President Steve Beatty and Government Relations staff member Michael Giglio, who leads NJEA’s Center for Honesty in Education. Center for Honesty leaders worked quickly to connect DeLuccia with myriad resources to help identify and mobilize supporters in her community through effective messaging and innovative organizing tactics.
“We had a lot going for us,” DeLuccia says. “More than 70% of the SEA membership lives in Sparta. We went through our membership lists and made sure everyone knew what was at stake. In addition, the youth vote really helped. Chad used social media, including Instagram, TikTok, and word of mouth—which he likes better—to talk to high school seniors and recent graduates. He made sure they were registered to vote and did. It all really worked together.”
On Election Day, all three pro-public education candidates were elected.
“We didn’t give them any money, but we gave them countless hours of support and voter outreach,” DeLuccia says.
Preparing for the next election
With the previous election only three months past, the group began meeting again in February 2024 to prepare for the next election.
“We don’t want to be stringent about political parties because that’s not our message,” DeLuccia says. “We are about working with people who care about our schools and our students, and who will stand with us when we face attacks. I keep in touch with all of the people who were a part of this. We’re relative strangers, but I know that if I need their backing, they’ll be there.”
DeLuccia knows how lucky she is to have this support—from NJEA, her community and the New Jersey Association of School Librarians. She’s sharing what she has learned to help others facing challenging times.
“I’ve seen other librarians sunk by these crises,” DeLuccia says. “These attacks are so devastating.”
DeLuccia and others are working to pass a “Freedom to Read” bill in the NJ Legislature. S-2421, known as the “Freedom to Read Act,” establishes requirements for library material in public school libraries and public libraries, and protects school library media specialists and librarians from harassment. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Andrew Zwicker and Teresa Ruiz.
In addition, DeLuccia urges other associations to begin building their support network now, before a crisis hits.
“I recommend creating a book club in your community. Find ways to connect outside of politics but where you can build connections.”
DeLuccia in her school library office. On the bulletin board is a commendation from the Sussex County Education Association for DeLuccia’s 25 years of service to public education.
Kathryn Coulibaly is the associate editor of the NJEA Review and provides content and support to njea.org. She can be reached at kcoulibaly@njea.org.
NJEA joins librarians to oppose censorship and book banning
NJEA, the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL), issued the joint statement below on Jan. 22.
The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL), and the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) have watched, with concern, the growing number of coordinated attempts of censorship and suppression in schools and libraries in New Jersey and across the country. Many of these attacks are targeting materials and programs that address race, racism, sexuality, and gender identity and expression. New Jersey school, public, and academic library workers are being defamed, harassed and threatened in public school board meetings, public library board of trustees meetings, on social media and on public media. Their professionalism, honor, work ethics and performance are being questioned, judged and vilified.
The signers of this statement condemn these attacks. We strongly affirm the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement, first published by the American Library Association in 1953. We respect and recognize New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and refuse to participate in efforts to discriminate against protected groups by weaponizing information. Libraries provide access to books and other library resources and services for the interest, information, education, and enlightenment of all people within the communities we serve. They do not exclude materials because of their origin, background, or the views of those contributing to their creation. Libraries do not discriminate against any group, recognizing that a healthy democracy holds many voices and free access to credible information is a cornerstone that keeps all of us safe, healthy, and informed about the world around us.
Library workers are trained to curate collections that are designed to be inclusive. NJASL’s job description states that school librarians are obligated to:
- Select, purchase and process new materials to assure a current and balanced collection representing diverse points of view in accordance with the district materials selection policy.
- Continuously evaluate library resources with respect to curricular needs, accuracy, diversity, and community interest, removing those that do not meet established criteria, ensuring that the collection stays current, relevant, and in good condition.
Information service providers are guided by the tenets of intellectual freedom and their ethical responsibilities to uphold the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Through careful consideration and rigorous training, librarians and library workers are equipped to make selection decisions that represent a balance of the spectrum of knowledge.
We appreciate the right and responsibility of parents and guardians to guide the reading choices of their children. Such rights should not inhibit the rights of others to read or view materials of their choosing. As parents, educators, administrators, and school board members, we stand united against prejudices, and politically motivated culture wars that target the right to read and access to education and information.
We reaffirm our commitment to our communities, the right to be who they are and to see themselves represented in books, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or religion.
The New Jersey Library Association, the New Jersey Association of School Librarians and the New Jersey Education Association stand together to support the freedom to read. In addition, these organizations stand in steadfast support of New Jersey’s library workers, community members, and students, who demonstrate daily courage as champions of the right to read for everyone.
Signed by:
New Jersey Education Association
New Jersey Library Association
New Jersey Association of School Librarians