The NJREA Executive Committee along with NJEA Deputy Executive Director Denise Graff Policastro and NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Tina Dare traveled from freezing cold New Jersey to an unprecedented heatwave in Phoenix, Arizona, to present at the NEA-Retired Conference: Resilience, Respect, Power, Saving Public Education and Our Democracy. 

For many of us, the decision to join the union during our first years in the classroom, office, bus or building was driven by a need for immediate stability. Membership protects our  past, present and future.

After years of bipartisan state legislatures ignoring their financial obligations to fund New Jersey’s public employee pension system, the problems finally hit a breaking point when in June of 2011, Governor Christie signed Chapter 78, P.L. 2011, the Pension and Health Benefit Reform Law, which increased worker pension contributions, raised the retirement age and suspended the future cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) for retirees across all state retirement systems until the funds achieve an 80 percent funding level.

Don’t miss this second opportunity to stay informed about your health benefits. Sign in to learn more and register.

NJREA is asking its members to write letters to our legislators.  We want a personal handwritten letter explaining the importance of continuing to fund our pension and health benefits. 

As the recent lame duck legislative session came to a close, I couldn’t help but reflect on the power of our collective voice. I spent hours canvassing with fellow NJEA members during campaigns, knocking on doors, making calls, and talking to neighbors about the issues that matter most to educators.