By Marybeth Beichert
In June, Gov. Phil Murphy once again showed his commitment to New Jersey’s public schools and educators as he signed his final budget into law.
The historic budget includes a fifth consecutive full payment of $7.2 billion to the pension system, funding for post-retiree health benefits and full funding of the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA). The budget also restored $20 million for community colleges, expansion of pre-k funding and student teacher stipends.
When NJEA first endorsed Murphy for governor he promised to right the wrongs of previous administrations and their neglect of pension funding. During his eight years in office, he lived up to that promise by making full pension payments—the first governor to do so since 1996.
In another win for educators, right after signing the budget, Murphy signed a bill that extends the pause on the creation and use of student growth objectives (SGOs) for tenured staff until new regulations to improve the evaluation system can be implemented.
Legislative victories like this happen because NJEA members engage in the campaigns and elections of pro-labor, pro-public education candidates—and Murphy is the perfect example of that involvement.
Organizing makes the difference
Over the last year members have met with legislators, made calls and sent emails about many pieces of legislation. While some may think these efforts are futile, NJEA, NJREA and NJAEA members showed just how valuable member engagement is. A few days before the budget vote, a last-minute bill was introduced that would have made harmful changes to post-retirement medical benefits. Members immediately organized and let their legislators know the negative impact the bill would have. They sent 25,000 emails over a thee-day period, and the senator who introduced the bill withdrew it from the files.
That is the power of collective action.
Still work to do
NJEA members will need to continue to organize around the pension justice bills we have been working on for the last two years. One of those bills, the Break in Service bill, was voted out of the Legislature, and, as of press time, sits on Murphy’s desk. Members have been writing and calling the governor to sign it before the Legislature returns to work in the fall.
NJEA is also ramping up the efforts to achieve a Tier 1 pension for every public school employee. The campaign continues, and we know that to achieve this victory, it will take all of us working together to get these bills to the governor’s desk before he leaves next January.
Stay tuned to see how you can do your part.
Marybeth Beichert is an associate director in the NJEA Communications Division. She can be reached at mbeichert@njea.org.