Senator said, 'No one is in this for the money'
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, pictured in a March file photo, who has long supported the teachers union, today told them he supports their pension and tenure plans.EAST BRUNSWICK — U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez got something out of the New Jersey Education Association today that Gov. Chris Christie is not likely to see: a standing ovation.
Speaking to union members at their annual legislative conference in East Brunswick today, Menendez (D-N.J.) cemented his position as educators’ answer to what they see as Christie’s policies of "no."
Menendez, raised in Union City by Cuban immigrant parents and a product of the New Jersey public school system, shared stories of his working-class upbringing and tied his eventual success to the dedication of his public school teachers.
"I want to make sure every child has the same opportunities I did, which is why I have been fighting to keep good teachers in the classroom, where they belong," Menendez said. "In my mind, that is where teachers belong: in the classroom, not in the unemployment line."
Since taking office, Christie has pushed to scrap tenure for teachers, criticized an expensive pension system and failed to secure millions of dollars in education jobs funding in time for this academic year.
At the conference, Menendez, speaking to a union that makes up a key part of his voter base, took the opposite position on all the issues. He praised teachers for working hard under less-than-optimal conditions and championed the sustainability of pension and tenure plans.
"It’s time that we stopped pointing a finger at good and decent teachers. It’s time that we stopped blaming teachers for every little thing that goes wrong," he said. "We are all aware that the ‘blame game’ continues. It continues in Trenton."
One of Christie’s main criticisms of the tenure system is that it permits under-qualified and low-performing teachers to keep their jobs while students pay the consequences. Menendez scoffed at the notion that teachers are paid too much, saying "no one is in this for the money."
He also noted the lower starting salaries — less than $40,000 — that most new teachers earn and said the investment in salaries for good teachers would be worth it when students succeed at higher rates.
"It’s not easy during tough economic times to invest in education, but the dividends are enormous," Menendez said.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak tonight said the governor has not targeted "good and engaged teachers who do their job well, who care deeply and teach our kids every day."
"It's about their out-of-touch, self-interested union and its leaders," Drewniak said. "Senator Menendez is playing special-interest politics and distorting that message, which the governor has been extremely clear about all along."
Teachers want to be part of the conversation in Trenton and Washington, D.C., said Susan Vigilante, president of the union’s Morris County chapter and a recently retired Morris Plains teacher. "We’ve become the scapegoats for the ills of the state," Vigilante said. "We’re not — we’re its shining stars. And Senator Menendez is making that known."
Steven Beatty, a Bridgewater-Raritan High School teacher, said teachers have to be proactive.
"We, as educators, need to get out there and educate the public about the lies that diminish our profession," Beatty said. "I’m glad there are elected officials who are listening, but we still need to beat back the bully in Trenton."