United For Change: Newark Teachers Union Faces Electoral Challenge
Coalition Effective
Press Release: United For Change
Date: February 8, 2011
Contact Info: UnitedFor...@gmail.com
FACEBOOK: United For Change NTU
973-908-UFCO (8320)
Jose Velazquez: Jev...@aol.com
Newark Teachers Union Faces Electoral Challenge
Calling for internal change in the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) and for major educational reform, a group of Newark teachers are mounting an opposition campaign to the present NTU leadership in the upcoming elections to be held in May 2011. Calling themselves “United For Change,” the group, which includes some local NTU chapter representatives, is calling for new leadership to emerge that is more diverse and reflective of the NTU membership. While the core of the Newark Teachers’ Union has always been teachers, United For Change is also seeking to increase greater involvement of all members of the NTU, including attendance counselors, social workers, clerks, guidance counselors, and other employees. Furthermore, noting that the NTU has been slow to react to the enormous challenges faced by Newark teachers, United For Change is calling for the membership to join efforts to renew the NTU in the face of politically motivated attacks on teachers.
Troubled by increasing erosion of support for public education, United For Change is calling on the Newark Teachers Union to play a leadership role in school reform and transformation. Opposing the systematic privatization of private schools, the group calls for a campaign to rebuild public support for teachers and public schools. Consequently, United For Change calls for developing alliances with community organizations that promote social justice, economic revitalization, and school reform. A central focus of its platform is to insure respect for and empowerment of Newark’s teachers through shared decision-making, improved working conditions, a fair contract with fair compensation, and the reasonable and appropriate defense of tenure and pension rights. At the same time, United For Change is calling for major internal reforms within the Newark Teachers Union aimed at strengthening union democracy and revitalizing the NTU’s voice in public forums.
United For Change also announced that Jose Velazquez, its candidate for President of the Newark Teachers Union, would head their electoral slate for union officers and the Executive Board. Velazquez, a social studies teacher at University High School, has been an active member of the NTU since 1987, and has a long history of involvement in the labor movement, civic and political affairs in Newark, and the historical African-American and Latino civil rights movements. He has also been a leader in curriculum design for Newark Public Schools, spearheading the creation of the Law Academy at University High School; writing curricula for United States, African-American, and Puerto Rican history; piloting the Peer Leadership Program with the Princeton Center for Leadership Training; and providing materials on Afro-Latinos for the Amistad Commission. Velazquez graduated with a B.A. in American History from Columbia University (NYC), and has a Masters Degree in Educational Foundations-Critical Thinking from Montclair University (NJ).
United For Change has opened up avenues of communication for NTU members including an e-mail site (UnitedFor...@gmail.com), a Facebook page at United For Change NTU, and a telephone number (973-908-UFCO).
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