Opinion Pieces

Thermometers are rising and more than 20,000 students in public schools in Plainfield, Trenton, and other districts throughout the state are being sent home early over the next two days. With the pressure of finals in the air, many students and school employees also have to contend with rising classrooms temperatures. Few examples so elegantly show the wide disparities in school conditions in New Jersey. In some districts, the rising temperatures won't mean much and the learning process will continue unabated.  In other districts, schools will be forced to shutter and students will lose precious hours of instruction. In what is often a clear divide between affluent and poorer districts, some students and school employees will learn in comfortable climate controlled classrooms, while others will struggle to learn and teach in classrooms with temperatures approaching and sometimes exceeding triple digits. This is unacceptable. Read the full Opinion-Editorial in The Star Ledger by Jerell Blakeley, campaign organizer for the New Jersey Work Environment Council and Eric Jones, President of the Plainfield Education Association. June 12, 2017         Full Op-Ed Sign the Petition Healthy Schools Now

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has named asbestos as a priority chemical to be evaluated for risk, yet at the same time, asbestos inspections at schools are being eliminated, supposedly due to budget constraints. The EPA is presented with a tough decision, reminiscent of the movie “Sophie’s Choice,” when a mother arrives at Auschwitz concentration camp with her two children and is faced with the decision between saving the life of either her son or her daughter. EPA is indicating it will either protect our kids and school staff from asbestos or lead paint, but not both. Most people believe that asbestos is already banned in the United States. While progress has been made to limit certain uses of asbestos, it has never successfully been banned. In 1989, the EPA issued its Asbestos Ban and Phase-Out Rule, which was challenged in the courts by industry and overturned in 1991. Asbestos can be found in automotive brakes and clutches, and is still used in building materials, such as floor and ceiling tiles, cement asbestos pipe, corrugated paper pipe wrap, acoustical and decorative insulation, pipe and boiler insulation, and spray-applied fireproofing. EPA estimates that there are asbestos-containing materials in most of [...]

In kindergarten, when the fire alarm went off, we were told what to do. Line up, follow the exit signs, and walk to our assigned meeting place outside the school. We had an emergency plan in case there was a fire. Now as adults responsible for our families and communities, we find the threats are greater and the information we need to be prepared is missing. Decades ago, at a time when chemicals were not monitored, explosions and releases would happen regularly in highly industrial communities, such as the Ironbound neighborhood in Newark. Residents rose up and demanded that workers and communities had a right to know what the chemicals were and what they needed do to protect themselves. This led, in part, to a now 30-year-old federal policy. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) requires facilities to report annually on the amount of toxic chemicals that have been released into the air, water, or on land. Furthermore, the law required the creation of the Toxic Release Inventory, which serves as a publicly accessible document covering more than 650 reportable chemicals that may pose a threat to public health or the environment. EPCRA also requires that local governments formulate chemical-emergency [...]

"In exchange for small-but-overdue salary increases for legislative and judicial staff,  Christie is demanding a king's ransom for himself and his inner circle. Under the terms of a plan he's pushing legislators to accept,  members of his cabinet would be in line for $34,000 annual raises. Those political appointees could see their salaries skyrocket to $175,000,  a 24 percent increase from their current maximum of $141,000 per year. It's time for some perspective because this is the same governor who has repeatedly and viciously attacked public employees over their salaries and benefits. This is the same governor who opposes gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour to help average New Jersey residents and working families improve their lives. Somehow,  he thinks that $15 per hour is too much for a single working mother struggling to feed and shelter her family. At the current minimum wage of $8.38 per hour,  she'd make just over $17,000 per year if she never took a single day off. To Christie,  that's enough for her. But for his cabinet that already makes eight times that much? He thinks they need raises of $34,000 per year. This is a governor whose hypocrisy on salaries [...]

Under the golden dome that dominates Trenton’s skyline, Governor Chris Christie recently denounced the deplorable condition of the New Jersey Statehouse. At a hastily convened announcement, Governor Christie bemoaned the quality of building that houses his office. “We have code violations throughout the place that could lead to a tragedy,” Christie told reporters as he outlined plans for the $300 million renovation. For someone who has spent the last few years avoiding his office, his concern now is curious. While we agree that Statehouse renovations are necessary, the juxtaposition of his decisive approach to that issue with his lackadaisical approach in addressing much worse conditions in schools throughout the state raises serious questions about his priorities. Based on the long delay in releasing funds for rebuilding Trenton Central High School, his failure to act in addressing facility concerns in Paterson, and his foot dragging on other School Development Authority emergent requests, his sudden concern for safe, comfortable and healthy workplaces seems typically self-serving. At his announcement Tuesday, Christie said, “The Statehouse should not be a place that we ask people to come work in every day and put their lives and their health at some measure of risk… They shouldn’t [...]

Over the past year, the nation has watched a tragedy unfold in Flint, Michigan as an entire community's drinking water was contaminated with lead. Sadly, the problem extends well beyond Flint. In nearly 2,000 communities in every state across the country, tests have confirmed lead in the water coming out of residents' taps.  In fact, lead is even contaminating drinking water in schools and pre-schools, right here in New Jersey. School is where our children go each day to learn and play. It's time we know exactly what is in their drinking water, and for our state elected leaders to "get the lead out" before it's too late. Full opinion-editorial by Jerell Blakeley, WEC's Healthy Schools Now campaign organizer, Doug O'Malley, Environment New Jersey Director, and Naomi Johnson-LaFleur, Trenton Education Association President, in The Star Ledger, November 11, 2016. Full Op-Ed Healthy Schools Now

Fiercely opposed by a phalanx of public school advocates, even Gov. Chris Christie’s allies are decidedly tepid about his self-proclaimed “Fairness Formula,” his last-ditch attempt to finish his two terms with a bang, capping his relentless efforts to privatize, expand charters and defund New Jersey’s urban school districts. Although the likelihood of it passing is nil by most accounts, recent developments surrounding a new Camden High School highlight the absurdity and contradictions of the governor’s dubious school funding formula idea. The governor’s recent public announcement highlighting his implicit support of the state’s obligation to build schools in SDA districts directly contradicts the foundational arguments for his “Fairness Formula.” Full opinion-editorial by Jerell Blakeley, WEC campaign organizer online The Daily News, October 12, 2016

"With our state in the throes of knock down, drag out fights surrounding competing and different educational funding philosophies, one area of near certain agreement is that all students deserve a safe and healthy learning environment. Passing temperature control legislation and working with school districts to create common sense plans for addressing this increasingly common hazard would take us closer to realizing safe and healthy learning environments for all of New Jersey public school students. " Full opinion-editorial by Jerell Blakeley, WEC campaign organizer in The Star Ledger, September 21, 2016

With the average age of New Jersey's public schools at more than 50 years old and with many schools dating back to the turn of the 20th century, we are concerned that custodian privatization will have negative ramifications for the quality of our school facilities. "Investing in schools means investing in the personnel that keep our buildings safe and healthy. As the debate around equitable school-funding rages, New Jersey school districts would be wise to think twice about privatization, which often carries substantial hidden costs coupled with reduced performance." Full opinion-editorial by Jerell Blakeley, WEC Campaign Organizer in August 15, 2016 - NJ Spotlight

Right in the shadow of the New Jersey Statehouse, the workers were dry cutting the sidewalk concrete, unwittingly putting themselves and the public in danger. Silica exposure impacts thousands of workers; in New Jersey more than 150,000 work in construction, but those who work with glass, pottery, jewelry and even dentistry might be impacted. Full Article by Ken Hoffner, Assistant Director, NJ Laborers' Health and Safety Fund and Dan Fatton, WEC Executive Director August 8, 2016 - Asbury Park Press Online