Point Pleasant Education Association

Nominate an Amazing Teacher for People Magazine’s Teacher of the Year Award. Five educators working in grades K-12, who are making a difference in their students’ lives, will be awarded a $5,000 prize, with support from our sponsor Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal.  Click here to read the full story.

May 8, 2012 is National Teacher Day, a time for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives.

Teacher for a Day is a program that allows members of the community to experience an entire school day as a teacher.  Members of the Pt. Pleasant community will “walk a mile” in a Pt. Pleasant teacher’s shoes on February 22nd. On Monday, January 30th, the PPEA held a preparation meeting for the cooperating teachers and the community members.  They worked together to plan lessons for the 22nd.   Good luck to our community members and our teachers on that day!  To see more photos, “like” Point Pleasant Education Association on Facebook.

Hello PPEA members!  Are you feeling a little stressed after the holidays?  Need a night to unwind?  Come to the “PPEA Pre-game Party” on Friday, February 3rd from 4 – 8pm at Spano’s at the White Sands.  Many vendors will be there with fun giveaways!  The cost is $10 for members and $30 for non-members, and payment is due January 27th.  Hope to see you there!

On Wednesday, February 22, 2012, your association is conducting its first ever Teacher for a Day program to give community leaders real world experience in today’s classroom.  Leigh and I are happy to report that 52 teachers throughout the district have volunteered as “cooperating teachers.”

At this time, we have also sent out invitations to members of the community.  These include state legislators from our new district #30 (which becomes effective in January), board of education and town council officials, various business owners and leaders, our PTO presidents, medical professionals, and the police chief among others.

It has been very gratifying to hear from those who are interested in participating that they think Teacher for a Day is a great idea and are honored to have been asked.  As we continue the process of organizing for this special day and hearing from the community, we want to thank the committee for all their hard work up to this point.  

Lorraine Griffin, Chairperson 2012 Teacher for a Day Program

 November 8^th is Election Day!  The deadline to register to vote is October 18^th.  The deadline to vote by mail is November 1^st.

To register to vote or to register to vote by mail, go to: http://www.njea.org/issues-and-political-action/elections

To see a list of NJEA endorsed candidates, go to the NJEA website or to: http://www.njea.org/news/2011-08-06/njea-pac-endorses-69-candidates-for-legislature

If you have a Facebook account, you can now be even more connected to what’s going on with the PPEA.  Log in to your account and search for “Point Pleasant Education Association.”

Christie, Sweeney ‘deliberately degrading the profession’

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement in response to the pension and health benefit proposal released today by Governor Christie and Senate President Sweeney:

“If you are a teacher in New Jersey, the message from Chris Christie and Steve Sweeney is chilling: ‘Don’t expect a raise.  In fact, next year, we’re going to pay you less, and your compensation will drop year after year.

“At a time when Governor Christie is giving away billions of dollars in tax relief and tax breaks to millionaires and corporations, he is deliberately degrading the teaching profession in New Jersey.

“This proposal totally circumvents the collective bargaining process, and would cost the average teacher thousands of dollars in take-home pay for diminished pensions and health benefits.

“When he ran for governor, Chris Christie told teachers and school employees, and I quote: ‘I will protect your pensions.  Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor.’

“Chris Christie lied, and Steve Sweeney is now standing alongside him in this attack on the people who make our public schools among the best in America.

“There is nothing in this proposal that seeks to control the cost of health insurance premiums to our school districts.  Where is the demand for transparency and open bidding of health insurance contracts?  Where is the demand to expose the obscene brokers’ fees that are being paid in so many of our municipalities?  Who are the middlemen collecting these fees, and what relationship do they have to the governor and the Senate president?

“We saw what happened in Wisconsin, when Christie’s friend Scott Walker attacked the collective bargaining rights of workers.  Now, it’s happening here, and it’s unthinkable that Steve Sweeney would urge his fellow Democrats to abandon working people by denying them a voice in negotiating their compensation and their rights.”

“We are outraged at this attack on the teachers and school employees and other middle class working families in New Jersey by the governor and his ally across the aisle.”