Sending out our bat signal to support teachers and public schools!
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** 🍎 Why the apple?
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Because we support teachers and apples are synonymous with teachers. We are thrilled with the caliber of candidates we have all over the state for the school board. There’s diversity in age, geography, professional backgrounds, race and ethnicity. Oh, here’s a very short but interesting history on how the apple became to represent teachers. It’s from a very interestingly-named candy company called Wockenfuss ([link removed]) . WTFuss? 😂
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** 🍎 An apple a day keeps the doctor away!
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Our schools, our librarians, and our teachers are under attack. There’s a decline in college-bound students in the teaching profession. Think of our black apple theme as the “bat signal” to call upon teachers to help our students navigate today’s complex world. Is there something sinister about the black apple? Other than folklore, “black apples” do exist — though rare — and they are actually a deep purple. You’ve got to see them here ([link removed]) to believe it!
** 🍎 BOE candidates who support teachers
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Look for Board of Education candidates with the black apple + yellow school bus theme. They didn’t just turn in their petition at the last minute to get on the ballot: they took a year-long training to be ready to serve on the school boards. This nonpartisan program includes those who self-identify as Unaffiliated, Democratic and Republican. All are good and decent people who learned about what the job entailed before they ran for the job. They will be ready to serve their community on Day 1. Some things they learned include:
* Legal and ethical matters,
* ELEC requirements,
* and the realities of the job of a school board member.
All training was completed in keeping with a nonpartisan framework and volunteers collaborated to provide the tools they needed. It’s hard to accomplish as much as we did without the involvement of the NJGOP or NJDems. We are truly nonpartisan — scrappy and resourceful!
A good teacher makes all the difference. This declining trend in teaching degrees needs to be reversed for New Jersey public schools to be at the top of the nation. When we think back to who helped us, many would name a teacher on their list of top influencers. When polled ([link removed]) , there’s a large gap between how parents rate their own schools and teachers versus how they view US public education in the macro. How can this disconnect exist? We believe it’s due to the well-funded push for the privatization of public schools ([link removed]) and the politicization of school boards ([link removed]) . (But, don’t take our word for it, you should click through the links and see it for yourself.)
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Did you know that New Jersey’s public schools regularly rank at the top in the nation? Read the entire report here ([link removed]) . Remember that when you hear about how we need to go back to the “three Rs.” New Jersey public school students are getting the best education from the best teachers, and we should support them. (Have you tried doing their math homework?)
So ... why all the headlines of contentious school board meetings and of books being banned ([link removed]) from school libraries in New Jersey when NEW JERSEY’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE RANKED THE BEST IN THE NATION? Let’s raise a ruckus if we’re ranked #42 like Florida, #46 like Alabama, or #50 like Arizona. But New Jersey public schools are NUMBER 1. Yet this disinformation and copy-cat book challenges ([link removed]) continue to spread. The majority of book challenges in 2021-2022 in the country are from 11 people. How’s that for parent’s rights? The irony has completely lost upon these people who have abdicated their own rights to parent their child on what they can and cannot read to the decisions of 11 people. They know as much about irony as Alanis Morisette
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The stupidity has gone viral. These hate-filled and fear-mongering school board meetings filled with activists politicizing the school boards are such a waste of time and energy. Keep this out of New Jersey. Let’s go back to the fun “blue vs. gold” between rival sports teams.
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** 🍎 What can we do?
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So what can be done to improve the teacher shortage issue in New Jersey? Will we lose our top ranking to other states? A report done by New Jersey Policy Perspective lays it out and its recommendations are stellar. Please read this full report here ([link removed]) .
** How else can you help?
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You can support the movement to support public schools by putting these bumper stickers on your cars. This is a via a Gift with Donation program which helps us provide this nonpartisan educational program to our candidates at no charge to them: [link removed]
You can also donate to our nonprofit civic organization here: [link removed]
** Please support our program and get your Gift with Donation.
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Have a good weekend!
Winn Khuong
Executive Director
** Do or Donate 📌
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