As the political back-and-forth continues, parents say, it’s the students who are caught in the middle. | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
By Carly Sitrin
08/29/2022 10:48 AM EDT
A public battle between the Democratic mayor of Elizabeth, the local school board and the teachers union is reaching a tipping point, threatening a collision between longstanding political power players and a school district in crisis.
Elizabeth Public Schools, like many other districts across the country, is in the throes of a teacher shortage exacerbated by the pandemic and could be looking down the barrel of a teacher strike in the coming weeks.
What began as a skirmish over contract negotiations between the union and the entrenched Democratic politicians who run the city has turned into a full-blown war in the public arena about who really runs New Jersey’s second largest school district.
“The Elizabeth Education [Association] President John Griffin is planning a strike on the first week of school after rejecting a 10% plus raise. Anyone who participates will never receive a promotion,” Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage tweeted shortly after noon on Wednesday.
During an hours-long school board meeting Thursday evening, Griffin confronted the board, demanding that it respond to Bollwage’s tweet, which appeared to imply the mayor has some power over school employee promotion decisions. Under state law, he does not.
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