September 16, 2022
A Message from John McEntee, P.E.A. President
To All P.E.A. Members:
The Paterson Education Association (PEA) is glad that the District recognizes the need to recruit teachers to reduce the number of outstanding vacancies. Filling these positions allows us to address the needs of Paterson’s students as we work to close the learning gap and return to a post-pandemic sense of stability. However, we are extremely disappointed that there still seems to be no retention plan in place to keep good educators in Paterson for the long term. It’s important to get folks here, but it’s equally as vital to finding ways to make them—and those who’ve dedicated their educational careers to our public schools— stay.
Moreover, we regret that the Superintendent and Board chose not to involve the PEA in their recruitment plan, as required by law, and we are exploring ways to address that. As I have said before, while we did not create the problem, we are more than willing to be part of the solution and continue to extend an offer to partner with the Board. Though it may be a bitter pill for the Superintendent to swallow, we must all work together to address this growing crisis. The Paterson community deserves nothing less.
John McEntee, Jr., President
