Our Path to Progress

As I sat in that meeting yesterday, hearing chants from the outside and waiting for Sweeney’s arrival, I kept an open mind. An open mind to listen to the “other” side, maybe there was something I was missing. I watched every person arrive through the front door and greet a familiar face. Sweeney entered through the back door directly across from me and made a comment about vaccinations being important. He made his way around the room greeting everyone. I personally wasn’t going to introduce myself nor shake the man’s hand. I was there to simply listen. I needed to hear him speak and see his mannerisms. I needed to see his character and personality. I wanted to make my own opinion of him not based on what I’ve “heard” about him or what I’ve read. I needed to see it and hear it with my own eyes and ears. Sweeney was introduced where they highlighted his accomplishments, his work history and spoke about his wife and children. I kept an open mind. As he approached the podium and began to speak, I held my breath. The voices from outside were loud and I was proud of those voices. They were taking a stand for what they believed in. As I sat with mayors, former mayors, councilmen and councilwomen, community leaders, stakeholders and local government employees. I was silently taking a stand for our communities, for all suffering school districts and for parental rights. I was doing this as a parent, taxpayer, member of the community but most of all as a human being. The room fell silent as Sweeney began to speak. He made sense for a moment something about working together, doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. He then made a comment about those people outside and in such a way stated they didn’t matter. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. If they didn’t matter, why not enter the building through the front door since there was a large law enforcement presence? Those people outside were the minority, his words not mine. In all fairness, it was a meeting of the Ocean County Mayor’s Association. He simply thought it was a room full of politicians. He spoke about what’s a few hundred or even a 1,000 protestors when there’s 9 million people in New Jersey. Showing up at the meeting or protesting in Trenton won’t make a difference. The majority wants him to do his job. I can respect someone for doing their job and doing it well. To me, he’s just doing his job. As he continued, he made a few remarks that struck a nerve in me. I could no longer have an open mind. I was turned off completely. What he said exactly? I couldn’t tell you. I just know my blood began to boil. As the Mayor of Ocean Twp. spoke about their own school funding crisis, you could hear the despair. The same despair as Toms River and Brick. Sweeney spoke on school districts such as Kingsway, Trenton, Lakewood, Salem, Jersey City, Washington Twp. He spoke about regional high schools and the problem of students reaching high school and not being taught the same curricula from K-8. He spoke about districts with one school graduating 13 students. He spoke about the consolidation of schools and removing administration. He spoke about optimal class sizes of 20 or maybe he said 22. He briefly touched upon eliminating staff positions, closing schools that aren’t at full capacity. I thought in my head, do you even know where you’re speaking right now? Toms River where we spend less than 17k per kid, where we’ve eliminated staff and where we under spend. The former Mayor of Pine Beach spoke about the “Secret Sauce” and the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. He sat on the Board of Education and is very well informed about the ramifications of S2. The Mayor of Brick spoke about the Fair Funding Formula and demanded, in a respectful way, to see it. Sweeney’s response, he doesn’t know why administration was not showing it. I didn’t understand if he meant the school administration or the administration of the NJDOE. The school districts haven’t seen the phantom formula. It was an exchange of words that was unsettling. The tension in the air increased and I was still holding my breath. The dialogue went back and forth about numbers and seeing the formula and not seeing the formula and revisiting the formula every 5 years. My head began to spin. To me, it sounded like he’s been privy to the formula when I thought even the Senate President hadn’t seen it. Now I’m not so sure. He may not have seen it but, to me, he agrees with it. He thinks that Toms River has “phantom” (my word, not his) students. He compared us to other districts that received iPads for their students while some districts don’t have textbooks. He compared us to districts that overspend on their students. He compared us to districts that are irresponsible in their spending. He is misinformed about Toms River and I personally don’t think he cares. He has an agenda and he’s pushing forward with his “Path to Progress.” The former Mayor of South Toms River spoke about the billions of dollars paid for vaccination injuries. He spoke eloquently and politely. One gentleman stood up from Point Pleasant and continued to speak about vaccinations and the dialogue intensified. Intensified so much so that the meeting was adjourned. Sweeney spoke to people before heading out the back door, once again. I stood behind two of “our” people that spoke with Sweeney on behalf of the Toms River School District, simply presenting facts and numbers. I thank the two of you for speaking up in a respectful manner without emotion, just simply stating the facts. I stood silent, silent because I was processing all that I heard. I left there feeling discouraged and defeated. Discouraged and defeated because I truly thought I was going to hear differently. I set myself up for failure. Today, I can breathe. Today I’m optimistic. So to those that are reading this, do your part. It’s easy to sit behind an electronic device and comment about being supportive but it’s another thing to act upon it. BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT. We need the community to do their part. Speak up for yourselves. Stand up for our district. Stand up for your own district. Don’t back down. Don’t take no for an answer. Remember that politicians are elected officials. Elected by the people. They work for US. You have the right to hold elected officials to task and to hold them accountable. If you’re not happy, vote them out in the next election. There’s strength in numbers.
Don’t listen to the noise. The noise that says no one cares. The noise that says you can’t change anything. The noise that says it doesn’t matter. Be part of the solution. If not, move out of the way. As a community, we have a job to finish. Our job is to save our schools and to make the future bright for our children. I don’t think it’s impossible at all. It’s possible but it takes work. Is it easy? Of course not. It takes determination and persistence. There have been posts on the FB page of TR: Our Community Deserves Better with phone numbers, email addresses and information. Emails were sent to parent organizations for Toms River, Jackson, Lacey and Brick this past week. Get to it. Get to work. Make your own noise. Spread the message. Nothing gets done on its own. As stakeholders in our communities, we need to move forward with our own “Path to Progress.”
So what are you waiting for?
Get to work. You have a job to do.

Sincerely,

Melissa Morrison