A GUARDIAN ANGEL

A True Story About the Teaching Profession

by

James K. Aumack

As a spanking new teacher, right out of college, I landed a job in Jersey City teaching elementary school. My first assignment was a sixth grade. My Senior year in college offered an opportunity to be part of an experimental program that exposed us to the most difficult and dangerous teaching situations imaginable. We were placed with hand picked and very tough teachers that were incredibly successful in their work with inner-city kids. Our assignment was to learn what made them successful and to practice those skills. Our college classwork centered around creating ways of dealing with difficult learners. This exposure provided us with a ‘step-up’ in a job search because of this experience. Our ‘student teaching experience’ was six months in duration as opposed to a standard six week experience. In-class college courses continued during this period of time. As a result, all of the students involved, were offered teaching positions almost immediately.

The Vietnam war was in full swing and Boards of Education were hard put to find certified male teachers because of the military draft. All young men over eighteen years of age were 1A and I was as well. The Board of Education wrote to Draft Boards seeking a military deferment for a male teacher because their work was essential. However, I was hauled in front of the local Draft

Board eight different times. Each time, I was asked why I should be deferred and each time I simply placed a copy of photo’s of my class and the building

across the street from my school. This building was owned by the local ‘Black Panther Party’ and had sandbags in each and every window with what looked like pipes coming out between the sandbags(rifles?). There was also a Jersey City Police car and two very well armed policemen stationed there each day seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. My response was, “At least in Vietnam, if I’m sent there, I can shoot back, here I have to use my teaching skills to survive. Would your son or daughter want this job? I’m not irreplaceable but they can’t find another certified teacher that wants to fill the position.

The first few weeks went well and the kids started to settle down as we got to know each other. The class next door was a third grade class and the teacher was an older experienced lady. There was always a great deal noise coming from that direction each and every day. I tried to ignore this but as time went on, it got worse.

Then one day there was an enormous “Boom!” It was so loud that I thought a bomb was detonated. In this neighborhood that wouldn’t be unusual. My door rattled with this explosion as did the windows in the back of the room.

My class was working on some math problems in small groups when this happened. I told them to continue and quickly ran out of my room and over to the next classroom door and pulled it open. The class was in total disarray. Kids were standing and there were fist fights in several areas of the class.

The teacher, a gray haired older woman, older than me at least, was in the back of the classroom attempting to pick up two closet doors and re-install them on their pivot point. I assumed that she was the substitute for the day. She was having a very difficult time even trying to hold the doors up as they were very heavy and attached to each other.

The doors came down as a result of a classroom fight. One of the kids slammed into the doors knocking them to the floor. I stopped the fight and separated the kids. The noise was so loud because my classroom was next to this one. We shared a wall and the open coat closet acted as a speaker and magnified the volume of the crash and the doors slammed to the floor.

I said to this teacher, “This has got to stop! Everyday it’s the same thing! I hear it all through the walls! My class is disturbed all day long. If you can’t control the class, maybe you should consider doing something else.” I told her this as I helped her to re-install the door.

With that said, I read the riot act to this class. I told them, “If you continue to misbehave as you have been, I will make you spend the day in my classroom next door with the sixth graders, who are also very angry and upset about the way you’ve behaved. That’s a promise! They’re not happy with the noise you’ve been making and I guarantee that you won’t be happy with them, if you have to come to my classroom! Do you understand?”

This was a serious indication that I was willing to throw them to my own group of older gangsters next door that I managed to control. “As you might suspect,” I continued, “my angry sixth graders will not be kind, if you must be placed in my room because of your behavior. The choice is yours, behave and learn or well, you can guess what will happen!”

There was not a sound from any of them. Some had wide eyes and open mouths but no sound was made regarding my comments. I turned to the woman and said, “If you have any more problems, send them to me next door. I don’t have a seat for them but they can stand until their parent comes in to pick them up.”

The teacher’s response was, “Thank you! What’s your name?”

I told her my name and that I was a newbie teacher.

She then said, “Do you know who I am?”

My reply was, “Look, I really don’t care who you are. I do care that I can continue to teach, without any more of this nonsense going on.”

She replied, “ I totally agree with you and thank you for your help. This is a wild bunch that simply needs to be trained. By the way, I’m the Assistant Superintendent of Schools. My name is Connie Nichols. The reason I came here today, is that we’ve noticed that we can’t keep a substitute here for more than one day. Now, I can see why. These kids haven’t had a guiding hand from anybody since the year began. I‘ll take you up on your offer. Now I’m going to

lay down the law to this group and we’ll continue on from there. If I need you, I’ll send a student to you with a note…thanks again!”

As I returned to my class, they were thankfully quiet and working on the math problems that we were discussing, when I ran from the room. Then it hit me!

“Oh! My God, what did I just do?”, I asked myself. “I just told the Assistant Superintendent of Schools to shape -up or get out and find a job she can do!”

Mrs. Nichols came back the next day and she had a new substitute with her. She introduced the substitute to the class and re-affirmed her rules to the kids and also the likely result, if they again resorted to their former behavior. She stopped by my classroom and said, “Hello Jim! Please keep an eye on next door for me! If there’s a problem, pick up the phone and let me know!”

The result of this happening with the class next door, is that I met the Assistant Superintendent of Schools and made a very good friend at the same time. Over the years, she was promoted to Deputy Superintendent and basically ran the entire, 30,000+ student school system. Although we never had a close relationship, we knew and respected each other and the skills we both brought to work each and everyday. Upon occasion, we would meet at this or that professional gathering and we warmly greeted each other. During my hard times, her voice and wishes were always quietly communicated to me in one way or another. It was an unsigned note or a message, left in my

mailbox at school. Those communications always carried a strong support for whatever I was into at the time. She turned out to be a Guardian Angel and quietly supported any effort I made for the betterment of my students.This is a very rare happening in any inner-city school system. Friends are so important and you can make them under the strangest and most unusual circumstances.

The class, which was the cause of our initial meeting, straightened out for the most part.

In my experience with Mrs. Nichols, I learned that a helping hand goes a very long way and that any help or support you provide to another, almost always, unexpectedly in some situations, comes back to you during your most trying times. This has been proven to me time and time again. Don’t be afraid to offer help when you see someone else struggling to survive.

Several years later, I was elected to the unpaid position of ‘School Director’, for the local teachers Association that I was a member of. This Association was responsible for negotiating the teachers contract for the entire system of 3000+ teachers and other educational/school employees of every type. Every school had a ‘Director’ that communicated information to the teachers from the Associations central office.(This was way before e-mail and cell phones.) They attended meetings that outlined what was happening with the negotiating process and what our next move would be regarding the all important contract. It is interesting to note that the Districts Educational

Administrators had no role in the negotiation.They had their own organization that was responsible to and for them.

It was always, lawyers employed by the City of Jersey City, that were negotiating the contract with the teachers Association.The Mayor controlled the lawyers. They offered the Association members, after two years of

negotiations, an increase of $100 dollars per year for the next three year

contract, which the teachers considered to be unacceptable and insulting. The Association leadership then presented the options that we had in response to this last best offer. The only option, after more than two years of ‘good faith’ negotiation was a ‘Strike’ Vote. The vote was one hundred percent successful, recommending a strike. The next day 3000+ educators struck the Jersey School System and they vowed to stay out until a fair contract was in place.

A judge, outside the County of Hudson, and at the request of the Hudson County Democratic Chairman, issued a restraining order against the teachers strike, preventing them from picketing and ordering them back to school. No judge in Hudson County would issue this order because they knew we had reason to strike and they suspected that there were some legal problems in Mayor’s office. All Hudson County Judges were aware that the State Law forbid teachers from striking. So, they delayed action on an injunction, some were too busy in court and others went quickly and quietly out of town. In New Jersey, teachers are not allowed to strike according to State Law. When a Bergen County Judge issued the injunction, under the law, we were supposed to return to our classrooms without a contract. We didn’t ! The Hudson County Democratic Leader went to Bergen County because he had a judge there, who he helped with his influence, to be placed on the bench and this judge owed him a favor. (Pay Back!) The Hudson County Democratic Chairman controlled the Mayor of Jersey City and controlled the lawyers and the judge in Bergen County. If Jersey City teachers weren’t afraid of the ‘gangsters’ in front of them in the classroom everyday, they certainly weren’t afraid of the gangster in the County Administration and in the Jersey City, City Hall. The strike continued!

The Mayor demanded the arrest of teachers on the Pickett line. The local police were between a rock and a hard place. The Jersey City police had and still have, a profound respect for those of us that face, kids armed with guns, knives, clubs and also face physical assaults, everyday of our lives. They didn’t know how to go about the task given to them. Finally, they decided that the Mayor’s office needed to handle this problem(they caused it) and told them so. The Mayor, realizing that he didn’t need the police in rebellion as well, then ordered all of the Principles to be questioned as to who was outside their schools picketing. Those named would be arrested for ignoring a judge’s order!

The strike took place at the end of January and continued into February. The temperature outside on the street was always in the 20’s or lower, down to zero.. We all walked the picket line and froze in doing so.

The Principals of every school in the city were subjected to a forced interview by the City’s Personnel Director. They were asked, “Who is picketing outside your school?” All Principals, except one said, “You haven’t had the windows washed in the last twenty years and I can’t see outside because of this. I don’t know who is picketing.” The one Principal who provided information, stated the she could see nineteen of her professional staff outside picketing. She was controlled by City Hall, as she was sadly also the first female African-American to hold a Principal’s position in this school system. She got the job through political influence. She had the credentials but not the moral compass that is required to make necessary decisions that will change, forever, the lives of individuals. In short, they threatened her with her job. As a result, nineteen of her professional staff were arrested for not complying with a court order. All of us were arrested via a phone call. All nineteen teachers were tried and found guilty of contempt of court. All were sentenced to 30 days in the Hudson County jail with twenty days suspended. This required each teacher to spend ten days in the county jail. Those teachers that were actually negotiating the contract were found guilty as well and they were sentenced to ninety days in jail with sixty suspended. They had to spend thirty days in the Hudson County Jail. The strike continued on after the arrests until the Mayor, because of public opinion, settled on an agreement. The entire community, in addition to the educational community, was totally outraged with the City and County leadership. Everyone knew that we, as a group, were seriously underpaid and support came from all sorts of sources. The strike was entering its third week with no sign that the teachers were going to give in.

It should be noted that most of the Principals provided hot coffee or tea with rolls and donuts, to those outside their schools on those incredibly cold mornings. They recognized the need for this job action and if they were still in the classroom and not in administration, they’d also be picketing with us.

Along with my colleagues, I received a phone call, telling me that I was identified as one of the striking picketers and was arrested(by Telephone) for disobeying a judge’s court order. We were charged with contempt of court. In truth, we harbored a great deal of contempt for the Court and the City Administration, as we all felt that there had to be illegal and shady things happening at City Hall. This also infected the court system. Our own people looked at the tax base and what money was coming in and what was going out and came to the conclusion that there was a very large amount of money that simply couldn’t be accounted for. Also, there were those contractors who wouldn’t and couldn’t work for the city because of the demand for a ‘kickback’. If you wanted the contract, you had to pay a percentage(10%) of the total contract back to City Hall. It became known as “Pay to Play”. You had to pay the 10% ’Vig’ as it became known, throughout the construction field. These contractors were willing to speak about this subject to anybody that asked and they were completely locked out of doing any business with Jersey City.., unless they came up with the money.

When the word spread regarding our arrest, the picketing teachers in the

District, switched schools each day and continued to picket. Each day, they were at a different school where they were not known, except for the fact that they were teachers. This created a larger headache for the Mayor and his disciples because now we were interfering with deliveries, as all truckers supported our job action because they were also ‘union’ members.

We soon went to court and were all found guilty of contempt. Teachers on the picket line were sentenced to thirty days in jail. I can remember standing

before that judge as he sentenced me. I had tears of anger running down my face. As I walked out of the courtroom, a parent of one of my students, the Rev. Ralph Brower, put his arms around me to comfort me. He was the pastor of one of the largest minority Churches in the city. The entire city seemed to be supportive. The NJEA helped us appeal the court ruling, all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal.

In my personal situation, my wife, a registered nurse with her B.S.N. was about to deliver our first born child at the same time the court said I had to surrender and start my jail sentence. I called our lawyer, Phil Finetuch, and asked if I could go into jail alone and immediately, as my wife would need my support because of the impending birth of our first child. I went into jail, all by myself, during the third week of July. Our first child was due in early August and I wanted to be there for my wife and our new born baby. This decision was incredibly difficult to make because she might go into labor early. We took the chance that she might even be late in her delivery, because this was her first birth. I notified our attorney and he set up the meeting with a county judge. The Judge couldn’t have been nicer. He completely understood what was happening and why I alone wanted to get this over with and he did everything he could to make this go as we planned.

The first person I met in jail was one of my former students, who was arrested for stealing a car. This didn’t surprise me. If fact, it probably helped me in that the word went out to the other inmates that I was ‘Hands Off’ or you answer to me. I was alone but yet, not alone. Even the jail guards went out of their way to be respectful and helpful. The Warden asked me if I would be willing to teach a class while I was there. I said, “Yes, why not!” The class was of twenty inmates. They were glad to get out of their cells for a while and I was happy to provide them with some relief as well as some for myself. We spent a few

hours in that one class. The first question I asked of them was, “Did you do it (whatever “it” was?) To a man they all said “Yes”! These inmates were not violent and this small amount of time together was unique and helpful for all of us. There was a lot of laughter, some tears as well but without question, this was helpful and bonding for all of us.

The Warden had a serious problem involving me and he didn’t know how to deal with it. It seemed that two of his daughters were teachers and they were not at all happy that their Dad was the keeper of the jail keys. No one at home was talking to him. He went out of his way to be kind but he did have to do his job. He placed me with the non-violent inmates( as far as he knew)to insure my safety. There was simply nothing else he could do. He provided what support that he legally could. He did his job and yet, without saying it, he did the very best he could to make my stay less painful.

The summer I was in jail I was taking nine graduate credits toward the completion of my Master’s Degree. I notified my Professors and they all gave

me their blessing and wished me luck. They also told me to read the course assignments while in jail. I suffered no loss of credits and earned an “A” in the three Post Grad courses I was taking. Also, at the same time, I was working a summer job with the Board of Education oddly enough. I lost pay for not being in class but the NJEA repaid me, the salary I lost.

The other arrested teachers went to jail starting at the Thanksgiving Holiday of that year, after the Supreme Court refused to hear our case.

Our first child was born and thankfully the birth went as planned. That child is now an adult with a Doctoral Equivalency and is Master Teacher of the Handicapped. His brother, soon followed and he is now a Doctor of Pharmacy and works in a major New Jersey hospital. Both boys attended a Jesuit Preparatory High School for boys in Jersey City, State and private universities and Grad and Post Grad schools. These boys made my wife and I grandparents to four beautiful girls and one handsome boy. We’re so proud of our children and grandchildren.

When I returned to the classroom the following September, I applied for and was transferred to another school assignment, after all of this was over. Somehow, I suspect that Mrs.Nichols, my Superintendent acquaintance, had a hand in my getting this position. Needless to say, I was qualified for the job and I based my application on my background and qualifications. At this point, I had almost completed a Master’s Degree and had plans to continue on

toward a ED.D. However, I did not wish to continue to work under a Principal who, because of her lack of intelligence and/or courage, had her professional staff arrested. To my surprise and joy, I was offered the position.

It should be noted that all Administrators received a percentage of our hard fought salary increase as a salary increase in their contract. Administration gets a percentage above teacher salaries. They knew, if we won an increase, they would also get an increase and not have to deal with a job action on their part.

It should also be noted that the Superintendent, and the central office staff were on our side. However, the way the Mayor had his controlling hands in everything in the city, they were left with no choice and had zero power to prevent this entire mess. We never negotiated with the school administration, we were always negotiating with City Hall. They controlled all budgets for all departments. Our presentation and requirements, if granted, would cut into their ‘take’ and that was not acceptable to them. This is what caused them to become hysterical and pull out their guns, so to speak. If we won this contract proposal they would lose ‘kickback’ money! This was not acceptable and it was now a war!

The members of the negotiating team, dedicated women and men in their sixties or over, with each over thirty years teaching experience, were sentenced to ninety days in jail with sixty days suspended. These jail sentences and the behavior of the court, only intensified the resolve of the

professional staff. It was very clear that the influence of the Democratic County Chairman extended far beyond the borders of Jersey City.

What Goes Around Comes Around (The Pay Back!)

Three years later, the Mayor of Jersey City, the Democratic Chairman of Hudson County and the entire City Council of Jersey City, were all indicted by a Federal Grand Jury. It seems that our contract dispute and subsequent jail sentences caught the attention of the Federal Authorities. Why would simple, generally meek and mild teachers, fight so hard and suffer jail for a contract? What do they know? These were important questions and the Federal people wanted answers. They were committed to getting them.

The Federal Authorities very quietly interviewed the leadership of the teachers union and others as well. They then investigated and reviewed all of

the city accounts, with a very large team of State auditors. They came up with the same missing funds that the teachers did, as well as some other things.

The contract to build a major school building and provide the needed ‘kickback’ to get the contract, was funded by some builders by reducing the quality of materials used in construction and in the case of Number 15 School on Stegman Street in Jersey City, the foundation of the school was back filled with soil from a condemned site on Rt. 440 in Jersey City. Unfortunately this soil, although cheap or even possibly free, because of midnight backfill sales, was radioactive with an enormous amount of Chromium content and its use resulted in many people becoming ill with cancer and lung issues. Against the wishes of the school Administration OSHA was notified and called in to check the air quality in the school. The first thing that they did was to turn on their Geiger Counters as they entered the front door of the school to begin to check air quality. These instruments started screaming immediately indicating some sort of Radio Active particles in the immediate air at the front door of the school. They had no idea where this was coming from.

After the school was built and the brick work completed, the entire building had to be ‘back filled’ with clean soil, surrounding the entire building foundation. All of this backfill material came from the area around the now closed Kellogg Plant that was years earlier, closed by order of the Federal Government “EPA” Authorities (Environmental Protection Agency) because of cancer causing material was everywhere in the plant. The basement area in the school is where the teacher’s offices were located. This is where the mortar joints between the cinder blocks that made up the school foundation, started to actually melt and this started the inquest.

One year after the completion of this school building the sidewalk around the school began to deteriorate. More sand than cement was also used to save some money. All of this information was presented to a Federal Grand Jury with sufficient documentation. They, in turn, indicted the entire City Council, the Mayor and County Chairmen, charging them all with extortion of City and Board of Education funds, of over Fifty Million Dollars that they could prove and account for. The Federal Government Authorities felt that there was probably much more, that they couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The city records for these was unaccountably missing. The indicted city leaders were all tried and found guilty. They were each sentenced to fifteen(15) years in Federal Prison for their part in the theft of money and from kickbacks from

city contracts, including Board of Education contracts.

At Number 15 School, as mentioned, the mortar joints between the cinder blocks that were part of the school foundation, started to literally melt. Teachers were starting to come down with lung issues and disease. Some with lung cancer. The teacher offices and meeting rooms were in the basement and people working there were the most exposed. Those not currently ill have to be followed medically for the rest of their lives.This will include constant medical oversight.

Our jail experience and all charges, were expunged after several years. Without saying it, but saying it by their order to expunge, ‘we were correct in our knowledge and actions.’ However, the pain and fear can never be removed and the time spent in jail can not be replaced. I’m pleased in the knowledge that the County Democratic Chairman, John V. Kenny, died in Federal Prison in Kentucky. He was convicted of extortion and tax evasion, because he didn’t report to the IRS, any of the millions of dollars from his share of the ‘kickbacks’. All of the others served a little bit more than half of their terms for extortion, in a Federal Prison in Lewisburg, PA.. The “Kickback” game had been played in Jersey City for probably thirty years in one form or another. The teachers strike and actions buried it forever.

As for the ‘all powerful mayor’, after his jail term was completed, it was reported that he became a ‘tree surgeon’ to make a living. He ultimately fell out of a tree, broke his neck and died.

Through it all, I felt that I had a Guarding Angel named Connie, quietly working to keep me safe, while I worked with the children who were most in need.

As the years went by, I continued teaching and became involved with several people that wanted to start a education related non-profit corporation. We did this and as a non-profit, we could apply for federal grants for educational purposes. Our anchor proposal, that was funded by the

government, provided after-school daycare and summer camp for one hundred and fifty children. We opened up centers in five voting wards and provided this service to the community every weekday. In addition to this, we also received an anonymous gift amounting to almost $800,000. With this gift, we decided to use the money to hire and train more teacher aides to work in the public schools. We stipulated that the jobs would go only to Jersey City unemployed and with this anonymous gift of money, we would support the job holders for one year with salary, Social Security contributions and Medical Insurance. After the first year, the Board of Education had to agree to maintain these people on their payroll with the benefits described plus pension inclusion. The Board agreed and all fifty people stayed on the job until their retirement. Without this experience these people would not have found a job with medical and pension benefits. My decision and deciding vote to make this happen, was in direct response to my experience with my Guardian Angel. All fifty teacher aides are now retired with a lifetime pension and health coverage.

Over the years, I felt security and comfort, through all of the problems and difficulties I encountered, in large part because of my interaction with Mrs.Nichols. For almost forty years, I felt safe, knowing that there was at least, one person at the Board of Education that thought enough of the kids to personally come to a school to see why they couldn’t keep a teacher in the classroom. Now my vote, influence and suggestion, would help fifty people who were in fear for their future, become successful job holders. It’s said that,”What goes around comes back around to you in the future”. A helping

hand and respect for each other, extended for almost forty years. Because of my experience, I believe this to be totally true. My one brief and casual meeting with a good person and a great leader, created a lifetime of confidence for me, based on her support.

I stood beside Connie’s coffin and said my last ‘goodbye’ with tears in my eyes. She was an a good friend, outstanding educator and taught me the meaning of courage and friendship, against all odds. Throughout my almost forty years teaching, I knew that she was a major force that I could depend on.

____________________________

Author’s note:

This is a true story that can be documented through newspaper reports and court records relating to the Jersey City Teachers Strike in the early 1970’s. This was probably the first major job action that Jersey City Teachers were involved in. There have been several smaller actions since but none as brutal and long lasting as this one was. This was in fact, a war. As painful as the results were for some of us, the message we sent to the City leadership was worth every single day in jail.