‘Just the start’

New Jersey, like much of the country, is experiencing a shortage of teachers and other educational professionals. Could the Middlesex Borough school district be headed for difficult times in terms of staffing?

That was the cautionary tale heard on Wednesday, Sept. 18, when Middlesex teachers packed a Board of Education meeting to express frustration about their stalled contract talks. The Middlesex Education Association’s prior contract with the district expired on June 30. 

An audience of roughly 100 people attended the board session, most of them district staff and their supporters. The crowd applauded several MEA members who spoke.

One of that evening’s board critics, Middlesex High School teacher Nadine Pietrowski, gave a particularly blunt assessment. She warned that a Garden State teacher shortage could be on the verge of striking Middlesex hard. Pietrowski also claimed she’s continually suffered career consequences in the past for speaking out at board meetings.

While the contract situation fueled much of the MEA concerns that night, a side issue has generated buzz in the community. Due to the shortage, some districts are scrambling to fill open positions. That’s led to new hires being offered salaries higher than other teachers who’ve worked in their district for years.

Among the board’s formal actions at the Sept. 18 session was the hiring of a Von E. Mauger School music teacher for $98,678. Community members are questioning the hire of a new-to-the-district teacher at a salary approaching six figures. The teacher is starting at the MA Step 18 on the district salary guide.

Pietrowski sounded an alarm for the district. “The teacher shortage has started,” she told the board. “It’s not at the pinnacle. It’s at the very beginning.”

“Middlesex is not competitive with other districts,” Pietrowski added, predicting that would lead to staff departures. “When you don’t respect your teachers, then they leave,” she said. 

If teachers are lured from other districts at higher salaries, it demonstrates to others that they can do the same thing, Pietrowski said.

“So please understand that. I don’t have to stay,” she said. “I stay if I want to stay. That’s going to be (the board’s) problem. When you can’t pay your bills and can’t take care of your own children, then you have to go.” 

Back in fall 2022, the New Jersey School Boards Association published an online commentary on the teacher shortage. “New Jersey is facing a dire teacher shortage – and unless the education community acts, there will continue to be a lack of qualified educators to teach the state’s children,” wrote Thomas A. Parmalee, managing editor of School Leader magazine.

Parmalee attributed the shortage to various reasons – the COVID-19 pandemic, salaries not keeping pace with inflation, and a teaching certification change enacted by the state Department of Education roughly 20 years ago.

The commentary quoted Luis M. Rojas Jr., a Paterson assistant superintendent, who explained the strategy of paying teachers more to lure them from other districts.

To help meet demand, the Paterson district has been flexible with salary offers, rarely starting out a new hire at step one, Rojas said. “We don’t just take a pompous attitude and provide a candidate with a salary based on what we believe is a cookie-cutter placement guide,” he said.

The starting salary in Paterson at that time, he said, was around $58,000. Rojas has no qualms about offering the right candidate with the right experience more. “It depends on the vacancy itself and how much of a need we have to fill the position,” he said. “The guide is nice, but realistically, very seldom is anyone starting in Paterson at step one.” 

For instance, if you are a chemistry teacher – even if you just graduated from college – there may be a school district that will hire you at step 10 since there is so much demand, Rojas said. “Are we going to squabble over $10,000?” he asked. “At the end of the day, the education of 30 students is more important than $10,000.” The alternative, he noted, is having someone who isn’t certified in that subject teaching students or relying on a substitute – and neither are considered good options.

Some New Jersey districts have already dealt with mass departures. Pietrowski noted that 60 teachers recently left the North Bruunswick district.

Despite the measures noted by Rojas, the Paterson district had about 150 vacant teaching positions at the start of September. To compensate, Paterson employed a variety measures. They included paying a Texas firm $2 million to conduct online classes. Districts in Hamilton Township, Jersey City and North Bergen are also covering teacher shortages with online contracts.

Pietrowski referred to past incidents she considered retaliation against her for public comments. She did not say specifically when they occurred, or who she believed to be responsible.

Neither board members nor their lead administrators responded to Pietrowski’s teacher departure warnings or claims of past retribution.

On her cell phone, Pietrowski said, she maintains a list of 17 instances that she considered retaliation over her 20-year career. They included being denied raises and having her classroom changed.

“Seventeen things were done to me personally, to hurt my career, because I came to this podium and opened my mouth,” Pietrowski said. “Hopefully I won’t be adding to it.”

“You can keep adding to the list,” she told the board, “but I’m not going to shut up.”

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