TEACHERS UNION ENDORSES RAAB, MALESPINA AND ROBERTS FOR SCHOOL BOARD

The South Orange Maplewood Education Association, which represents district teachers, has issued its first school board election endorsement in more than a decade.

The nod goes to Marian Raab, Elissa Malespina and Shannel Roberts.

See the release below:

South Orange Maplewood Education Association is proud to announce that our
members are endorsing Team SOMA 2015 – Marian Raab, Shannel Roberts and
Elissa Malespina – in their campaign for three seats on the South Orange
Maplewood Board of Education.

This is the first time in over a decade SOMEA has endorsed candidates for
the Board of Ed. We were moved to do by Marian, Shannel and Elissa’s strong
commitment to students, teachers and public education. Team SOMA 2015’s
main platform points of Communication, Common Sense and Courage resonates
with our members, who have chosen a profession dedicated educating children.

Marian, Shannel and Elissa’s children all attend South Orange and Maplewood
public schools and they have been outspoken advocates for improving our
school system, spending countless hours at Board meetings that frequently
stretch long into the night. During these meetings, these three women have
had the courage to ask the Board tough questions about critical issues and
demand more transparency from our elected public officials.

Team SOMA 2015 has also been open with parents and educators alike about
their ideas for improving our school district, starting with the Board
Education moving to two meetings a month so that the public can be present
and more involved when important policy and fiscal decisions are made. For
example, the current Board voted at nearly 1:00 a.m. this past spring to
remove the failed International Baccalaureate program from the middle
schools. Dozens of middle school teachers, and others, testified in front
of the Board for over three years that IB was not working.

If elected, Marian, Shannel and Elissa would not have waited so long to
finally admit that a program the district spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars to implement is not working. Team SOMA 2015 will collaborate with
parents, teachers and administrators to make sure that the district’s over
$120 million annual school budget is spent wisely and in the best interests
of our students. They will also work to make sure that teacher have the
necessary training and support they need to help our students grow.

With approximately one-third of our staff members being residents, we know
that changes on the Board of Ed will affect not only our members as staff
of the district, but their families on a personal level as well. We are
very excited to support Marian, Shannel and Elissa and look forward to the
changes in communication, accountability and transparency they will bring
to the Board of Education.

SOMEA - Paula Bethea President