The educators of the East Orange School District work hard every day to educate the city's children. They volunteer their time after school, purchase supplies out of their own pocket, and generally go above and beyond to give every child a caring and loving environment in which to grow and develop.

In return, they deserve to be treated like professionals. They should not have to beg for a fair contract. They shouldn't have to rally outside the Board of Education to get their attention. But that's what we've been doing for two years.

The last contract the East Orange Education Association had expired August 31, 2014. We have been working without a contract since.

All we want is to be treated with respect, for the Board of Education to negotiate in good faith, and to be able to focus 100% of our efforts on what we do best: educating your child.

We have a mediation session with the Board of Education coming up on Wednesday, February 17. This is our last best chance to settle this contract before the process goes into a new phase and drags on for months.

Please write to the President of the East Orange Board of Education, Bergson Leneus, and urge him to bring the Board to the table in good faith and settle this contract. It's taken too long already. It shouldn't take any longer.