By Mark Alexander
(From The Montclair Times, September 6th, 2012)
Editor’s note: Attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Mark Alexander of Montclair is contributing a first-person account of the event to The Montclair Times readers. A law professor at Seton Hall University, Alexander was the New Jersey director of the 2008 Barack Obama for President campaign.
During the Republican National Convention last week, The Montclair Times reached out to an attendee from Montclair to contribute a similar account of the Republican National Convention and the presidential nomination of Mitt Romney, but the attendee declined to participate.
The Democratic Convention in Charlotte has so much going on. Like many children in New Jersey headed back to school this morning, I spent my Tuesday morning at the Convention, being taught valuable lessons from teachers, administrators and leaders for education reform. Democrats for Education Reform, moderated by Montclair’s own Jonathan Alter, helped place into proper context that education reform is a long-term battle — not one we should be looking to solve with quick fixes.
New Jersey State Sen. Teresa Ruiz clearly understands the need for a long-term approach to the lingering education problems facing New Jersey and our nation. This past year, Senator Ruiz led the successful fight to reform teacher tenure in New Jersey. Her conscientious and thoughtful approach to what had been a divisive issue not only unanimously passed in the New Jersey Legislature, but Sen. Ruiz’s bill is now being used as a model for reform in states across the nation.
The New Jersey Delegation Breakfast this past Tuesday morning featured Donna Brazile as the keynote speaker. Donna fired up the New Jersey delegation with a rousing speech on how Democrats are offering solutions to protect the middle class and to create jobs, and marveled at the lack of empathy the Republicans showed last week in Tampa.
Read the full post here.