(upbeat music) - Fresh off an interview with the great Spike Lee, we have Sean Spiller, the president of the NJEA.

Now, let me get this straight.

You come from an interview that you're doing with one of the keynote speakers here, Spike Lee at the NJEA Convention here in Atlantic City.

What was it like interviewing the Spike Lee?

- Well, it's exactly like you just set that up.

It's the Spike Lee, right?

We're out there, we're sitting down, and "Mr. Spike Lee," you know, "here's my first question."

You know, as you sit here, you know this whole time, right?

- By the way, I got list of some of Sean's questions.

- You got the questions there, right?

And I probably get two words into the first question before he is like, "And another thing."

- Hold on, don't tell me he was wearing his Knick stuff.

- Oh, full on, full on.

Absolutely.

- He's the greatest Knick fan of all time.

- Yep, no question.

- So you talked about the Knicks, talked about what else?

- Well, listen, we were trying to talk a little bit about education, right?

- Oh, that?

- That too, right?

But he's a professor, college professor, and certainly he gets that.

- Doesn't have he have, I'm sorry for interrupting, he has his mother, grandmother, both educators?

- Yeah, both educators.

And really helped inspire him in the work that he does and it encouraged him.

You know, he spoke about that a little bit, and I think it's important as we're here at convention, just that encouragement he got from his mother, grandmother to say, "Go into the arts.

Focus on that.

You want to do film?

That's excellent."

And he just highlighted that we should make sure we're encouraging kids to go into these spaces and not cutting these programs from schools, you know, which we often see are the first to go with budgetary cuts.

- And it's not an accident that Spike Lee is in fact here at the NJEA convention, let me disclose NJEA has strong support, a longtime supporter of the Caucus Educational Corporation, and the family of public broadcasting, and a lot of our programs and public broadcasting.

Let me try this.

Spike Lee, his art, his films, right?

There's a film festival going on, but they're not indiscriminate films about any topics.

There are themes, talk about them.

- Yeah, we're talking really about celebrating our rich diversity, right?

Exploring social conversations, talking about cultural intersection points, talking about how we engage in important conversations in our classrooms in an appropriate way.

Talk about how these things are all connected.

And what's happening here at convention is there's a number of films.

Oftentimes, we've got the producers or others who are part of it.

- We've interviewed several of them here.

- Who are affiliated with, who then can speak to the audience afterwards.

So we're having our own little film festival, if you will.

But really it's an opportunity to talk about how are we engaging in the work in our classrooms with our students, but talking about important conversations in a way that oftentimes, I don't want to say relaxes people, but it's a way to talk about something, sometimes it's a little easier through film or through art that it's a little different in conversation.

- But you know, one of the themes beyond the social justice, the racial, very honest conversation about race, racial equity and racial justice, et cetera.

One of the other themes that I've been wanting to talk to you about has to do with mental health.

The mental health of our educators.

To use the term burnout is people may not really, because it's used a lot, "Like what do you mean burnout?"

It goes so far beyond that, talk about the wellness of our educators, Sean.

- Well, I appreciate you asking that.

In that way too, because I think, and rightfully so, there's so much focus on student mental health, which is huge and unbelievably important.

But the very people really on the front lines trying to help our students with that student mental health crisis that we're facing are also suffering from mental health challenges right now, right?

We all experienced COVID and, you know, are coming through that in a way that we're traumatized.

We're talking with educators who are doing more and more as society demands more and more of our schools and our educators.

That's a heavy burden in many ways where, you know, we're responsible to make sure students are fed, we're responsible to make sure we're identifying points of crisis in a student or family.

We're charged with how do we make sure our communities as a whole are succeeding?

But there's a lot of stress that goes with that.

And I think it's important for educators to understand, just like you hear when you first get on that plane, you've got to put that oxygen mask on yourself first before you can help the person next to you.

And we've got to make sure we're focusing on our educators mental health as much as we are as students and others.

- But there's a follow up to this because it's even more complicated on so many levels shown and you live it, tell everyone as an educator, you have, it's not just that you're an officer of the high school?

- Right, right, high school science teacher as well.

You know, and certainly in that capacity, and as you know, a couple other hats as well, but yes.

- I'm a Montclair resident, this is the mayor, okay?

Not here in that capacity.

But here's the other thing.

You and I have never shied away from talking about some tough stuff, like how political discussions about education have become, in boards of education, in classrooms, parents' rights, students' rights.

What the heck position does that put our educators in?

- Yeah.

Our educators and our students, right?

I think important because... - And parents.

- And parents, all of us, right?

And by the way, we're the partners in all of this work together.

I'll start with this, it's been extremely frustrating to see, certainly inspiring in ways when we look at recent election results.

- We're taping just a few days after the November 7th legislative election.

Let's just say the NJEA, involved.

- Okay?

- Involved.

- And culture wars.

People use the term culture wars, what the heck are they talking about?

And what does that have to do with education and educators?

- Right, and well, the ones who were talking about it first off, it certainly showed that it didn't play well in their, I think their goal, which was political.

It wasn't about education, right?

That's the problem.

- So, hold on, to be clear, you're arguing that Republicans who engaged in issues around, "Hey, our parents should know if a fifth grader is telling a teacher, or an educator, an administrator, that they're thinking about changing their gender, parents have a right to know," which is a legitimate issue.

You say, "Okay, didn't play well.

The results are what they are.

People can determine what that means."

Democrats picked up more seats than they had before.

Complicated stuff.

Going back to educators.

What does it all mean for an educator?

- Right.

Well, that's why it's frustrating because, and here's why I say it's political, because the answer, when you talk to any educator, any teacher is gonna say, "Of course, we want parents to know everything about their student.

Of course, we want to interact and make sure."

I mean, we're the first ones calling home, trying to engage in these conversations.

"Here's how your child's doing."

You know, "they did wonderfully on this.

We need some help here."

Those are the conversations that have always happened, right?

Anyone who's been a parent.

- But it feels different now, Sean.

- It does, but that's why it's frustrating, because to say in the instances where an educator is worried about a student's safety, that we have to go talk to a parent.

In that rare instance, where the parent might be part of a household that is not safe for that student.

We wouldn't put a student in harm's way anywhere.

And I think parents get that, right?

They want to know, I'd want to know.

- But who determines that?

I mean, this is where it gets tricky.

Is it the educator's responsibility to make a determination as to whether a parent could, should know?

- No, I think that's why we look at it and say, "Listen."

When a student would come to you on any issue, you talk to that student.

You have, hopefully, a relationship, a trust there.

- Right, we have a daughter in the eighth grade in the Montclair Public Schools, go ahead.

- And oftentimes they're talking to their teacher because they might be trying something out that they want to bring home to their parents next.

Or they want to walk through something in their mind, right?

They're growing, you know, kids, and we're here to listen to that, hear them.

And, "Okay, that's great."

You know, "Where are you at?

Are you ready to go talk to your parents about that?

What are you thinking next?"

And we help coach them through that.

Now, if in that rare instance they go, you know, "Please, please, Mr. Spiller," you know, "do not say anything to my parents, my God."

You know, they sometimes talk a little hyperbole, but you know, who knows what could happen?

We have to honor that and respect that.

You know, we have to assess that, of course, in a way, but you know, it starts from a place of the students have to be safe.

And I think the public, by and large, absolutely comes down on that side.

Parents want to know, I want to know as a parent, right?

I've got kids, I want to know what's going on.

But I also know that if a student, my student, my kids don't feel safe in a certain space, I want them always to be safe, right?

And I want their teacher, their educators, always to keep them safe, no matter what that is.

And I hope I can help support that as a parent.

- Last question.

With everything going on in the world of education, how political it's become for so many, you're out beating teacher shortage, teacher burnout, mental health issues of all ranges.

- All connected.

- All connected.

- Yeah.

- You're bullish on education because?

- Well, we've got the number one schools in the nation, right?

Over and over and over, number one in the nation.

And I'm bullish on it because we've got the very best educators who understand that we have to be engaged in politics and in so many spaces to get pro-public education individuals elected so we can lobby them and push for what our schools need, what we need as educators, what our students and our communities need to keep the very best schools in the nation, right?

It's that cycle that I think works.

I'm bullish on that and right now, we need to use that leverage to say, "Here are ways we can get more people into the profession and keep more people."

'Cause we're just not recruiting and we're not retaining.

- Let me disclose one more time, if we missed it earlier.

The New Jersey Education Association, longtime supporters, underwriters, if you will, of public broadcasting and of our production company, the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Mr. Mayor, Mr. President, Sean, thank you.

- Always great to see you.

- You got it.

- Thanks for having me.

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