- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program, part of our miniseries, "Urban Education That Works," with a leader in urban education.

Paula White is the Executive Director of JerseyCAN.

Paula, good to see you.

- Good to see you, Steve, thanks for having me.

- You got it.

The website's up, tell everyone what JerseyCAN is.

- JerseyCAN is an advocacy and policy organization.

We are focused on getting every child in the State of New Jersey a high-quality education, regardless of any of their demographic markers, how much their parents make, what their zip code is.

We believe that every child deserves a high-quality education.

- Along those lines, this National Report Card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, how are Jersey urban public schools doing?

- New Jersey's urban public schools are not doing well, and, you know, if there there's anything that I would want our listeners to leave with, it's just, you know, three realities, which is that we have to level up for all learners in the State of New Jersey, and, right now, that is not happening.

We also need to recognize that better is possible, and we have national examples of where that is the case.

And, finally, it's not just about hard work, but the right work, and that's what will get us there.

- Let me ask you this.

At a time like this, I know states get compared all the time with each other, but this got my attention.

Fourth-grade students in states like Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, their reading proficiency, unless I have this wrong, is higher than fourth-grade students in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities?

- Steve, you're exactly right.

The reality is that four of the 10 poorest states in the United States of America, their fourth-graders, who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, are actually reading more proficiently than are socioeconomically disadvantaged fourth-graders in the State of New Jersey.

And that is why we know that better is possible, because, of course, we are on the other end of that spectrum, we are one of the wealthiest states in the union.

And so, certainly what we know is that if they can do it, we can do it too.

New Jersey has been a leader in education, but we have to level up for all learners in our state.

- You and your colleagues at JerseyCAN are engaged and involved, and we've done a series of interviews looking at literacy in the State of New Jersey.

You're very much involved in literacy as an advocate, please, talk about that.

- We formed a coalition called the New Jersey Legacy of Literacy Coalition.

And what is important to know about that is that, this is not a flavor of the month idea.

It is really about saying the legacy of literacy must remain constant in the State of New Jersey, and that we must focus on it across party lines, regardless of who gets in the governor's seat, that this is something that we must focus on.

We've got cross-sector organizations, parent organizations, nonprofit organizations, all-teacher organizations, all focused on this idea that we need every child in the State of New Jersey reading proficiently.

We also have folks from the business community, and, as you can well imagine, these folks are very much invested in the idea that if they're gonna be able to stay in our state and attract local state-level talent, we've gotta have readers.

As it relates to who New Jersey's next governor will be after Governor Murphy, what do you believe the most significant top urban education policy, agenda item should be?

Please, Paula.

- We certainly need to implement our policies and recent legislation that's been passed around literacy.

We worked very hard with Senate Majority Leader, Teresa Ruiz, to pass legislation that would have some teeth that would focus on teacher preparation and support, that would focus on using the right curriculum, screening students on a regular basis, notifying parents of where their students fall along the continuum of reading, and making sure that their high-quality instructional material is in the classroom.

So what we need is proper implementation, because, as I stated earlier, it's not just about hard work, it's about the right work.

Because our educators in the State of New Jersey are working very hard, but if we're not doing the right work, we're not gonna see the results.

So it will be important for the governor to whomever is in the commissioner's seat, to make sure that we are incentivizing and sending a clear message to the districts in the State of New Jersey; "This is what works, and we are supporting that based on the guidance that we're giving you, based on the grants that are available to districts.

You know, we are gonna be very clear about what works and that is what we will incentivize, and that is what we will support."

So, for example, we wanna make sure that we are not supporting practices that don't work.

A lot of students have been taught to guess what a word is, or "Look at the picture to help you read."

Well, we know that a picture doesn't help you read, right?

Because, you could look at something, it could be a stone, but it could be a rock, it could be a pebble.

You need to understand how the code of the language works.

And so, these are the kinds of strategies that we want to say, "You cannot use these strategies, and if you do, we will not support your district as far as incentivizing around grants and things of that nature."

It's not just hard work, it's the right work.

- Interesting how Paula talks about what doesn't work.

And if we're doing this series, "Urban Education That Works," we need to understand, based on the evidence, what does not work, and one more quick question on this.

There are folks who say, "Let's get rid of the Federal Department of Education," and, "It doesn't really impact students' lives," well, there are real dollars, real resources, as it relates to urban education, particularly K through 12, what are your concerns?

And, again, it's late March, we don't know really what the ultimate makeup is gonna be on the federal government side as it relates to the Department of Education.

What's your greatest concern, Paula?

- You know, I've never had aspirations to be a weather person, and, certainly, you know, trying to predict what will happen here, you know, may feel a little bit like a fool's errand, but what I will say is that, to the extent that we have federal laws that govern what must happen in terms of how we support our learners, and knowing that every single learner is worthy of support and needs to be supported, regardless if they are students with disabilities and so on, it will be incumbent upon us to follow federal law, regardless of what the pass-through mechanism is for those dollars.

Those dollars need to be allocated to our students and they need to have them.

But, you know, we know that education is primarily a local concern, we know that education does not appear in the Constitution, that word.

So, really, it's about our local, you know, primarily about the state, and are we optimizing where we can?

Are we focusing on the locus of our control, which is at the state level.

So we have to optimize all of the levers at our disposal.

- Paula White, Executive Director of JerseyCAN, their website's been up throughout the entire segment, make sure you check it out.

Paula, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.

- It's been a pleasure.

Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- Welcome back, folks.

We're having an important conversation about vaccines, what you need to know.

You'll see the graphic come up.

It's an ongoing initiative we're involved in.

We kick off with Dr. Lucy Pereira-Argenziano, who is a senior vice president, chief quality officer of the Northern Region at Hackensack Meridian Health, our healthcare partner in this initiative together with the New Jersey Department of Health.

And their website will be up as well.

Doctor, good to see you.

- That's wonderful.

Thank you for having me.

- Well, listen, listen, we've been having offline conversations about this.

Vaccines, we're doing this in late March.

It'll be seen many months after that.

What do we need to know about vaccines first, please?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So vaccines are incredibly important.

It allows our immune system to recognize and protect us against infections.

Once we receive a vaccination, our body learns to recognize that bacteria and/or that virus in the future, so if we are exposed to that illness in the future, it does prevent us from becoming ill or becoming sick.

- Get a couple things out of the way.

There are multiple types of vaccines.

Can we talk about the MMR vaccine?

What does that stand for, A, when is it administered, and what do we need to know about it, please, Doctor?

- Sure, absolutely.

So it's the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination.

It is given in childhood, generally from the first, it is given at one year, and then subsequent, the secondary dose is given later on throughout that year.

And there are booster shots that can be given as an adult gets older, as well as there could be waiting or decreasing immunity as time goes on.

- Doctor, what the heck is going on with measles?

Again, we're doing this when we're doing it.

We don't know, we hope and pray that things do not get worse, but what is the issue with measles, and what does that have to do with, frankly, the reduction, fewer people getting vaccines for measles, please?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So vaccines and vaccinations are incredibly important in helping to prevent, not only the infection to the specific person that receives the vaccination, but also to the general population as well.

So what we actually see is that it protects the person themselves, but then also it protects the community, or as we call it, as herd immunity.

So, unfortunately, as we start to see decreasing numbers of individuals receiving vaccinations, what that then allows is for greater infections to occur within the community, and, unfortunately, therefore, a greater burden of infection and a greater number of people being infected throughout.

- Well, talk to folks right now, who have children, who have babies, and who are, quote, "reluctant, concerned" because they've heard something about vaccines and autism.

What do we need to know?

- There have been several studies that have been done, looking specifically at the link for measles, mumps and rubella vaccination and the linkage to autism.

And that linkage has actually been disproven, or it is not, it does not, the MMR vaccine does not cause autism.

So that has been seen in the literature and has been proven in multiple, multiple studies.

So we do feel safe in administering the MMR vaccine to patients and recommending it, and also even for myself, having immunized my own children.

I will say that there is a tremendous amount of research that goes into the development of vaccinations before they are put out to the public in order to ensure that they are safe.

In addition to that, even after a vaccination is put forth and recommended and put out into the population, we continue to track those vaccinations incredibly closely.

There is a Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System where, again, we can log any adverse events that we see related to any immunization.

And that is tracked continuously, really to look to see if there's any areas of concern that we need to be looking for, and, again, any trends that, again, need to be investigated or studied further.

- So, Doctor, we would know if there were a problem?

- We would.

So we do continue to track that.

Again, this is done, the CDC, the FDA continually look at that information and track it very, very closely.

- Okay, so- - Safety is the main priority for our patients.

- I'm sorry for interrupting, Doctor.

So I said that we're doing this in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Health with the help and support of Hackensack Meridian Health, but I just wanna be clear on something.

The website's going up right now for the New Jersey Department of Health.

They have a specific section dealing with vaccines.

So if someone said, "Well, where do I...

I read all kinds of things on the internet, I saw something on my Instagram feed," or Facebook, whatever social media.

Where should people be going to get accurate, credible, factual information about vaccines, Doctor?

- So that's a great question.

There is so much information that's currently out there on the internet and being surfaced.

So really looking for a source of information that is evidence-based and scientific is critical and key.

- Explain to folks what evidence-based means.

- Absolutely.

So evidence-based means that there's research conducted, and, again, this is research that's conducted over large populations, specifically to look in vaccinations to ensure that they are safe, to ensure that there aren't adverse effects that we need to be concerned about.

And, like I mentioned before, this is done over time, not only in the study period, but we continue to look, even after vaccines are launched, to ensure that they are safe and that there's nothing else to worry about.

So really anchoring back to those sites for information is critical and key.

And the New Jersey Department of Health does have a great site, which provides information, a lot of information, actually, about vaccines themselves and also vaccine safety.

- I'm curious about this.

Someone says, "It's my choice."

And there are public officials who have said, "Here's the information, but it's your choice," that it's a, quote, "personal choice."

From your perspective, from a public health perspective, Doctor, is it simply my choice, your choice, anyone's personal choice whether they get a vaccine or not, or is there a larger potential impact on others, particularly those who are more vulnerable with their immune system?

- Absolutely.

So, again, yeah, I do agree that there is a choice that is part of the decision-making for vaccinations.

Although, what I would say along with that is that there's a responsibility to truly understand the implications of those decisions as well.

And I think that gets back to, as you mentioned, going back to sources of information that are scientific and evidence-based in order to make those determinations.

Because, as you were highlighting, that decision to immunize or to not immunize, more specifically to not immunize, impacts not only that patient or their child, but also the community at large.

There are family members, loved ones, and others in our community who are more vulnerable and susceptible to these infections.

- Explain why they're more vulnerable, Doctor.

- Absolutely.

So, if we look at young, young infants, before they're able to be immunized and before they've actually built up a true and robust immune system, and/or others within our community that might have a weakened immune system, there are many reasons for a weakened immune system, they either might not be candidates for some of those, for some of those immunizations, or they have may have lost their immunity to those immunizations as well.

So, in order to protect them, again, looking at decreasing the amount of infection and/or potential for their exposure within the community is actually critical and key to protecting them as well.

- Doctor, I cannot thank you enough for being part of our series, "Vaccines: What You Need To Know."

Not anyone's opinion, this is peer-reviewed, which is a fancy way of saying, "Been researched from every perspective and vetted information you need to know."

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- Folks, we're now joined by Wayne Blanchard, who's the President of the State Troopers Fraternal Association.

Good to see you, Wayne.

- Steve, thanks for having me.

- You got it.

The website is up for the association.

You represent all the State Troopers, do you not?

- Yes, sir, all 1,900 of them.

- 1,900, and the role of the association is what?

- I mean, day-to-day collective bargaining, you know, grievances, legislation, where we're lobbying for a few bills.

Now, I was just down in Trenton yesterday, so, you know, very proud of what we do for our members and our record over the last eight years with my administration.

- Wayne, what's the most pressing, quote, "piece of legislation" in front of both Houses that matter most to our troopers?

- So we have a couple pieces of pension legislation.

So I testified on yesterday in Senate Budget.

One of them has to do with giving our troopers the availability to buy back some credit time from other endeavors, such as Class II special police, their academy service time.

And it's important because it gives us parity with our colleagues on the local county level.

And then there's a mechanism to buy military service academy time, which I think is a nice ditch for recruiting purposes.

And, and look, you know, as an organization, Colonel Schwarzkopf himself, our first superintendent, was a graduate of West Point, so, you know, I think it's a nice touch.

- Most people do not know that General Norman Schwarzkopf's dad was the first Head of the State Police.

Wayne, lemme ask you this, the Attorney General's report, you've commented on this before, the Attorney General's report says that there needs to be a massive overhaul of the state police, two independent reports on racial and gender discrimination saying that we are not where we need to be with respect to the State Trooper force as it relates to a more diversified workforce.

You say?

- So the first thing I'd say, again, I'm very proud of our record.

We've worked very hard with all the different groups of troopers that we represent, with other stakeholders in the community, and the legislature.

I think when you look at that report, I think it's 100 or 155 active, retired, and former troopers.

So I'm not so sure what former troopers means, but I have concerns with the validity of some of it.

When you talk about retired and former troopers, did they leave the organization with axes to grind and provide, you know, kind of suspect information?

- Well, I wanna be clear, you are confident that the level of diversity and gender and race in the State Police is what it needs to be?

- We're doing well.

Our position is we could always do better.

And again, we talk about efforts we've done with minority recruiting, things of that nature.

Now, where I have concerns is in that report, it was turned against us about how we treat pregnant females.

We treat them quite well.

We promulgated a policy in 2021.

It was the Attorney General's Office that actually unilaterally came in and took the policy away from our female troopers.

We've grieved that policy.

We've prevailed in the grievance forum, and it's also been recognized.

The legislature introduced a bill.

I testified on that, and it has cleared the full assembly, and we're waiting to move it in the Senate to give our female troopers their recovery leave rights.

- Wayne, help us understand this.

Obviously, the relationship between federal law enforcement, state, local, counties, complicated stuff.

Break this down in terms of those of us who are not in law enforcement can understand, our audience, in particular.

The ICE agency, the federal agency responsible for deportation of those who are here illegally, what is the role of the federal law enforcement officials versus, not versus, as it relates to the state?

Do state police have any role in that at all?

- So it's important to note that in 2019, the Attorney General's Office put out a directive.

That directive does not allow state, local, or county officers in New Jersey to participate in ICE operations.

Now, that's not withstanding certain task force and day-to-day enforcement of state laws.

In addition, the federal ICE officers are not allowed to utilize state or, you know, local police facilities, equipment, technology, databases, et cetera.

So look, as I said, troopers, we're professional.

We're proud to follow orders.

We're proud to have a role in the criminal justice system.

We respect everybody's dignity.

So we abide by that policy day in and day out.

Where I do have concerns, Steve, is that, you know, the lack there over the prohibition of communicating with our federal partners could present a safety issue for our troopers.

- Hold on, Wayne.

I need to understand.

We need to understand that.

Are you saying the current policy, the official policy in the state of New Jersey, is that you and your colleagues in the State Police cannot communicate with federal law enforcement agencies as it relates to immigration?

- Yes, Steve, you know, when you look at the policy, it's, you know, open-ended in both fashions.

So we're prohibited from, you know, collaborating with ICE or participating in their operations.

They're prohibited from coming to facilities, utilizing our equipment, our technology, our databases, so that, essentially, prohibits communication, which again, for me, it rises to concern of trooper safety.

Will it facilitate some type of, you know, tragedy down the road?

- Respectfully, then, Wayne, who's in charge?

- Well, I mean, when you, you look at this issue and that policy, I would say the Attorney General's Office is the one that promulgated that policy.

We follow it, and, you know, the federal government and the ICE agents have their own set of guidelines that they follow.

- You know, it's not my job to editorialize, but when law enforcement agencies are not in sync in coordinating implementation of policy, that can get tricky.

Is that a fair assessment, Wayne?

- That's exactly why I cited, I have, you know, trepidation about, you know, trooper safety, that a lack of communication could facilitate an issue down the road.

- What about safety for the general public as well?

- Agreed, agreed.

- Let let me ask you this.

You've been in law enforcement for how many years?

- 25 this year, Steve.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for your service.

- Thank you.

- To what degree, Wayne, are you concerned about the perception on the part of some that there's an anti-police view out there?

And again, defund the police, that issue seems to have gone away in the eyes of even those who are advocating it.

But here's my question.

Where do you think we are in terms of public opinion on law enforcement?

And I know it's a complex question.

- So look, there's still concern.

There's still an anti-police sentiment out there.

I agree with you, Steve.

I think it's getting better, but look, it's causing issues with, like, for instance, recruiting.

Our recruiting numbers are down.

And I think the anti-police sentiment plays a large part to blame for that.

You know, but what I would say is, you know, we've done a lot with all of our partners, community stakeholders, the legislature, you know, working to work on a number of pieces of legislation and other policy that I think are gonna be successful in getting confidence back in police.

You know, one of them I would name is police licensing.

But my point is we're only a couple of years into this, and I think like any policy, you have to allow the policy time to be implemented and work and then you reevaluate, you know, maybe a decade later, not two, three years later, and try to continue to make changes.

We need to see what we're doing, if what we did recently is working.

- Wayne Blanchard is the President of the State Troopers Fraternal Association.

Again, congratulations on the 25 years.

Thank you for your service.

We'll make sure we have you back.

Thank you, Wayne.

- Thank you, Steve.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

That's Wayne Blanchard, and we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

New Jersey Children’s Foundation.

Delta Dental of New Jersey.

NJM Insurance Group.

United Airlines.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

PSE&G.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

And by The Adler Aphasia Center.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Monthly.

And by Meadowlands Media.

- At the New Jersey Children's Foundation, we believe all children should have access to a high quality public education regardless of where they live.

We believe schools should place students on paths to success, and we invest in schools and educators who are meeting those needs.

Whatever your seat on the bus: student, parent, teacher, business leader, you have a role in our mission.

In Newark, district and charter schools show great education is possible.

We're working to unite people across the city and state to provide students with the schools they deserve.