(upbeat music) - Hey, everyone.

Steve Adubato in Atlantic City.

Why?

Because it's the 2025 New Jersey Education Association Convention.

We are here, with the Vice President of the NJEA, Petal Robertson.

By the way, the reason you're looking at people is 'cause you got people (Petal laughs) all around here waving to you, - I do.

- giving you high-fives.

- I do.

It's the best time of the year.

- Tell us why this convention.

By the way, you've been to a few?

- I have been to a few.

- Why is this one with over 10,000 people so exciting for you?

- So for me, because we're coming off a really big NJEA win, our endorsed candidate for governor just won the gubernatorial seat.

- Governor Mikie Sherrill.

- So congratulations to Governor-elect, Mikie Sherrill.

So our members organized, and they rallied.

So them coming in and being able to celebrate that big win together.

And it's always a great time at convention.

So this is just my favorite time of year.

- So let's talk about that.

Because I was talking to Steve Beatty, to your president about that as well, about the NJEA involved.

And I'll disclose again, the NJEA, a longtime supporter of public broadcasting and of our programming as well.

Why is it so important for those who go, "Why are you involved in politics?

Why are you involved in campaigns?"

It's important that people understand that.

- Well, I think that everyone- - By the way, we're at a convention.

That's how you know stuff's going on around here.

(Petal laughing) Go ahead.

- Well, I think everyone should be involved in politics.

Everyone should be a participant in politics.

And we know that politics is heavily involved in education.

So educators, that is just a natural place for us to fit.

And as a union, we wanna make sure that we're empowering our members so that they can also get involved in politics and the communities around them.

- Along those lines, it's not so much politics, but it's government decisions, which, political.

The "Break in Service" law.

- Oh, this makes me happy.

- What the heck is it?

I talked to Steve about this as well.

- Yes.

- Explain to folks what it is and why it matters.

- So I'll give you a really, a simple breakdown of it.

So in 2011, the law changed, and it made it so that people who took more than two years out of the classroom got bumped out of their original retirement tier and bumped into tier five.

- So hold on.

Teacher takes a break.

- Teacher takes a break.

- Two years, you're out?

- Yeah.

I can give you a perfect example.

We had a teacher go on maternity leave, and on their maternity leave they found out that their child had special needs.

- Mm.

- So they decided to extend that maternity leave, and it extended past two years.

They go back to work thinking, "I'm still in tier one, I can still retire."

- Tier one means... - Means that I can retire at 55 with a good retirement savings.

And they think everything's good, and "I'm coming back to this classroom that I love, and I'll be able to retire."

But because of the law that changed in 2011, they were bumped out of their tier, and they were put into tier five, which means you can't retire until you're 65 years old for significantly less money than you originally planned.

And this we found, disproportionately affected women in our organization who had left to take care of children, themselves, some recovering from cancers, all of those things.

So we really rallied, we pushed hard, and we're so grateful to Governor Murphy for signing this bill into law because this now will restore the proper retirement for so many of our members.

- Petal, thank you.

First, thank you for laying that out.

But I'm curious about this.

For you, and I wanna mention, 'cause you understand this very well.

I'm gonna ask you a little bit about why education for you, but also the 2025 '26 "Teacher of the Year" is Gillian Ober.

- Yes.

- From Freehold?

- Yes.

- Why did, why a teacher for you, A and B, why is that so exciting for you to recognize Gillian?

- So one, Gillian is fantastic.

Like, you can feel her energy as soon as she comes into the room, and you can tell how passionate she is about her students.

But in this day and age, why I think Gillian is such a great example for us to uplift, is because Gillian works with many families who have just come to this country, and she works with many children who are just learning our language, and just getting to understand their communities.

And the level of patience that she has, the inclusivity that she teaches with, she's a gift.

- She's a gift.

- So she's got the passion.

- She, oh, she's got the passion.

- Now talk about yours.

- So- - How many years teaching?

- Oh my goodness.

I have been teaching since 2001.

- Okay.

- So I'm, I'm over two decades in, but I've been wanting to teach since I was five years old.

- Because... - Because I come from a line of teachers.

My mother was a teacher in Guyana, my family's from South America.

My grandfather opened a school in Guyana.

They actually just named a street after him.

- After your grandfather?

- After my grandfather.

That's awesome.

- Frederick Robertson.

Yes.

And so education has always been so important to us, and it's just been such a key to unlock so many doors for myself and my family, and for so many immigrant communities.

So I just feel very passionately about ensuring that every child has an equitable education.

- That's personal for you?

- Yes, very.

Very much so.

- Is it also personal on some level beyond the professional satisfaction of being the vice president- - Yeah.

- of the organization?

How much of that is personal for you?

You didn't go into this to become a leader?

- Oh no.

- And an officer in the organization.

- I tell people all the time, someone said, "Oh, did you, you know, when you were a kid, did you know that you would be the vice president of the union?"

And I said, "What kid dreams about being in a union?"

(Steve laughing) I was worried about quicksand.

But- - Wait, hold on.

(Petal laughing) You just can't say that.

Quicksand where you grew up?

- I thought quick... No, I just as a kid, I thought quicksand would be something that I would have to figure out how to maneuver out of.

I've never seen quicksand, Steve.

- Okay.

I just wanna clarify that.

But being a union leader- - But being a union leader- - not on the bingo card.

- Not, not on the bingo card at all.

But I realized that I am a big mouth, I am an activist, and I really love fighting for marginalized people and marginalized voices.

So it sort of naturally placed me in this position.

And I'm honored because I get to be the first black woman to ever serve as vice president of the NJEA.

And I hold that with pride.

- It is our honor and pleasure- - Thank you.

- to be here at the NJEA convention.

It's, again, you could hear what's going on around us.

- Yes.

- But the vibe here, before I let you go, I gotta tell you, the vibe here is awesome.

- Isn't it?

- And the keynote speaker, was it Malala?

- Yes.

- Malala... Yousafzai.

- Oh.

- Malala.

Tell everyone, one of the two keynote speakers.

- Yes.

- "She was awesome because..." - She was awesome because she gave the room hope.

And she let the room know that activism isn't about age, it's about passion, about your beliefs.

- But she's young.

But by her background, - Yes.

- Let folks know.

- She, so Malala started her activism for young girls, fighting for young girls to get an education.

And she was shot at 11 years old by the Taliban.

And she, and she never let it deter her.

As a matter of fact, it's forced her to push harder.

And she is now working in several countries ensuring that young girls are, are enabled an opportunity to receive an education.

And so her story, her humor, her warmth, all of those things were the reminder that we still have really great people in this world, and that we can be those really great people that we need.

- Inspiring.

- Oh, she was amazing.

She was amazing.

- This is Petal Robertson.

She's the vice president of the NJEA.

She knows how to navigate quicksand, apparently.

(Petal laughing) - I'm a pro.

- You're a pro.

I cannot thank you enough.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

- We appreciate you and your colleagues.

- I always enjoy it.

- And again, - Thank you.

- let me disclose again, the NJEA, a long time supporter of our programming and public broadcasting.

You may have heard of it.

(Petal laughing) Still pretty important.

I'm Steve Adubato.

We're in Atlantic City for the NJEA convention.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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

Funding has been provided by NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Stockton University.

Johnson & Johnson.

Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.

The North Ward Center.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Fund for New Jersey.

And by United Airlines.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by BestofNJ.com.

- Energetic music