By Adam Pagnucco.
I first met Jennifer Martin almost a decade ago when she was vice president of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). I didn’t speak to her long, but I found her to be pleasant, polite and professional, a very proper English teacher. Years later, when I found out that she was elected MCEA president, I thought, “She’s such a nice lady. Is she tough enough for that job?”
Boy, I had no idea!
MCEA President Jennifer Martin. Picture from my interview with her in November 2022.
Martin has served just one three-year term, but it was an extremely eventful one. Her union faced the pandemic, prolonged negotiations with management, budget battles, the horrible Beidleman scandal, the removal of a superintendent and the recent threat of layoffs at MCPS. Martin may have entered office as a nice English teacher but she emerged as a warrior. I have seen other memorable labor leaders in MoCo – for example, the cerebral Tom Israel (MCEA), the bridge-building David Rodich (SEIU Local 500), the cunning Walt Bader (police) and the seemingly immortal Gino Renne (MCGEO), who can play his own good cop and bad cop almost simultaneously. None of them – not even Gino – exceeded Martin in sheer toughness.
It has always been hard to be a teacher. The public never sees how many hours they work outside of the classroom. The pressure of being responsible for the growth of young people and the ability to navigate their successes and difficulties is more than I could ever bear. And during Martin’s tenure, for reasons both local and national, the profession has become even harder. Martin’s response was to tell the truth as she saw it – in often blunt language – and take on anyone who stood in the way of her members getting what they deserve.
Just consider this list of quotes from her statements and those of MCEA during the last year.
MCEA, September 15, 2023 (on the first release of information from the Jackson Lewis report): “The investigators echoed our concerns that MCPS brazenly ignored our members’ urgent pleas. There were systemic failures at every level within MCPS. We are outraged to learn how extensive the cover-ups, negligence, and abuses of power were… MCPS created a culture where victims were silenced by fear of reprisal. A vicious cycle went unchecked, allowing this rampant abuse to continue.”
Martin, October 16, 2023 (on the Jackson Lewis report): “Despite all the blank spaces in the redacted report, it’s appallingly apparent that MCPS’s central office culture is corrupt and corrosive.”
Martin, January 12, 2024 (on an inspector general report): “The fact that a top leader was not disciplined or dismissed for failing to cooperate fully with the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigation indicates a lack of integrity at the highest levels of the system.”
MCEA, January 24, 2024 (on another inspector general report): “We are continually disheartened and disgusted by the continuing revelations of corruption, malfeasance, and unsafe working conditions in MCPS.”
Martin, May 17, 2024 (on the county council not fully funding MCPS’s budget): “As we recover from this unacceptable blow, we must now pivot our attention to MCPS’s next steps in the budget process. Any resulting cuts the Board of Education is forced to make should come from the top, not from our classrooms. Our students must have reasonable class sizes and access to the supports that will enable them to meet learning goals.”
Martin, May 23, 2024: “When faced with budget cuts, MCPS’s first move is to abandon loyal workers and the commitments the system has made to new hires. People’s lives are being upended because of executive leadership’s lack of competence and compassion. MCPS’s reputation as an employer will be shattered. And, most importantly, because of reductions in classroom staffing, students will suffer.”
Martin, June 7, 2024 (on county leaders): “We can’t let them solve their problems on our backs. Let’s ramp up our fight and keep pushing forward.”
Martin, June 12, 2024 (speaking to the school board): “We realize that among elected leaders we have few, if any, effective champions for education. While all of you on the board say you care about schools and the souls who work and learn here, where is the courage of your convictions? When are you going to speak forcefully and act with decisiveness in seeking resources we desperately need? It’s not easy for us to fight on the streets as we did but we are frustrated by the empty words and dismissiveness we receive from our elected leaders.”
None of that can top Martin’s greatest hit, a day that will live in infamy (at least at the county council): May 9, 2023. Who on Earth goes down to the council chamber, stands before them to accept a proclamation, then lectures them about their political contributions and launches a sit-in that shuts down their work session? Jennifer Martin, that’s who. Gino, eat your heart out!
The looks on the faces of council members as Martin discusses their political contributions says it all.
The criticism I have heard of Martin centers in part on statements like the above. Some believe she could have received more from the county using honey rather than castor oil. But here’s the truth: MCPS has gotten bigger budget increases over the last three years than at any time since before the Great Recession even if the teachers are not satisfied with it. In Martin’s defense, neither she nor her union caused the Beidleman scandal, its many consequences, or the inexplicable recent behavior of the school board and management. And as someone who worked for labor unions in the first part of my career, I can tell you that union leaders have to reflect the opinions of their members – especially the vulnerable ones. If the job of a union leader is to defend the members, Jennifer Martin did her job the best way she knew how.
In many ways, the path forward for the teachers looks just as challenging as the past year. MCPS is one of the county’s most important institutions, and MCEA – its largest union – is one of the county’s most influential organizations. As Martin retires this month, the strategic choices of her successors will play an important role in the next chapter of Montgomery County history.