Teachers joyful on release from jail
Approximately
400 turn out to
show support
By alison granito
Staff Writer

JERRY WOLKOWITZ The first group of Middletown teachers to be released from Monmouth County jail in Freehold on Friday wave to the crowd assembled to greet them at the county courthouse.

Although they did not enjoy the experience, if you ask many of the Middletown Township Education Association (MTEA) members who spent part of last week in the jail, they say they would make the decision to go again.

Approximately 225 teachers, secretaries and nurses from the Middletown Township School District were released from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, during a process that took several hours on Friday.

A crowd of approximately 400 family members, fellow teachers, students, and sympathetic parents waited for the unmarked white sheriff’s vans to ferry the first load of female prisoners the short distance from the jail to an area in the parking lot of the Monmouth County Court House that had been cordoned off as a reception area.

High School North junior Laura Carew said that she came down to Freehold when she heard that the teachers would be getting out of jail that afternoon.

FARRAH MAFFAI Middletown High School North reopens early Monday after being closed for seven days due to a teachers’ strike.

"I love my teachers so I wanted to come down and support them," said Laura.

"I’m glad they got out and that we can finally get back to normal," she added, noting that after missing a week of classes, most students were bored.

As soon as a van carrying the first load of teachers came into sight driving up Court Street, a cheer went up from the crowd. Many carrying homemade signs with messages of support written on them ran to line the street so that those on the van could read them as they drove into the lot.

At a press conference earlier in the week, jail officials said that the teachers would "be treated like any other prisoner."

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Kathleen Clifton, a teacher at Harmony School in Middletown, greets her daughter Carly, 12, and son Kevin, 10, after being released from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold, on Friday.

Director Gary Hilton said that any illusion that going to jail might somehow be glamorous would be dispatched shortly.

"It will not be pleasant. They will not enjoy their stay. But they will be cared for to the best of our ability," said Hilton.

"When they leave us, we don’t expect that they will like us," he added.

Warden Cliff Daniels said that the teachers would have to adjust to a jail environment, because jail was not going to adjust to them.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Donna Bower (r), a teacher at Middletown High School South, becomes emotional after being released from Monmouth County jail Friday afternoon and is comforted by Pat Smith, a retired High School South teacher.

The MTEA members, who spent time in jail were subject to the same daily routine as any other prisoner, although most were housed separately from the general population.

Those in jail were processed like any other inmate, issued the standard brown prison jumpsuit and assigned a work detail.

Different teachers relayed a variety of experiences from inside the jail on Friday. Some praised the staff of the jail for their professionalism while others had gripes about conditions.

According to Anna Little, an attorney who was allowed face to face visits with her mother, Ann Campbell, a teacher "who had never seen the inside of a jail until Tuesday," the jail conditions were unsatisfactory.

PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI Diane Swaim (top), president of the Middletown Township Education Association (MTEA), addresses a gathering of union members from the steps of the Monmouth County Hall of Records in Freehold last week.

Little, a Highlands resident who specializes in immigration law, said that the teachers were placed in an antiquated wing, where the water coming out of the pipes was brown. They were not given enough blankets and did not have adequate access to their necessary medication, she said.

Little, who noted that her father was a former MTEA president, described the treatment of the teachers as "worse than the treatment criminals get."

"I’m sorry the board did not get a chance to experience what we experienced," High School South teacher Jane Balk told the media shortly after stepping off the van on Friday.

Balk said that although it was difficult to adjust to the strict routine of jail, she understood that the purpose was to keep inmates from "losing their minds."

The teachers’ strike and subsequent jailing of more than 200 for contempt of court became a national news story.

"We did what every other prisoner did," said Balk.

Other teachers who were in lock up concurred, describing work details, which included scraping lunch trays, mopping floors, and cleaning toilets.

Margaret Bauer, an elementary school teacher, said that the teachers were "treated very respectfully by the jail staff."

"Our morale was up. We were there to support one another," said Bauer, who added that she was looking forward to getting back into the classroom on Monday.