Jailed N.J. teachers released as strike ends

Associated Press

FREEHOLD, N.J. — Nearly 230 teachers were ordered freed from jail Friday after they and their colleagues agreed to end a bitter, nine-day strike. It was the nation’s biggest mass jailing of striking teachers in 23 years.

The Middletown Township teachers decided to return to class next week while the dispute between their union and the Board of Education is submitted to mediation.

Teachers were freed in groups from the Monmouth County Jail and taken by bus to a courthouse parking lot, where they were met by cheering family, friends and colleagues bearing flowers and balloons.

"I never want to see another bologna sandwich," high school mathematics teacher Ann Campbell said.

Teachers in the well-to-do community walked out Nov. 29 over health benefits but were hit with a back-to-work order issued by Judge Clarkson S. Fisher Jr.

When they defied the order, he began sending them to jail Monday to try to end the strike. He and two other judges went down the list of names alphabetically, starting with the As and Bs and getting into the Rs.

As of Friday, about one-quarter of the 1,000-member staff was behind bars. The teachers were given one-week sentences and told they could get out earlier if they agreed to return to their classrooms. Seven relented before Friday.

Before they were led away to jail in handcuffs, many of the teachers made impassioned speeches about their love of the job and their willingness to suffer the consequences of their defiance. Many were excused from the jail terms because of hardship or family reasons.

At least three teachers announced their retirements or resignations rather than face jail time.

The National Education Association said it was the biggest mass jailing of striking teachers since 1978, when 265 were locked up for 18 days in Bridgeport, Conn.

The teachers, who make an average of $56,000 annually, are fighting a move to increase their health care premiums by up to $600 per person, per year. Currently, they pay $250. The district has 10,500 students.