His wife warned him: Don’t mention all your former students and other individual supporters in your reelection kickoff speech; you’ll inevitably forget someone important.
Ed Joyner didn’t listen.
At the official kick-off and first fundraiser for his Board of Education reelection campaign on Wednesday night, Joyner used Rolodex-like recall to spout off thanks to family friends, old professors, former students, onetime coworkers, city pols and school district officials.
Joyner’s long memory from a four-decade career in education was put on display for the 130 supporters who paid $100 each for plates of meatballs and stromboli and pitchers of Coca-Cola in a side room at Brazi’s Italian Restaurant on Long Wharf.
The acknowledgements portion — usually the routine, pro forma part of a campaign event — brought the school board candidate to tears. By the time he directed attention to two women he’d mentored some 35 years ago, Joyner halted his speech and dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
And he remembered everyone’s name, including long-grown former students from Jackie Robinson School.
The acknowledgements portion also highlighted a strength the one-term incumbent, one of the first two elected members of the school board since those positions were created two years ago, brings to his campaign against his challenger for the Democratic nomination, Jamell Cotto: a lifetime of personal connections throughout the city, both in education and beyond.
From “Brother” To Critic
Christopher Peak Photo
Supporters at Brazi’s.
In his first term, Joyner went from an ally of Mayor Toni Harp, whose transition team he co-chaired in 2013 (“I love her like a sister,” he declared at the time), to her most forceful critic on public education. Points of contention have included a now-abandoned system of having three separate principals run three mini-schools at Hillhouse; whether or not to keep Garth Harries as schools superintendent (he’s gone); and Harp’s decision to serve as president of the board for a term.
Three Board of Education members were in attendance Wednesday night: Daisy Gonzalez, the board president; Frank Redente, a Finance & Operations Committee member with Joyner (and whom Harp appointed to the school board); and former member Alicia Caraballo, whom Mayor Toni Harp declined to reappoint last September. So were staff from Hill Central School, including assistant principal Nicole Brown, and two fixtures at the board’s semi-weekly meetings, grandmothers Hazel Pappas and Florence Caldwell, who both worked to improve the district’s Title I programs for schools with high percentages of low-income students.
Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola and Wooster Square Alder Aaron Greenberg.
Yale University Police Chief Ronnell Higgins and New Haven Fire Department second-in-command Orlando Marcano, newly promoted to assistant chief of administration last week, both made it.
Three alders showed, Wooster Square’s Aaron Greenberg, who chairs the Education Committee, Morris Cove’s Sal DeCola and Upper Westville’s Darryl Brackeen, as did Ward 19 candidate Kim Edwards and Ward 26 Democratic Town Committee Co-Chair Sharon Jones. Marcus Paca, who’s seeking the Democratic mayoral nomination, showed up, too; he stressed he’s campaigning solely to serve mayor, not school board president. Joyner clashed with Harp over her decision to serve as board president before turning over the reins to Gonzalez.
While the event could have slipped into a pile-on about Harp’s tenure as ed board prez, only a few digs were lobbed the mayor’s way. (She wasn’t in attendance; at least some of her staff is allied with Joyner’s challenger.) Joyner said only that each player should “stay in our lanes” and not drag politics into schools, referencing a dig former Mayor John DeStefano made at Harp during a school dedication last year.
Rather, most of the evening focused on Joyner’s qualifications for the job. Joyner started teaching at Hillhouse in the 1970s, served as principal of Jackie Robinson Middle School from 1977 to 1986, then spent almost 20 years designing the Yale Child Study Center’s School Development Program. He also taught at Yale and at Sacred Heart, retiring in 2013.
“At this time for New Haven, with the budget issues and a new superintendent, we need someone who has the experience, skills, love of people and this district,” Caraballo said. “Dr. Joyner has shown that consistently. I don’t think he’s missed a board meeting.”
Alicia Caraballo, who’s known Joyner since the late ‘90’s, when they implemented Dr. James P. Comer’s school development program.
Throughout the campaign (read about the candidates’ initial filings here and their first forum together here), one of the race’s fundamental issues has been how much experience a school board member needs.
Joyner’s camp has argued that his years as a school principal, academic researcher and education consultant, not to mention two years as an incumbent, are invaluable.
Challenger Jamell Cotto’s supporters, meanwhile, have responded that a newcomer would provide innovative ideas and a fresh perspective to the board.
Reached by phone Wednesday night, Cotto acknowledged Joyner’s expertise. The challenger said he brings a proven ability to collaborate and partner. In other words, Cotto argued, the person who solicits advice from the city’s many voices could make a better decision than the person who knows a lot to start with.
“Being an educator is one of the most intricate jobs on the planet, but it’s not a prerequisite to problem-solving,” Cotto said. “Pulling everyone together, that’s where the wisdom is. What’s going on in the district is not something the Board of Education can solve on their own.” He added, “We need to engage one another in the process.”
As the Democratic Party’s nominating convention approaches this month, Cotto is also piecing together his campaign’s infrastructure. His team plans to hold an organizational meeting for volunteers next weekend and a fundraiser the following, he said.
In his speech Wednesday night, Joyner made a full-throated defense of unions and said he and colleagues have made the contracting process more legitimate. “What kind of city are we that we are in bad shape, and we don’t even hire our own citizens?” he said.
“This community can be even better if we learn to respect each other … and give our best efforts,” Joyner added.
From Trouble To A Badge
Joyner with former students Nancy Jordan, now a city cop, and Tonia McCown.
Joyner’s former students in attendance on Wednesday night, credited him with pushing their ambitions.
Nancy Jordan was the former student who brought Joyner to tears during his acknowledgements.
Raised by a single mom in the old Elm Haven projects, Jordan was often in trouble with her teachers, landing her in Joyner’s office. Rather than punish her for her rule-breaking, Joyner urged Jordan into productive outlets, she said. His introduction to various track and field coaches proved “instrumental in my life,” Jordan said. “He saw something deep in me that I didn’t even see in myself.”
Jordan’s now been a New Haven cop for 18 years, serving most of it as a school resource officer.
Watching him deliver the speech, Jordan observed that Joyner’s been “very consistent” in who he is. “I’ve known that person for nearly 40 years,” she said. “He’s about the education, not the politics or the spotlight. That’s truly him.”