The memo that includes a closing prayer:
“Dear Lord this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor.”
Association president Joe Coppola says the “prayer” was a joke and was never meant to be made public.
The Governor’s office has spoken out against the joke and NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement this morning:
“NJEA condemns the inappropriate ‘prayer’ contained in a letter sent by the NJEA Bergen County regional offices and our Bergen County affiliate. Language such as that has no place in civil discourse. It was intended as humor, but it is not funny. Our ongoing discussion with Gov. Christie is centered on serious issues of significant importance to the state, and that must be the focus of all our conversation. We deeply regret that the ‘prayer’ reference was included in the letter, and we apologize to Gov. Christie for both the content of the ‘prayer’ and the lack of respect it demonstrated. . . . I will be reaching out to Gov. Christie’s office to apologize personally on behalf of all NJEA members.”
Folks, it was a joke. The memo was obtained by the media and was not supposed to be made public.
Of course, Coppola is lucky. In Canada, he could find himself facing a human rights panel over jokes, here.
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