On paper Victoria Fisher, in her third term on the Teaneck Board of Education, is the Vice President and Chair of its Finance/ Facilities and member of the Personnel and Negotiation Committees. She also served on the Superintendent’s Steering Committee for Strategic Planning.
In person, Victoria is a bundle of creative imagination and boundless energy who has achieved so much for her beloved township, and is articulately outspoken about her values and how she lives them in everything she does!
Victoria Fisher, who grew up in Teaneck, began to think about a role on the Board of Education in 2009. It was the end of a tumultuous seven years, with teachers threatening a strike and the Board and teachers at an impasse. The final straw, for Victoria, was in 2013 when the then-Board decided to layoff and outsource the night custodians. Knowing that many of those who lost their jobs were themselves parents of Teaneck public school students – and seeing many of these students come to the Board of Education meetings to advocate not only for their parents but for basic decency and social justice – drove Victoria ultimately to stand for election as a Trustee of the Board the following November.
That was not the only reason. Back in 9th grade at Teaneck High School, Victoria read The Grapes of Wrath. For her it was an awakening to the vast injustices in the world. Thinking about economic and social interventions – civil rights, the feminist movement, environmentalism – that she could bring to the township she loved, spurred her to action.
There was another, small reason to run for the Board: Victoria describes her childhood in Teaneck as “amazing.” Based on her own experience, she convinced her husband, Greg, to move here, only to discover that Teaneck was not quite like it had been.
What had it been like? Born in 1982, Victoria entered Kindergarten in 1986-7, at the start of a new wave of embedded school integration. It was over 20 years after the heralded desegregation of the Teaneck Public Schools, and the public-school community was fully committed to fulfilling the promise of that initial 1964 busing decision.
There no longer was a central sixth grade or kindergarten. The school system was readjusting to changing demographics. The eight elementary schools built or expanded for the Baby Boomers were no longer needed. And the move to private schooling was beginning to be felt in the district. So, while some public schools were closing, the district was building a new version of an integrated system – one where administrators, teachers, and parents (thus students) had chosen integrated Teaneck as where they wanted to live and work and send their children to school. Academic achievement was high in this fully integrated system.
As Victoria says, everybody was there for a shared purpose! She entered Kindergarten at Longfellow School where her principal was Dr. Zita Pruitt. (Dr. Zita Pruitt will be Teaneck Voices Notable Woman in our February 14th issue). For Victoria who went to Longfellow for K-2, Whittier for 3-4, BFMS for 5-8, and Teaneck High School for 9-12, all her principals were Black. The integration-conscious design of the public schools made a huge difference in the lives of Black Children. Victoria smiles as she says, “but it also made a huge impact on my life: ‘Yes, you, little White girl.’”
Although by her middle school years, most of her Jewish friends were gone to private schools, and by her senior year (1999-2000) the school population was 50% White, 50% students of color with the majority being Black, she believes it was still the Golden Age of Teaneck Public Education.
The question was, could she be part of bringing that back? With her B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Political Science from Douglass, a master’s in public administration and policy from Rutgers, experience as a community organizer, her early internship and later employment at the N.J. Board of Public Utilities, and a then-new full-time job with the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, she felt well prepared.
In 2015, Victoria ran for and won a seat on the Board of Education. Her extensive experience in public policy, budgeting, grants, contract negotiation, and community activism has proven essential in bringing major projects to serve the broader Teaneck community, including most notably the establishment of the full time, universal Pre-K program.
Victoria fights for a whole-student experience that emphasizes student achievement, enrichment, and global citizenship. Expanding pre-k to all Teaneck families has been her primary goal, and now that this has been achieved, she is focused on recruiting staff and building curriculum that will not just boost academic achievement but also fosters curiosity about the world around us, instills a sense of personal and civic responsibility to our community, and ignites a passion for learning.
She and Greg are parents of two young children, Theodore who is in the Pre-K Program (THS class of 2035), and Lilith who will shortly follow in his footsteps.
Victoria further serves the community as the Vice-Chair of the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee, Co-Chair of the Teaneck Municipal Alliance Against Substance Abuse, cofounder of the Coalition to Unite Teaneck, and as a lifelong Girl Scout. She is also an active member of two labor unions: the United Steel Workers and the Communications Workers of America.
Victoria is part of a long legacy of Teaneck Public Schools graduates who are using their skills, talents, and compassion to build community while leading the way to the future. During her tenure on the Board, she has increased focus on mental health, bolstered our special education program, and created a more inclusive and equitable school climate for students, staff, and families.
She does this for her children, for our community, and in honor of the progressive leaders who made this town a place where so many can thrive.
