Corey Teague says he’s running for Paterson at-large council seat
By Corey Teague
Published: December 25, 2021
I am writing to formally announce my desire to seek one of the council-at-large seats in the May 10, 2022, municipal election. While some instead clutch at straws and look for any way to malign my character, I am choosing to take the high road and focus on the work I am doing and will continue to do so.
I began my advocacy work in 1999, right out of Passaic County Technical Institute. I attended Passaic County Community College for a brief 6-month culinary program before joining my parents in full-time ministry. I was licensed as an elder under New Generation Healing & Deliverance Tabernacle in Paterson.
In 2000, I began working with the late Elder Ray Singletary at the Bethesda House of Mercy as a worship leader and outreach director. I served both churches until 2005, when my mother, Pastor Louise Teague, transitioned. I then remained with Bethesda until they moved down south.
I then detoured into several belief systems over six years, all of which taught me various ways to learn more about religion and spirituality. That journey would change the course of my life forever. It made me who I am today and helped me to gain my voice and to speak for those who had no voice.
While I was in foster care in the late 1980s, I had the chance to speak at several statewide adoption functions from Trenton to Newark to right here in Paterson. Fast forward, I served as a school board commissioner from 2012-2015 and 2020-present.
In addition, I have served as a crisis liaison with the National Action Network and as a noted community activist who has appeared on many national news and mainstream media outlets throughout the years, namely my fight to give Paterson parents a right to choose not to put their children through standardized tests which were, at the time, not fair for our students.
Most recently, in September 2021, I returned to school, Berkeley College, and I am currently studying to earn my AAS – Associate in Applied Science, Legal Studies. My ultimate goal is to attend law school and to become an attorney so that I can better advocate for families inside of the courtroom rather than just outside of the courthouse.
What fuels my ambition to run for a seat on the council is my children, Kaniyah Janee and Corey, Jr. My children are my world and why I wake up each day prepared to make a difference in my community. With your help, I will get certified and placed on the ballot, and with your support, we will win this election together. Make no mistake about it, and we can win this election if we combine and unite AS ONE.
Written by Corey Teague, a member of the Board of Education.