Edison Husband Makes Emotional Appeal To The School Board
The human cost of the district's budget cuts came into sharp focus Tuesday night when a father and educator described the impact of his pregnant wife's non-renewal notice on their family.
Matthew Pinho speaking at the Edison Board of Education meeting on May 5, 2026. (Edison Television)
Chris Howell | May 7, 2026
Matthew Pinho came to the Edison Board of Education’s meeting Tuesday night to tell the board that his wife is not a line item.
Gabriella Pinho, a second-grade teacher at Edison Township Public Schools, learned on Friday that her contract will not be renewed, her husband told the school board. It was the week before Teacher Appreciation Week and Mother’s Day.
“To say we are devastated would be the understatement of the year,” Matthew said.
Gabriella’s non-renewal and others are a consequence of the district’s decision to reduce a proposed 11.9% tax increase to 6%. Hitting that mark required cutting approximately 80 positions, along with program and facilities spending.
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Edison Teachers Association President Matt Revnak, who spoke later in the meeting, said 52 staff members received non-renewal notices on Friday. He described the calls and emails he had fielded since, including a teacher who has a child with a medical condition and faces $2,000 a month in medication costs without health insurance, a tenured teacher who had left another district to come to Edison and now has to start over, and a single mother now out of work.
“I sure hope some of you cannot sleep at night,” Revnak told the board, “like these people have since Friday.”
Tuesday’s school board meeting was one of the most emotional so far after weeks of tension. Pinho described a family that made deliberate sacrifices to plant roots in Edison. Gabriella, he said, had taught for six years in New York City, earning significantly more than she does now. The couple chose to take a pay cut so she could teach in the community where they live and are raising their son.
“We didn’t just move,” Matthew said. “We committed ourselves to this community.”
Undated picture of the Edison Township Board of Education sign outside the administrative offices building. (The Central Jerseyan)
He said they bought a home. Gabriella transferred her New Jersey teaching certification and accepted a lower salary. In the weeks before her first day, the couple spent hundreds of dollars of their own money turning her classroom into what Matthew called “an oasis” for her students.
“How was that dedication and love rewarded?” Pinho asked the board. “With a pink slip at seven months pregnant, the week before Teacher Appreciation Week.”
Pinho told the board that the consequences extend beyond the loss of a job. The family may lose their home, he said. The paid family leave Gabriella had been paying into for two years no longer applies because her contract was not renewed. Their 3-year-old son, Benjamin, is being pulled from his preschool in North Edison. Matthew said the family could no longer afford it.
“We informed his preschool earlier today,” Matthew said, “and we cried the entire time.”
He paused mid-speech to collect himself. Then he described what happened the night they learned Gabriella was not getting a new teaching contract. According to Pinho, she woke up with cramping and bleeding, and they rushed to the hospital.
“By the grace of God, the baby is okay,” he said. “The doctor said my wife’s stress hormones were through the roof because she lost her job.”
The moment grew tense when the emotional husband and father ran over his allotted time and asked the room who wanted to hear the rest. At first, the board refused. Then a supporter yielded their remaining time, so Pinho could finish.
He made three requests of the board: guarantee preschool placement for the children of non-renewed staff, give non-renewed teachers priority for rehire when positions open, and protect his wife from professional retaliation because he chose to speak out.
“I am here tonight because our teachers are worth fighting for,” he said.
Board members made no promises.
When Pinho finally stepped away from the microphone, supporters in the audience rose and applauded.
The board also voted Tuesday night to table a resolution that would have terminated the district’s $9.9 million contract to purchase the Talmadge Road property, keeping the disputed land deal alive for at least another meeting. It also remains unclear how the board plans to fully fund the pre-K program that board members nearly eliminated at last week’s meeting.
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