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Submit nominations now for ACE diversity leadership award

AFTNJ

The American Council on Education is accepting nominations through Dec. 1 for the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award.

This award is presented at ACE’s annual meeting; the next one will be March 5-7 in San Diego.

According to ACE, the Wilson award “honors individuals who have demonstrated leadership and commitment on a national level to the advancement of racial and ethnic minorities and other underrepresented populations in higher education.”…

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Register by Dec. 12 for AFT’s CSI 2022

AFTNJ

The 2022 edition of the AFT’s Center for School Improvement Leadership Institute is set for Jan. 20-22 at the United Federation of Teachers headquarters, 52 Broadway in Manhattan.

Under the banner “Supporting Literacy, Equity and Community,” CSI 2022 will focus on:

  1. Reviewing the science of reading and helping teams identify what they need to do to enrich their literacy practices.
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Healthy food, healthy minds are on the School Meals for All menu

AFTNJ

With its new School Meals for All campaign, the AFT “aims to expand the federal school meals programs so that all children attending the nation’s public schools will have access to a free, tasty and nutritious breakfast and lunch every school day,” writes Annette Licitra.

To read more about the campaign, which launched Nov. 18, click here.…

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Garfield News Pre-K to 12 News AFTNJ News 

N.J. school districts to receive $75M for emergent and capital maintenance needs

AFTNJ

Three days after allocating $400 million in capital facilities grant funding for higher education in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy on Nov. 19 said that $75 million will be set aside for school districts statewide to help meet emergent and capital maintenance needs.

“Since I signed the state budget in June, the Department of Education and the [New Jersey Schools Development Authority] have been working together on creating an equitable formula for distributing these funds,” Murphy said from Christopher Columbus School #8 in Garfield.…

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William Paterson University COVID-19 News Labor News Higher Ed News AFTNJ News 

Solidarity aplenty at Local 1796’s layoff protest rally

AFTNJ

Labor leaders and union members from across New Jersey joined students from William Paterson University on Nov. 19 for AFT Local 1796’s layoff protest rally on the Wayne campus in front of the Marion E. Shea Center for Performing Arts.

Here are excerpts from select rally speakers:

“Faculty and staff are not being laid off due to their ineffectiveness or inefficiency but because of inadequate state funding for William Paterson as a minority-serving institution, on top of eight years of poor financial and academic decisions by the previous president and board of trustees, who were unable to increase enrollment and retention and generate alternative revenue sources.”…

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COVID-19 News Pre-K to 12 News AFTNJ News 

Teacher pivots in effort to bring students up to speed in ‘the reading year’

AFTNJ

Around America, “the first months of school this fall have laid bare what many in education feared: Students are way behind in skills they should have mastered already,” writes Jackie Mader for The Hechinger Report.

“Children in early elementary school have had their most formative first few years of education disrupted by the pandemic, years when they learn basic math and reading skills and important social-emotional skills, like how to get along with peers and follow routines in a classroom,” she adds.…

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Murphy earmarks $400M for revolving bonds supporting higher education

AFTNJ

Gov. Phil Murphy on Nov. 16 said that New Jersey will release $400 million in capital facilities grant funding in a joint solicitation of four revolving bond programs to support the state’s institutions of higher education and its students.

“Whether it is a top-notch science lab or a state-of-the-art technology center, we need to ensure our campuses include these critical resources to compete and win these young hearts and minds to seek their educational futures here,” Murphy said.…

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Survey: Faculty mental health concerns higher education presidents

AFTNJ

More than half of college and university presidents who participated in a recent American Council on Education survey chose “mental health: faculty and staff” as a pressing concern, with roughly one quarter of those presidents selecting “recruiting new faculty and/or staff” as a pressing issue.

The survey, conducted Sept. 27 through Oct. 8, involved 230 higher education presidents at two-year and four-year institutions (public and private).…

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North Bergen News Pre-K to 12 News AFT News AFTNJ News 

Local 1060 uses AFT grant to refresh classroom libraries at Robert Fulton

AFTNJ

As one might expect, The Book Room at Robert Fulton Elementary School in North Bergen is deserving of its name.

On the morning of Nov. 9, though, it was the home to many more printed works than usual.

On the long, brown tables in the middle of the room were several fresh-from-the-box stacks of books, purchased by Local 1060 from First Book through an AFT Back to School grant.…

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Kean University COVID-19 News Higher Ed News AFTNJ News 

Murphy signs bill establishing Kean as a public urban research university

AFTNJ

As part of a wave of legislation action Nov. 8, Gov. Phil Murphy signed S3811/A5769, which establishes Kean University as a public urban research university.

“Kean University’s commitment to research and serving urban communities before and during the pandemic has been apparent, therefore it has earned — and deserves — the designation of a public urban research university,” said AFTNJ President Donna M.…

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Senate Education Committee passes several bills

AFTNJ

New Jersey’s Senate Education Committee passed several bills during its Nov. 8 meeting in Trenton, among them:

S3464: Requires instruction on information literacy in curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12.

S1219/A3392: Requires student representative be appointed to each board of education of school district that includes high school.

S3094/A4856: Requires internet websites and web services of school districts, charter schools and renaissance schools to be accessible to persons with disabilities.…

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