American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

Month: September 2012

Pre-K to 12 News
AFTNJ

5 Biggest Lies About America’s Public Schools — Debunked

By Kristin Rawls

Here’s the truth behind 5 of the most destructive myths about public education.

Just weeks into the 2012-2013 school year education issues are already playing a starring role in the national conversation about America’s future. Because it’s an election year, the presidential candidates have been busy pretending there are many substantial distinctions between them on education policy (actually, the differences are arguably minimal).…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

Education Department Report Shows More Borrowers Defaulting on Student Loans

By Tamar Lewin

The percentage of borrowers who defaulted on federal education loans within the first three years of payments rose to an average of 13.4 percent last year — 22.7 percent for those who attended for-profit colleges — according to statistics released on Friday by the Department of Education.

With tuition rising steadily, and family income falling, the number of borrowers with federally guaranteed student loans has increased by about a third in the last five years, to more than 37 million.…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

Opinion: N.J. private universities should not be exempt from local planning, zoning approvals

The New Jersey Assembly is considering legislation A2586, while S1534 has been approved by the Senate. These measures would exempt private universities and colleges from gaining approval from municipal planning and zoning boards when they seek to develop their land. A past court decision exempts public colleges and universities from the need to secure these approvals, because they are seen as instruments of the state that are serving a critical public mission.…

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Higher Ed NewsPolitical Education
AFTNJ

New Obama Ads Tout Goal of Cutting Tuition and Attack Romney on Pell Grants

By Michael Stratford

As part of a two-minute campaign advertisement released on Thursday, President Obama outlines an economic plan, called “a new economic patriotism,” that includes his pledge to reduce college tuition and expand federal student aid.

Speaking directly to a camera, Mr. Obama says that the United States will remain competitive by ”training two million Americans with the job skills they need at our community colleges, cutting the growth of tuition in half, and expanding student aid so more Americans can afford it.”…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

NJ STARS program slashes scholarships for transfers to 4-year state schools

By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

Dayton Pierce believes he may have found the best deal in higher education.

When his father lost his job two years ago, Pierce said he was forced to leave Ramapo College of New Jersey after his freshman year because his family could no longer afford the tuition. So the accounting major took advantage of the NJ STARS state scholarship program, which gives top New Jersey students free tuition to county college.…

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Higher Ed NewsMerger
AFTNJ

UMDNJ marks last goodbye as reorganization draws nearer

By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — With a healthy dose of nostalgia and a hint of defiance, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey began its long good-bye yesterday with its 28th — and probably last — University Day celebration.

Denise Rodgers, the university’s interim president, said UMDNJ’s name may be changing as its schools are broken up and taken over by Rutgers and Rowan universities.…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

Colleges are recruiting a new kind of president

By Deena Yellin, Staff Writer. The Record. Y DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITER

Like most college presidents, the new head of William Paterson University has taught college courses and earned a Ph.D. But Kathleen Waldron also spent 17 years in international banking.

Sue Henderson, a mathematician, became the president of New Jersey City University in June. She was selected partly for her experience as a chief operating officer.…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

Bergen Community College’s new president says school can do better

By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer. The Record.

Bergen Community College’s new president says she hopes to improve the school’s graduation rate and tackle the persistent achievement gap that has minorities and lower-income students lagging behind their peers.

B. Kaye Walter, who heads the state’s largest community college, said the school’s graduation rate – less than 12 percent of students do so within three years – can be boosted to 50 percent.…

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FarahiHigher Ed News
AFTNJ

Farahi keeps job for another 5 years

By Brian Konchalski

The Board of Trustees, on September 17, voted to extend Dawood Farahi’s, President of Kean University, contract with the university for another five years.

The board voted unanimously on the resolution, 10-0, extending Farahi’s contract until 2018 at his current salary of $293,550 a year, according to numbers obtained by The Star-Ledger. He is still eligible for a $200,000 retention bonus at the end of his current contract, which expires July 1, 2013.…

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FarahiHigher Ed News
AFTNJ

KFT discusses accreditation issues at Welcome Back meeting

By Alexandria Addesso

The Kean Federation of Teachers discussed the updated status of Middle States and the possible outcomes of Kean University losing accreditation at their welcome back meeting on Sept. 10 in the Little Theater.

“Kean is in crisis. That is a fact.” said James Castiglione, president of the Kean University teachers’ union.

According to the KFT report on the meeting on Aug.…

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Pre-K to 12 News
AFTNJ

Bad Lessons From ‘Won’t Back Down’

By Dana Goldstein

Each character in the new film, about Pittsburgh parents and teachers who band together to take over a struggling school, is crafted less as a believable human being than as a talking point. First there are the students of F-rated Adams Elementary, a tapestry of white, black, Latino and Asian children. But racial diversity is not typical of failing schools; of the seven shut down in Pittsburgh this year because of low performance, two are more than 95 percent African-American, and the rest more than two-thirds black.…

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Higher Ed NewsMerger
AFTNJ

Rutgers president’s $747,000 pay package a boost over predecessor’s

By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer. The Record.

With a compensation package that could top $747,000, Rutgers University’s new president, Robert Barchi, would make almost $200,000 more than his predecessor, but still less than most leaders of public research universities of similar size.

Barchi, who became president this month, will receive $650,000 in base salary and is eligible for a bonus of $97,500; |he also gets a house, car and other perks, ­according to a letter of agreement obtained by The Record under the state’s Open ­|Public Records Act.

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