Month: October 2012

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

Joseph Del Grosso, President of the Newark Teachers Union/American Federation of Teachers and Cami Anderson, Superintendent of the Newark Public Schools sign a tentative agreement on a new contract. The event took place at Brick Peshine school on Oct. 18. The new agreement will go into effect June 30, 2015.
Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger The long fight to improve public schools in Newark faces a crucial crossroads tomorrow, when teachers will vote on a breakthrough contract that could finally bring fundamental change.…

By Cory Booker

We have a teacher compensation problem in America.

Teachers pour their hearts, souls and even their personal resources into their demanding jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Education, for example, in the 2007-08 school year, 92 percent of teachers paid out-of-pocket for classroom supplies or on the unmet needs of their students.…

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

As Newark teachers prepare to vote Monday on their proposed contract, we offer this warning: The group opposed to the contract is spreading outright lies about its content.

There is really no softer way to put it. A flier circulated last week by the group, the Newark Education Caucus, offers several doozies.…

By Kate Zernike

NEWARK — On one side of the table was the union firebrand Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. On the other was the state education commissioner handpicked by Gov. Chris Christie, who became a star among fellow Republicans for aggressively taking on public employee unions.

During months of intense and late-night negotiations for a new teachers contract for the chronically troubled Newark school system, the parties settled on what they believed would be a landmark compromise.…

By Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Leaders of the Newark Teachers Union faced a barrage of criticism from rank and file members tonight over the historic three-year contract signed Friday that, for the first time, will offer annual bonuses of up to $12,500 to top teachers.

Many of the teachers and school employees who spoke during the meeting at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center urged fellow members to reject the contract when it is voted on by the union’s 3,300 members on Monday.…

On eve of agreement, head of Foundation for Newark’s Future talks about organization’s work so far

By John Mooney

The Foundation for Newark’s Future, the organization created to distribute Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to Newark schools, hasn’t exactly set the world ablaze.

Slow and methodical may be the best way to characterize its two-year ramp-up.…