Month: February 2013
Better Higher Education Leads to a Better Regional Economy, Report Says
By Ann Schnoebelen
Findings released on Wednesday by the Milken Institute corroborate a view many in higher education have found themselves defending in recent years: A college education pays.
In a report titled “A Matter of Degrees: The Effect of Educational Attainment on Regional Economic Prosperity,” the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank says its research proves “the strong relationship between educational attainment and a region’s economic performance.”…
Read MoreSchool vouchers, aid increase, included in Christie budget
By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger
TRENTON — Inside the nearly $9 billion that Gov. Chris Christie’s budget allocates for schools is funding to revive a controversial pilot program that would, for the first time, offer scholarships for students to attend private and parochial schools with public money.
The budget includes $2 million to create a pilot “opportunity scholarship” program, that would allow about 200 children to transfer from failing public schools to private schools.…
Read MoreAFTNJ Legislative Conference 2013
Sign up here to attend conference.
| April 19-20 2013 Friday, 3:00-9:00 PM Saturday, 7:45 AM-2:30 PM |
The Heldrich 10 Livingston Ave New Brunswick, NJ 08901 |
Join your AFTNJ colleagues for a full agenda of workshops designed to build professional voice in the legislative arena.
| Elections Matter 2013 | ||
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On Friday, join Gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono and other key leaders standing up for education and labor. | |
Perth Amboy school board rescinds superintendent’s suspension
By Suzanne Russell
[…]Although some board members were surprised to see the suspension issue rescinded, Donna Chiera, president of Perth Amboy Federation/American Federation of Teachers, was not.
“I thought she would be here for the remainder of her contract,’’ said Chiera, adding if the board’s action gets the district moving in a positive direction, she is not opposed.…
Read MoreDems’ Christie endorsement largely symbolic
By John Schoonejongen
[…]Meanwhile, Buono has been lining up endorsements herself from some of the usual suspects. The Middlesex and Somerset Counties AFL-CIO Central Labor Council backed her gubernatorial bid last week, as did the Council of New Jersey State College Locals union. Both argued that a re-elected Christie could hurt the middle class.
Neither of those endorsements, however, got the exposure that Long’s backing did, even though the higher education union alone has more members than Sea Bright has residents.…
Read MoreKean Fed leader wins Academy Award for Best Doc Short
Congratulations to Susan MacLaury for her film Inocente which has won the Academy Award in the category for best short documentary. She shares her Academy Award as co-producer with her husband Albie Hecht. This is the second documentary from her production company to be nominated for an Academy Award. Susan is dually degreed in social work and health education and teaches at Kean University.…
Read MoreMajority of NJ Schools Opt for Widely Used Teacher-Evaluation Method
Princeton-based consultant’s model is choice of 60 percent of districts as they prepare for tenure law’s new mandate
By John Mooney
Charlotte Danielson, creator of the teacher evaluation scripts used by more than half of New Jersey’s school districts.
As New Jersey public schools get ready for next school year’s newly mandated teacher-evaluation system, a majority of them are opting to use a system created by a Princeton-based firm.…
Bill requiring daily recess for N.J. kids moves through Senate committee
TRENTON — A New Jersey legislative committee has pushed forward a bill that would require all New Jersey students in kindergarten through fifth grade to get at least 20 minutes of recess each day.
Under the bill, recess could not be denied as punishment.
The measure was supported unanimously by the state Senate’s Education Committee today.…
Read MoreThe Rutgers University-Rowan University (Non-) Merger: An Avoidable Legal Debacle
By Brian Block
A. Trying to Walk Before You Crawl
It will undoubtedly go down as one of the worst policy rollouts in recent Garden State history, likely eclipsing former Gov. Jon Corzine’s announcement that he wanted to privatize the Turnpike.[2] Rutgers, The State University – Camden (“Rutgers”), particularly its School of Law, has suffered considerable damage as a result—a class size over 50% smaller than the year prior, as well as untold reputational damage which may linger for years.[3]…
Read MoreState Higher Education Union Announces Buono Endorsement
Faculty, adjunct faculty, librarians and professional staff vote for change; launch education campaign
“Under the Christie administration New Jersey has the worst job creation numbers of any state in the country and has suffered big cuts to funding in education,” said Tim Haresign, a Stockton biology professor and President of the Council of New Jersey State College Locals, an American Federation of Teachers affiliate representing more than 9,000 faculty, adjunct faculty, librarians and professional staff at New Jersey’s nine state colleges and universities.…
Read MoreIn the footsteps of Lincoln? Obama and public higher education
By Linda Stamato/NJ Voices
Before the State of the Union message, there was speculation about what President Obama would emphasize, indeed, what priorities would take precedence in his second administration. It’s clear, now, that he is thinking big on climate change, immigration reform, energy independence and investing in a “rising, thriving middle class.” What surprises me, though, is the lack of emphasis on how, for the most part, these priorities are to be met.…
Read MoreSchool Funding Formula Dispute May End In Budget Battle
The Christie administration has proposed changes to the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 that would adjust the state aid formulas and could reduce funding for low-income students, children learning English and those with special needs, according to advocacy group Save Our Schools New Jersey.
The New Jersey Legislature would have to approve the changes for the new funding formulas to become law, but both Democratic-controlled chambers passed resolutions rejecting the Christie administration’s proposal.…
Read MoreTeacher Evaluation Regs Coming
Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said his department will begin to issue regulations on the implementation of the new TEACH NJ law in March, including the eagerly-awaited criteria for evaluating teachers. Under the new law a teacher who receives an ineffective rating will receive a corrective action plan and intensive peer support to remedy any weaknesses. A teacher who fails to improve to an effective rating in the next year will lose tenure.…
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