Vote “YES” on Ballot Question #2 to Increase New Jersey’s Minimum Wage from $7.25 to $8.25
On Election Day, November 5th, voters will have an opportunity to raise our state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 per hour and include an annual cost of living increase. Despite being one of the most expensive states in the country, New Jersey’s minimum wage is among the lowest minimum wage in the United States, matching the federal mandatory minimum.…
Read MoreBy Keith Sargeant
Rutgers University continues to limit competition in the awarding of public contracts and its procedures could lead to inflated prices for goods and services at the state university, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Office of the State Comptroller.
The report, which was a follow-up to a 2011 audit of the university’s contract-awarding practice, found that Rutgers still is limiting competition to a select group of bids, although the university has stopped awarding contracts without competition by declaring the contract to be “in the best interest of the university.”…
Read MoreBy JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ
Bill de Blasio has hinged his candidacy for mayor on a bold idea: raise taxes on high-earning New Yorkers to pay for a vast expansion of prekindergarten and after-school programs.
Mr. de Blasio has portrayed the proposal as a fast-acting antidote to inequality, and he has won endorsements from prominent experts in education and poverty.…
Read MoreBy Don Troop
President Obama took aim last week at rising levels of student borrowing, but two graduate students in sociology say the real culprit for growing college debt is Wall Street.
In a report posted last week on the Web site of the Scholars Strategy Network, Charlie Eaton and Jacob Habinek, doctoral candidates at the University of California at Berkeley, assert that the expanding burden of tuition debt is “partly driven by the indebtedness universities have taken on.”…
Read MoreBy MOTOKO RICH
HOUSTON — Tyler Dowdy just started his third year of teaching at YES Prep West, a charter school here. He figures now is a good time to explore his next step, including applying for a supervisory position at the school.
Mr. Dowdy is 24 years old, which might make his restlessness seem premature.…
Read MoreBy Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger
NEWARK — Are students and parents ready for the $200,000 bachelor’s degree?
As college costs continue to climb, undergraduate tuition and fees at New Jersey’s costliest universities will top $40,000 this year. Once room and board are added in, the total bill for students living on campus at three local schools — Stevens Institute of Technology, Drew University and Princeton University — will easily top $200,000 over four years.…
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Held by the AFT Health and Safety department and the AFTNJ Health and Safety Committee in New Brunswick.…
Read MoreBy Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger
JERSEY CITY — Ten New Jersey colleges and trade schools were flagged in a federal “financial responsibility” test designed to identify higher education institutions with shaky finances, according to new data released by the federal Department of Education.
The schools — which include Saint Peter’s University, New Brunswick Theological Seminary and several career colleges — could face increased federal oversight or be required to post a letter of credit in order for their students to continue receiving federal financial aid, federal officials said.…
Read MoreBy Wellford Wilms
A sobering tale of bureaucracy run amok, to the detriment of schoolchildren.
Last week the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the nation, opened its doors to more than 640,000 students for the new school year. The following story is a sobering tale of bureaucracy run amok, to the detriment of its schoolchildren.…
By Jim Namiotka/The Star-Ledger
Americans’ student loan debt now tops an unimaginable $1 trillion. In New Jersey, nearly two-thirds of college grads leave school with some measure of debt, averaging nearly $30,000 apiece. Those are the ones who graduate.
Millions of low-income students will never apply to four-year colleges at all — scared away by the cost of a college degree.…
Read MoreBy John Mooney
Charlotte Danielson talks about the challenges as her “Frameworks for Teaching” is adopted by more than 300 public school districts.
A pioneer in teacher evaluation, Charlotte Danielson knows her name is soon to be part of the vocabulary in hundreds of New Jersey public schools. She’s hoping that will be in a good way.…
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