Month: September 2013
Student Cited By Ted Cruz As Proof Of Obama’s Failure Is Actually Grateful For Obamacare
By Sam Stein
During his 21-hour talkfest on the Senate floor earlier this week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) went through a litany of examples that he said highlighted the abject failures of President Barack Obama’s policies.
One of them involved the case of John Connelly, a Rutgers student who found himself in debt, without a permanent job, and forced to sleep on his friend’s couch.…
Read MoreRutgers University student leader John Connelly reacts after he was mentioned during Cruz’ speech-a-thon
John is introduced about 3:30 into clip.
When Rutgers student activist heard he was mentioned in Sen. Cruz’ speech, he was on my way to a healthcare appointment that he could afford because his father’s insurance was extended due to the Affordable Care Act.…
Read MoreMatt Taibbi on How Wall Street Hedge Funds Are Looting the Pension Funds of Public Workers
In his latest article for Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi reports that Wall Street firms are now making millions in profits off of public pension funds nationwide. “Essentially it is a wealth transfer from teachers, cops and firemen to billionaire hedge funders,” Taibbi says. “Pension funds are one of the last great, unguarded piles of money in this country and there are going to be all sort of operators that are trying to get their hands on that money.”…
Read MoreBuono, Christie far apart on education
By John Reitmeyer, State House Bureau, The Record.
Governor Christie joined Newark Mayor Cory Booker — the Democrat running for U.S. Senate and the biggest name backing the governor’s opponent for reelection — to celebrate the building of a mixed development of charter schools, retail and housing.
Christie, a Republican seeking a second term, has pressed for more charter schools and for vouchers as a solution to failing public schools in New Jersey, particularly in struggling cities such as Newark.…
Read MoreJersey City council OKs paid sick time for most private workers
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
Jersey City has become the first city in the state, and the sixth nationwide, to mandate that most businesses provide paid sick time to their workers, thanks to a nearly unanimous vote by the City Council tonight.
The policy requires businesses that employ 10 or more wokers to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time to each employee, including part-time staff.…
Read MoreU.S. to Contact Borrowers With New Options for Repaying Student Loans
By Tamar Lewin
When President Obama last month announced proposals to make college more affordable, many critics focused on his plan to rate colleges based on measures like tuition, graduation rates, and the debt and earnings of graduates, and eventually to link financial aid to those ratings.
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Arne Duncan, the education secretary, said more defaults could be prevented if people knew about their repayment options.…
Read MoreChristie-backed Newark schools chief still under fire, despite push for nationally-recognized reforms
By Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
NEWARK — Marcia Howard waited four hours for her turn to speak at a recent Newark school board meeting because the veteran teacher was determined to tell the public how proud she is to work at Peshine Avenue School.
When she stepped to the microphone, Howard described a revolution in the school culture at Peshine, known as one of the city’s worst schools.…
Read MoreNewark School District, Teachers Union Take Stock After Pact’s First Year
By John Mooney
Bonuses awarded to those who did stellar work but questions remain about how to deal with those rated as less effective
When it was signed almost a year ago, Newark’s new teacher contract was touted as a national model for rewarding strong teachers and for improving — or in some cases, getting rid of — weaker ones.…
Read MoreAn Adjunct Tragedy
By Rick Perlstein
[…]I’m still collecting adjuncts’ stories. Here is one I’ve recently received from a psychology teacher in New Jersey. She told me what she loves:
“I get to stay informed about research, go to conferences, and have access to academic materials….
“I LOOOOOVE teaching my students.
“I experience a tremendous feeling of accomplishment when they come to me rather than their advisors because they trust me, not that I want to usurp the advisor.…
Read MoreOpinion: We need to stop vilifying public employees in N.J.
By Barry Chalofsky
I was a public employee for 35 years! I didn’t dream of working for the state when I was a child, but as a result of various career twists and turns, I ended up being a public employee for much of my working life.
Most of my career as a public employee at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was exciting and rewarding.…
Read MoreHe’s The Answer Man For State’s New Teacher Evaluation Framework
By John Mooney
Paul Palek spends his days — and evenings — fielding questions from concerned teachers and trying to quell anxieties
State education official Paul Palek taking individual teacher’s questions on new evaluation system.
The hands shot up as soon as Paul Palek asked for questions. How would this affect them? What about their individual classes?…
Employers and Public Favor Graduates Who Can Communicate, Survey Finds
By Dan Berrett
Americans adults and employers want colleges to produce graduates who can think critically and creatively, and can communicate orally and in writing, according to the results of a public-opinion survey released by Northeastern University here on Tuesday.
Respondents were far less interested in having students receive narrow training and industry-specific skills.
In fact, nearly two-thirds of adults and three-quarters of employers agreed with the following statement: “Being well-rounded with a range of abilities is more important than having industry expertise because job-specific skills can be learned at work.”…
Read MoreWould You Want to Be Graded on Your Co-Workers’ Performance?
This year, thousands of NYC teachers will be rated based on the test scores of subjects–and students–they do not teach.
By Geoff Decker, Philissa Cramer
A Bronx performing arts school’s dance instructor will be judged on students’ English exam scores. Physical education teachers at a transfer school in Brooklyn are going to teach Olympic history lessons to prepare students for the history tests that will help determine their ratings.…
“Reign of Error”: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools
Forget low test scores, says one of the nation’s foremost education experts in her new book. The privatizers are the real threat to America’s schools.
By Paul L. Thomas, Ed.D.
When faced with the many competing narratives of the religions of the world, comparative myth/religion scholar Joseph Campbell explained to Bill Moyers that Campbell did not reject religion, as some scholars have, but instead reached this conclusion:
Every religion is true one way or another.…
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