By James Cersonsky
As student debt skyrockets, the movement to resist it is spreading.
On September 9, Sallie Mae became the 50th corporation to cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council—and the first to do so under pressure from students.
As a member of the controversial legislative advocacy group, commonly known as ALEC, Sallie Mae had drafted model legislation to limit higher education funding.…
Read MoreBy Bill Mooney
WESTVILLE – One week out from the election, the Senate President – labeled an ouster target by the GOP – joined an assembly of national educational and labor leaders to address one of the state’s major problems: The fact many New Jersey students can’t afford to attend college in their home state.
Last year, Sen.…
Read MoreBy Carly Q. Romalino/ South Jersey Times
WEST DEPTFORD — Rachel Storch, a Rowan University junior, thought she’d be set to earn her diploma in 2015, get a job she loves and leave the Glassboro campus without much debt weighing her down.
When her financial situation changed last year and her parents could no longer help her pay for school, she applied for the dreaded college loan, got a minimum wage job, and ended up an advocate for New Jersey students demanding a more affordable college education.…
Read MoreBy Pat Alex
New Jersey’s largely commuter public colleges and universities made a concerted push over the last decade or so to make their campuses more residential, spending tens of millions of dollars on new dormitories and recreation centers.
But the economic downturn has reduced demand at some schools, leaving them with empty beds even as they continue to pay back the bonds used to build new facilities.…
Read MoreBy Katie Park
Members of the Rutgers University faculty are locked in a bargaining session for better working conditions and salaries with the University administration.
Despite negotiations with the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, few concessions have been considered.
The AAUP-AFT at Rutgers is a large and comprehensive union that represents tenure-track and non-tenure track professors, teaching assistants and graduate assistants, said Sherry Wolf, the contract campaign coordinator for the association.…
By John Mooney
[…]Where the money has gone
Following is a breakdown of major contributions of $1 million or more, so far, according to FNF.
$48 million: NTU teachers contract, including $31 million in retroactive pay to teachers and the balance for new performance bonuses to “highly effective” teachers and those working in high-needs schools.…
Read MoreBy Jeff Bryant
Developmentally inappropriate tests, aimed at students as young as Kindergarten, are undercutting any gains the Common Core might help us make.
The latest news stories from the brave frontiers of a movement known as “education reform” are in, and the consensus view is that down continues to be the new up.
Personnel programs such as teacher merit pay that were supposed to improve the financial efficiency of schools are now being discarded for financial reasons.…
Read MoreBy Tamar Lewin
Tuition and fees at public universities increased less than 3 percent this academic year, the smallest rise in three decades, according to the annual College Board reports on trends in pricing and aid.
“This does not mean that college is suddenly more affordable, but it does mean that the rapid growth of recent years did not represent a ‘new normal’ for annual price increases,” the report on pricing said.…
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