American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

Month: June 2014

Newark Teachers UnionPre-K to 12 News
nbender

Analysis: School Chief’s Rehiring Raises Questions, Reflects Broader Issues

By John Mooney

While new pact reflects lukewarm endorsement of Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson, keeping her in post underscores larger school-reform agenda

Newark schools Superintendent Cami Anderson
Gov. Chris Christie’s renewal of Cami Anderson’s contract to continue running Newark public schools was replete with questions about exactly what it means in relation to school-reform efforts in the state’s largest district – and the governor’s own legacy.…

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AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsIn ActionPhotosStudent debt
nbender

New Jersey Summit Conference Promotes Student Success

For the first time, state legislators, faculty, staff, administrators, students, alumni, and business leaders joined together in one meeting at William Paterson University to discuss and reach agreement on practical solutions to promote student success in higher education. Sponsored by the William Paterson University American Federation of Teachers Union and Faculty Senate, but including representatives from other New Jersey state colleges and universities, the May 16 Student Success Conference focused on helping students overcome academic, financial and social challenges to graduation, employment and intellectual growth.…

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Pre-K to 12 News
nbender

Many Teachers Feel Undervalued, Survey Finds

By Patrick Blumjune

LONDON — Secondary schoolteachers around the world mostly love their job, but many say they are not valued by society, according to an international survey published last week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Teaching and Learning International Survey questioned more than 100,000 lower secondary school teachers and about 6,500 head teachers from 34 countries on a range of issues.…

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Adjunct IssuesHigher Ed NewsTake Action
AFTNJ

Take Action: Call on UCC for a fair contract for Adjunct Faculty

Union County College Adjunct Faculty Are Working Without a Contract
To Do Their Part To Put UCC Students First…

  • While Teaching Over 40% Of The Classes At The School;
  • While Being Paid An Average Of $2,100 To Teach A Three-Credit Course – Courses For Which The College May Receive $12,500 In Tuition Or More;
  • While The College Has Refused To Offer A Reasonable Wage Package, But Authorized Up To $200,000 In Legal Services For “Labor… Relations” Since The Contract Expired.
… Read More
Pensions
AFTNJ

Retired public workers have a contract right to cost-of-living adjustments

By Salvador Rizzo/The Star-Ledger

TRENTON — A state appeals court ruled today that New Jersey’s nearly 300,000 retired public workers have a contract right to yearly increases in their pension benefits, and those cost-of-living adjustments are part of the state’s benefits package.

For now, however, the ruling keeps in place a freeze on yearly pension increases instituted in 2011, sending the issue back for more review by a lower court.…

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AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed News
AFTNJ

As New Board Chairman Takes Over at Rutgers, Coalition of Unions and Students Call Out Administration Rutgers One Coalition Addresses Corruption, Grievances, and Rising Tuition at “Rally For Respect”

By David Bedford, Rutgers Univ.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Over 200 Rutgers faculty, students, and staff gathered outside of the Board of Governors (BOG) meeting last Thursday at a “Rally For Respect.”

Later that day, as expectecd, the board named Greg Brown, an Illinois resident who serves as the CEO of Motorola, as its newest leader.

Brown was instrumental in the failed effort to bring former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to campus for the 2014 commencement, which sparked national controversy.…

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Pre-K to 12 News
AFTNJ

School-Reform Legislation, Education Aid Among Items on Year-End Agenda

By John Mooney

Last-minute votes could delay Common Core-related tests, reconfigure impact on teacher evaluations

Up against the state budget deadline, the Legislature today will consider a few last-minute items that could prove pivotal in the debate over school reform.

The Democrat-led Legislature is expected today to decide on a state budget for fiscal 2015 in which school funding accounts for more than one-third of the spending, at more than $12 billion of a $34.1 billion budget.…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

5 Key Areas of the Senate Democrats’ Bill to Renew the Higher Education Act

By Kelly Field, Washington

Senate Democrats formally unveiled on Wednesday their plan to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, introducing a 785-page bill that aims to make college more affordable, programs more accountable, and student debt more manageable.

The sweeping measure won’t get far in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, where lawmakers have laid out very different priorities for reauthorization of the law.…

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Higher Ed News
AFTNJ

Why Starbucks Baristas Should Be Wary of the Education the Company Is Offering Them

By Michelle Chen

There’s a potential downside to the coffee chain’s plan to offer a partial tuition discount to its non-union workers.

The genius of the Starbucks brand is that it makes the mass produced seem totally personal. Go to any Starbucks anywhere and your unique, personalized double-shot vanilla Frappuccino will come out with the exact same consistency and taste as it would at any other Starbucks locale, with your name scrawled lovingly – if often incorrectly – on the cup.…

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Higher Ed NewsStudent debt
AFTNJ

Obama’s Move to Help Students Is Not as Forgiving as It Seems

By Anna Bahr

If you’re a student loan-burdened recent college graduate putting the final touches on a note to President Obama, thanking him for his recent executive order on debt repayment, don’t get too excited.

Mr. Obama formally widened the pool of eligible participants in the Pay as You Earn program (PAYE) and said it could save recent graduates hundreds of dollars every month, helping an additional five million people manage their student debt.…

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Higher Ed NewsStudent debt
AFTNJ

Advocates for reining in tuition at NJ state colleges rally in Trenton

By Patricia Alex, staff writer, The Record

TRENTON — Student advocates frustrated with the cost of public higher education in New Jersey — which is among the highest in the nation — are pushing for legislation that would cap tuition at state colleges and universities at the rate of inflation.

But the initiatives are likely to face an uphill battle as the state struggles to balance its budget.…

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Higher Ed NewsStudent debt
AFTNJ

It’s Time for the Department of Education to Dump Sallie Mae

By Annika Neklason

This piece originally appeared at Youngist and is reposted here with permission.

For more than year, the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP)—alongside coalition partners, including the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the US Student Association—has been calling for the Department of Education to cancel its $100 million annual contract with Sallie Mae.…

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