By John Rietmeyer and Melissa Hayes, State House Bureau, The Record.
An amended complaint from the unions was submitted to Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson.
New Jersey public-employee unions suing to overturn Governor Christie’s decision to cut state contributions to the pension system filed new court papers Tuesday outlining the Legislature’s recent attempt to generate more money to cover the benefits of retired state workers.…
By John Mooney
Fairleigh Dickinson survey reveals New Jerseyans not knowledgeable about Common Core standards
Public support for teacher and school accountability in New Jersey may only go so far.
That’s one conclusion that can be drawn from a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Public Mind, which last week released its findings on what residents think about the new national Common Core State Standards and how New Jersey teachers are to be evaluated.…
Read MoreBy Hannan Adely, Staff writer, The Record
New Jersey’s adoption of teacher evaluations that relied on student test scores was hailed by Governor Christie as a way to make educators accountable for how much students learned.
Last week, however, under pressure from lawmakers, parents and teacher unions, the governor announced plans to lessen the impact that those test scores will have on judging teachers.…
Read MoreBy Beth Fertig, Anya Kamenetz and Claudio Sanchez
Why are so many low-income and minority kids getting second-class educations in the U.S.?
That question is at the center of the heated debate about teacher tenure. In New York today, a group of parents and advocates, led by former CNN and NBC anchor Campbell Brown, filed a suit challenging state laws that govern when teachers can be given tenure and how they can be fired once they have it.…
Read MoreBy David Leonhardt
The government’s official statistic for college-tuition inflation has become somewhat infamous. It appears frequently in the news media, and policy makers lament what it shows.
No wonder: College tuition and fees have risen an astounding 107 percent since 1992, even after adjusting for economywide inflation, according to the measure. No other major household budget item has increased in price nearly as much.…
Read MoreBy Peggy McGlone, The Star-Ledger
[…]But six months after Christie’s bold proposal, the state has no formal plan to extend learning time. A $5 million innovation fund that would have helped pay for new programs was a casualty of a late-spring budget crunch. A separate $1 million fund for after-school and summer programs for at-risk students remains.…
Read MoreBy Eric Kelderman
Congressional hearings often feature bitter partisanship and acrimonious finger pointing. But there was mostly agreement on Thursday at a higher-education hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Both Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat of Iowa, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican of Tennessee, agreed that states should take a leading role in paying for and overseeing public colleges.…
Read MoreBy Andrea Hughes, Managing Editor, The Item of Millburn and Short Hills
Slight changes are in store for New Jersey’s implementation of PARCC (Partnership of Readiness for College and Careers) tests to measure Common Core Curriculum Standards the state has adopted, but the tests will be administered as planned in the 2014-15 school year.
Last week Gov.…
Read MoreBy John Mooney
Administration, state-appointed superintendent, will cooperate but keep low profile for time being
The federal civil-rights investigation of the “One Newark” plan for reorganizing that city’s schools is part of a campaign that is taking place in a dozen cities nationwide, where school closures in urban districts are being contested.
The investigation was announced in front of Newark City hall yesterday; advocates from across the country, including New Orleans and Chicago, were in attendance.…
Read MoreBy John Mooney
Summer training and deadlines for schools following Christie rollback on use of student test scores in evaluations.
What it is: The State Department of Education sent to districts last week the details of the administration’s updated mandates for teacher evaluation in 2014-2015, following Gov. Chris Christie’s decision a week ago to change some of the criteria in the face of growing political opposition.…
Read MoreBy Peggy McGlone, The Star-Ledger
NEWARK — The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether Newark’s school reorganization plan discriminates against African-American students after people opposed to the plan filed a federal complaint about it.
The investigation by the department’s Office of Civil Rights comes after parents and a local education advocacy organization filed a civil rights complaint in May charging that the One Newark plan — set to begin in September — unfairly harms African-American children and their families.…
Read MoreAFT Local 1904 members (Rich Wolfson, Ken Brook, Bill Sullivan) supporting trade union brothers and sisters at the demonstration against developers LCOR/Pinnacle, at the Valley & Bloom construction site in Montclair on Tuesday July 8. The demonstration was organized by Thomas F. McIntyre (far left) from the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers.
Keep up the Pressure: Tell LCOR to Abide its Contract and Create Union Jobs
The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers of New Jersey (BAC/ADC) organized a demonstration this week to call on LCOR – the developer behind the “Valley and Bloom Project” in Montclair – to abide by its contractual agreement and use union pension funds it received from California teachers unions to create union jobs.…
By Mark Bonamo
RIDGEWOOD – The American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ) has announced its endorsement of Roy Cho for Congress in the Fifth Congressional District, citing his commitment to strengthening public education and pulling the nation out of its higher education affordability crisis.
“We appreciate Roy’s commitment to education and support for teachers,” said AFTNJ President Donna M.…
Read MoreBy John Mooney
In one of his first public statements, acting commissioner details plans and purpose for working group, comments on Anderson’s annual review
The state-appointed “working group” that will serve as a community sounding board for embattled Newark superintendent Cami Anderson will have as many as 18 people and start its work in the next couple of weeks, said acting state Education Commissioner David Hespe yesterday.…
Read MoreBy Brendan McGrath, The Times of Trenton
EWING — Campus Town, the $86 million private-public project that will bring college housing, restaurants and shops to The College of New Jersey, is becoming a reality, as much of the steelwork already towers above the construction barrier that has lined Route 31 for the last year.
“It’s exciting to see the buildings take shape,” said college spokesman David Muha.…
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