Video: Read and Believe in Newark
What is the importance of literacy? Working together to get 45,000 books to kids: City of Newark, United Way, First Book, AFT, NTU and community groups take a day of action to sort books by age group.…
Month: July 2015
Bergen Community College cuts 64 full-time lecturer positions
By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record
The positions of 64 full-time lecturers at Bergen Community College have been cut as the school struggles to cope with a mix of stagnant state and county funding and declining enrollment.
The move will save nearly $934,000 and comes after 150 part-time staffers either had their hours eliminated or reduced earlier in the month in an effort to save $1 million more, said school spokesman Larry Hlavenka Jr.…
Read MoreKean U seeks Communists for China campus jobs
By Ronica Cleary
Union, New Jersey (My9NJ) – Looking for a new job? Well Kean University is hiring at its campus in China. The catch? Membership in the Chinese Communist Party is preferred!
[…]James Castiglione is an Associate Professor at Kean in Union and is President of the Kean Federation of Teachers.
He’s calling on the state for a forensic audit of spending here at Kean because he has serious concerns about this issue amongst others involving spending and layoffs at the University.…
Read MoreTeachers Needed to Review State English and Math Standards
What is next for the standards currently known as “Common Core”? Three Content Subcommittees will review each set of standards (K-2, 6-12 English Language Arts, and 6-12 Math) in-depth. Each subcommittee will propose a set of revised standards to a Standards Review Committee for consideration. Educators can apply for the content subcommittees, no nomination is required.…
Read MorePublic Employees’ Retirement System Chair Discusses New Pension Lawsuit
Another shot fired in the court battle over public worker pension payments. Four years ago unions cut a deal with Gov. Chris Christie to put pension payments on a secure footing. But when less than expected revenue came in, the state balanced the budget by contributing less than expected payments. The unions sued and the state Supreme Court effectively let the state off the hook.…
Read MoreOp-Ed: Charting The Path To Local Control For Newark’s Public Schools
By Theresa Luhm
QSAC maps out a clear and expeditious approach for moving Newark’s state-controlled schools back under home rule
In June, Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced the establishment of the Newark Educational Success Board (NESB), a nine-member panel charged with “developing a clear, specific pathway with appropriate timelines and benchmarks for the return of local control [of the public schools] to the Newark community” after more than 20 years of state operation.…
Read MoreHow to be a part of N.J.’s Common Core review
By Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — New Jersey’s Department of Education is accepting applications from teachers to sit on the committees that will review the Common Core academic standards.
The applications are available on the department’s website, along with nomination forms for school districts. All applications and nominations must be submitted by July 31, according to the state.…
Read MoreRutgers faculty: Don’t blame us for tuition hike
By Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
NEW BRUNSWICK — When Rutgers University announced a 2.3 percent tuition increase last week, school officials cited rising expenses, including 2 percent raises for several employee unions with new contracts.
But the school’s faculty has its own ideas for why the typical undergraduate student will have to pay about $300 more to attend the New Brunswick campus this fall.…
Read MoreChinese Communists Preferred
By Elizabeth Redden
“Membership in Chinese Communist Party is preferred,” says the job advertisement for a “specialist for residence life” position at Kean University’s China campus, which is run jointly with Wenzhou University and is known as Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU). The same preference is stated in a posting for a “specialist for student conduct.”
Other posted jobs at the institution don’t include that stipulation.…
Read MoreCommunist Party members ‘preferred’ for jobs on Kean U.’s new China campus, ad says
By Kelly Heyboer, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
UNION TOWNSHIP — Applicants for two top staff positions at Kean University’s new campus in China should be members of the Communist Party, according to job postings on the university’s website that are drawing criticism from union officials.
Wenzhou-Kean University, a satellite campus the public university launched in 2012 in a partnership with the Chinese government, recently posted advertisements for 30 positions on its website.
Press: Communist Party Membership Preference Advertised for Kean University Jobs in China While University Lays Off More in US
Contact: Steve Young, Executive Director, College Council, young [@] cnjscl.org, 908-964-8476
James Castiglione, President, Kean Federation of Teachers, james [@] castiglione.ws 908-623-6020
Ed note: For source documents visit: http://ow.ly/PWwcx or http://www.cnjscl.org/wenzhou-kean.html and http://ow.ly/PWvwF
University’s China Job Applications Also Appear to Violate U.S. Employment & N.J. Anti-Discrimination Laws
UNION, NJ — At least two of the 30 staff job postings on Kean University’s Wenzhou website include a preference for Chinese Communist Party members.…
Read MoreQuota for In-Staters
By Elizabeth Redden
In pitching a new B.A. in architecture program to a state oversight body for approval, Kean University made an unusual promise — that it would limit the number of in-state students to 25 each year. The rest are to be recruited nationally and internationally — the program has links to China — so as to minimize competition with other New Jersey institutions.…
Read MoreCritics of NJ university system cite Kean program
By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record
The recent approval of taxpayer-supported Kean University’s architecture program —designed mostly for foreign students — may provide a window into what critics says is a lack of state oversight and coordination for public higher education in New Jersey.
Kean sought the necessary state approvals for the Michael Graves School of Architecture only after it had a public launch of the program and spent a considerable amount of money on consultants, staff and outfitting of a new building at its Union campus.…
Read MoreWeaker oversight gives NJ public colleges greater power to chart their agendas
By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record
Kean University is launching an expensive architecture program, largely tailored to foreign students, at its Union campus despite another public one just 6 miles away at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The technology institute, virtually across the street from Rutgers Medical School in Newark, is considering partnering with Rowan University, just south of Philadelphia, to train doctors.…
Read MoreProgram’s Been Changing Lives Of Low-Income College Students For Nearly 50 Years
By John Mooney
Educational Opportunity Fund has provided funding – and mentorship – for thousands of young people in New Jersey
The Educational Opportunity Fund, the state’s nearly half-century-old program providing both personal support and financial aid for low-income students entering college, rarely gets a shout-out – especially when it actually sees a funding increase.
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