American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

Month: November 2015

FarahiHigher Ed News
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Black ministers join in call for Kean University president to resign

A coalition of eight black ministers have joined the call for the resignation of embattled Kean University President Darwood Farahi. On their Facebook page they say the head of the Union, N.J., school has resided over a “climate of racial intolerance that has been allowed to fester for years,” and responded with “too little too late” after anonymously posted death threats on Twitter this Tuesday targeting black students.…

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Pensions
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N.J. pension investment panel to disclose fees, bonuses

By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TRENTON — The New Jersey State Investment Council, seeking to resolve a dispute with the heads of the public worker pension funds, voted Wednesday to report five years’ worth of fees, bonuses and performance data for the state’s investments.

Tom Byrne, chairman of the council overseeing the investments, said it was unclear how long it would take to compile the report, which will include alternative investments managed externally and funds managed in-house.

… Read More
AFTNJ NewsMediaPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips
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Op-Ed: Drawing Succor And Sustenance From Membership In The Teachers Union

By Norine Gall

A strong union does far more than protect teachers; it makes it possible for students to excel

When unions are under attack, I think of my 31 years as an elementary school teacher in Perth Amboy and my two sons — a firefighter in Perth Amboy and a Monmouth County corrections officer. Both my sons put their lives on the line every day and depend on union brothers and sisters (mostly brothers) to protect one another.…

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Higher Ed News
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The predatory for-profit college industry and its enablers in Congress | Opinion

By Linda Stamato | Star-Ledger Guest Columnist

For-profit college conglomerates take in millions of U.S. students—12 percent of the nation’s college students—and pocket their publicly-financed student grants and loans—$30 billion annually—while their students account for nearly 50 percent of loan defaults.  These outfits generate substantial profits, attract Wall Street speculators and hedge funds to finance their expansion all the while making a joke (on us) of the notion that “private industry does it better.”

… Read More
Higher Ed NewsReclaim Rutgers
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Study finds few self-supporting, profitable university sports programs

By Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record

 

At the vast majority of the 201 programs surveyed — including Rutgers — revenue from ticket sales, donations and television contracts didn’t come close to covering overall athletic budgets.
MICHAEL KARAS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
At the vast majority of the 201 programs surveyed — including Rutgers — revenue from ticket sales, donations and television contracts didn’t come close to covering overall athletic budgets.

Just six Division I athletic programs supported themselves and turned a profit from outside revenue in 2014, the most recent year for which data was available, according to a survey released Monday.

… Read More
Higher Ed NewsReclaim Rutgers
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This N.J. college has the worst sports finances, report says

By Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK — New Jersey Institute of Technology’s basketball team isn’t nationally ranked. But the school is number one among America’s public colleges when it comes to pouring money into athletic programs with scant financial return, according to a new report.

The Newark-based public college funded 90 percent of its athletic program through student fees and other institutional support in 2014, the highest percentage of  201 public universities’ athletics departments studied by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

… Read More
AFTNJ NewsIn ActionPre-K to 12 NewsVideos
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Video: Perth Amboy Federation Parent Literacy Convention

Perth Amboy Parent Literacy Convention

Perth Amboy teacher (and PAF-AFT president) Pat Paradiso stresses the importance of literacy in education while welcoming parents, students and teachers to the annual district-wide literacy fair. The union sponsors the event and teachers volunteer to run information sessions to help parents learn how to support their children for success in education.

Watch>>…

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AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsMediaPress ClipsReclaim Rutgers
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The $10-Billion Sports Tab

How College Students Are Funding the Athletics Arms Race

By Brad Wolverton, Ben Hallman, Shane Shifflett and Sandhya Kambhampati

[…]

In the past five years, public universities pumped more than $10.3 billion in mandatory student fees and other subsidies into their sports programs, according to an examination by The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Huffington Post.…

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AFT NewsAFTNJ NewsIn ActionPhotosPolitical Education
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HRC: How would you ensure money for ed is not tied to testing?

North Bergen Federation of Teachers president Liz Lynch attended an education roundtable with Secretary Clinton in New Hampshire

Liz Lynch:I’ve been teaching for 30 years, and I’m all for teachers being fairly held accountable for ensuring that our students are learning. But what I’ve seen in the last four or five years is crazy.

Students have been made to take paper and pencil tests in PE and music just so they can be evaluated.…

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AFTNJ NewsPensions
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PERS Members: Please Nominate Board Candidates

Retaining union candidates in the majority on the boards of the pension funds is critical for good oversight.

The NJ AFL-CIO Public Employee Council voted to endorse:

  • Tom Bruno for the state PERS seat
  • Max Hurst for the municipal PERS seat

They will work to safeguard the system and its investments.

Please nominate them for election at  or with the attached paper ballots (mailing instructions on ballot).…

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AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed News
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CNJSCL Voice of Higher Education

Fall 2015 Issue:

  • Tenured Faculty Taken Out of the Classroom and Assigned Administrative Duties — Read more
  • Kean University Wenzhou Campus in China Comes Under Scrutiny — Read more
  • Change in Bi Weekly Salary & Promotions During the Freeze on Increments (Steps)— Read more
  • 2016 State Health Benefit Rate Increases — Read more
  • Common Sense Economics for Unions — Read More
Newsletter of the Council of NJ State College Locals (College Council) AFT.
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AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsIn ActionReclaim RutgersVideos
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Video: The People Who Brought You…Academic Freedom @ruaaup

Rutgers profs Julia Sass Rubin and Deepa Kumar discuss the Rutgers AAUP-AFT faculty union’s support for academic freedom in the face of right-wing attacks on their work. They’ll be speaking along with Rutgers Newark professor Carolyne White and Community College of Philadelphia adjunct professor Divya Nair at a forum on Silencing Dissent: Why Academic Freedom Matters, Thurs.…

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Higher Ed NewsMediaPress releases
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Work Together to Avoid Layoffs; Cutbacks at Rider, Urges New Higher Ed Group

Calls on Rider management to accept unselfish proposals from faculty

EDISON…Rider University’s faculty union advanced a proposal to save $5.5 million over three years, which would avoid the need for layoffs and program cutbacks, according Diane Campbell, president of the New Jersey American Association of University Professors and a faculty member at Rider. “The state AAUP urges Rider management to accept the local’s proposal and preserve academic continuity for students,” she said.…

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