American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

Month: May 2016

AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed News
nbender

Pushing To Protect The Educational Opportunity Fund From State Budget Cuts

By John Reitmeyer

The EOF has helped thousands of low-income students across NJ make it into and through college

corina olivas
Rowan University student and EOF program participant Carina Olivas explaining during news conference at State House how the Educational Opportunity Fund helped her make the Dean’s List.

A group of lawmakers that includes key leaders from both parties is making it a priority to protect — and possibly even increase — funding for the state’s Educational Opportunity Fund.

… Read More
AFTNJ News
nbender

Former President Clinton stumps for Hillary in Edison

EDISON – Former President Bill Clinton urged New Jerseyans to support a presidential candidate in the June 7 primary who wants to build bridges, not walls.

And that candidate is Hillary Clinton, he told the packed crowd inside the gymnasium at Edison High School.

[…]

Donna Chiera, of Perth Amboy, said she came to the high school to represent Randi Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers, the first union that came out last year to support Hillary Clinton.…

Read More
AFT NewsAFTNJ NewsPensionsPolitical Education
nbender

Eyes On The Pensions

Union members were out in force Wednesday in Trenton supporting the labor State Investment Council (SIC) members and advocating for a reduction of the state’s extremely heavy investment in hedge funds. “Reducing our investment in hedge funds starts the process of keeping more pension contributions in the system, moving toward returning the neglected fund to good fiscal health,” AFTNJ president Donna M.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsMediaPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips
nbender

Standoff in N.J. school district’s contract battle

By Spencer Kent, NJ Advance Media

PERTH AMBOY — Contract negotiations between the Perth Amboy Board of Education and the district’s union is no closer to resolution as the BOE declared an impasse on Tuesday, “rejecting a union proposal” over health insurance costs, according to a statement from the Perth Amboy Federation-AFT.

The Perth Amboy Federation-AFT, which represents district teachers and employees, said the impasse was discouraging.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsMediaPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips
nbender

Impasse declared in Perth Amboy school negotiations

Insurance costs remain sticking point

PERTH AMBOY – The leadership of the Perth Amboy Federation-AFT has been notified that the Board of Education has declared an impasse regarding negotiations.

The union, which represents teachers and other district employees, received a letter Tuesday from the Machado Law Group, which represents the Board of Education containing a notice of impasse.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsMediaPre-K to 12 NewsPress releases
nbender

Press: Health Insurance Sticking Point As Perth Amboy Board Declares Impasse

Contact: Nat T. Bender, 908-377-0393, bender [at] aftnj.org
Union proposes progressive solution, while board would increase insurance costs

PERTH AMBOY…Long-stalled negotiations on an expired contract for educators hit a further snag as the Perth Amboy Board of Education filed for impasse, rejecting a union proposal to structure health insurance costs so lower paid workers would not pay as much.

… Read More
AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsMediaPress Clips
nbender

Golden Parachutes Of NJ Public College Presidents Cost Millions

By Mark Lagerkvist

Retiring college presidents can look forward to sabbaticals at full or partial pay, teaching positions, even automobiles

[…]

“Why would a president who runs an institution that’s totally online get this kind of compensation?” countered Susanna Tardi, vice president for higher education at the New Jersey chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsMediaPress Clips
nbender

NJIT President’s $5.3m Contract Takes Top Spot Among NJ College Chiefs

By Mark Lagerkvist

To some critics, high salaries are hard to justify when students are struggling to pay tuition and more professors are needed at many schools

See also: The List: All The Presidents’ Pay And Perks At New Jersey’s Public Colleges

[…]

“The whole of idea of a bonus because you stay X number of years, I don’t understand that,” said Susanna Tardi, vice president for higher education at the New Jersey chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.…

Read More
Higher Ed NewsMediaPress releasesStudent debt
nbender

New Jersey’s Deep Cuts to Higher Education Threaten Economic Growth

by Jon Whiten

Underfunding of Public Colleges & Universities Continues & Would Be Made Worse by Proposed Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

New Jersey students and families continue to have a hard time affording the high cost of a college education, thanks to sharply declining state support for public colleges and universities. As the Garden State has cut higher education funding, the price of attending public colleges continues to rise as family incomes decline, shifting the cost of paying for college onto working-class and middle-class students and families, resulting in higher and higher levels of student debt.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsReclaim RutgersTake Action
nbender

Rutgers Art Students Need Safe Studios

Please sign petition: Rutgers Art Students Need Safe Studios

Student safety is a priority for all of the Rutgers community. When a curriculum requires hands-on activity with hazardous materials, equipment and techniques, no effort should be spared.

In the sculpture program at Mason Gross School of the Arts graduate and undergraduate students learn and create in many different media.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsMediaPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips
nbender

Teachers protest over lack of contract at charter school in Englewood

By Daniel Munoz, Staff Writer, Northern Valley Surbanite

ENGLEWOOD – Teachers at Englewood on the Palisades Charter School have been protesting against having to work without a contract, according to union president Janine Ellis.

The previous contract expired at the end of the 2014-2015 school year.

“There’s low morale, the pension costs have gone up, the cost of living has gone up,” Ellis said.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsReclaim Rutgers
nbender

Commentary: Obama gets it wrong on Rutgers’ speaker protest

By Charles G. Häberl

President Obama struck a discordant note when he raised the specter of campus “political correctness” and attacked the “fragility” of the student body at Rutgers’ commencement on Sunday.

Like many others attending the commencement, I was inspired and enthralled by Obama’s address to the Class of 2016. However, as a faculty member who was supportive of the principled, student-led opposition to the selection of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the 2014 commencement speaker, I feel obliged to address some of Obama’s regrettable misperceptions.…

Read More
Newark Teachers UnionPolitical EducationPre-K to 12 News
nbender

Return NJ School Districts to Local Control

Assembly bill 3637 would return much-needed local control to school districts under state control for far too long. We need our state’s elected leadership to work together to restore accountable local control with the process this bill creates. Please sign on to ask your state elected leadership to pass this bill to allow parents and community members to control education within their districts.…

Read More
AFTNJ NewsHigher Ed NewsMediaPress Clips
nbender

Union Official Demands Fairness from RVCC

Raritan Valley Community College is a world class institution that benefits Somerset and Hunterdon counties in many ways. In addition to providing students with an exemplary education, fantastic transfer opportunities, local networking and career connections, RVCC is also a solid financial investment for students and taxpayers alike.

In 2012, EMSI, an independent agency that measures the economic impact of community colleges, determined that “Students enjoy a 14.5% rate of return on their investment in RVCC” and that “for every dollar of…support, taxpayers see a return of $4.30 (in the form of higher tax receipts and avoided costs).”…

Read More