Kean Trustees Lock Out Students Calling For Reversals of Retaliatory Firings

Students, faculty, and staff calling for the reappointment of skilled lecturers and professional staff were illegally locked out of Monday night’s Kean Board of Trustees meeting, according to Kean Federation of Teachers president James Castiglione. While hundreds of students, faculty and staff were joined by a State Senator and the Assembly Higher Education Committee Chair rallying outside against the firings, Kean managers filled all the seats and security refused to allow students into the meeting.…

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Report Back From the Women’s March

Two AFT New Jersey locals sponsored Saturday’s Women’s March on New Jersey which seeks to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change by providing a safe and accepting platform for supporters to rally and march in promotion of civil rights for every human regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, religion, or creed.”…

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William Paterson AFT On the March for a Fair Contract

Quality Faculty Deserve a Quality Contract

Photos: Milton Eng

More than 150 full-time and adjunct faculty, professional staff and students demonstrated at William Paterson University calling for a fair deal for workers in state contract negotiations and protesting the lack of shared governance and transparency at the university. AFT members have been working without a state contract since July 1, 2015.

The March 2 rally helped raise awareness on campus that faculty, librarians and professional staff at NJ public colleges and universities have suffered economically for years due to health insurance costs exceeding minimal non-competitive salary increases.…

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Making Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Work on the State Level

The New Jersey Department of Education has been conducting meetings with stakeholders in education to formulate the state plan for implement of the federal “Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the successor of “No Child Left Behind” in guiding education policy.

The Perth Amboy Federation hosted a small group information session after school Monday (Oct. 24) to discuss best practices in successful schools and where teacher training, professional development and programs for students need improvement.…

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Assembly Higher Education Talks Adjuncts and Tenure

The working conditions of Adjunct faculty were up for discussion in the State Assembly Higher Education Committee meeting Thursday, Oct. 6 in Trenton. Chair Mila Jasey heard from legislators Sen. (and former Governor) Dick Codey and Assemblyman Dan Benson, former Assembly Speaker Joseph Doria as well as an AFT New Jersey delegation consisting of Dan O’Connor, Susanna Tardi, David Chapman, Elaine Bobrove and Steve Young.…

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Testimony for College Affordability Task Force Offers Ideas for Efficiency, Savings for Students

AFTNJ Higher Education Executive Vice President Sue Tardi, a professor from William Paterson, and Rutgers professors Dan O’Connor and Patrice Mareschal testified in Trenton for the College Affordability Task Force. The group offered a variety of recommendations for reducing college and student debt, improving emphasis on academics on and increasing accountability in Trenton.

Read Sue Tardi’s testimony

Read Patrice Mareschal’s testimony

Higher Education Affordability Committee

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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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Photos: Nick Yovnello Social Justice Scholarship

AFTNJ members and leaders gathered to support students who are making a difference. Members from Perth Amboy Federation…

Posted by AFT New Jersey on Monday, September 28, 2015

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Photos: Middlesex Somerset CLC Scholarship Breakfast and Awards

Honoring Ronald Rios for the Hubert H. Humphrey Friend of Labor Award and Donna Chiera for the Middlesex and Somerset Counties AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s Labor Person of the Year Award.

Posted by AFT New Jersey on Sunday, April 26, 2015

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