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Higher Ed NewsMediaPress ClipsReclaim Rutgers

Rutgers University’s Bob Barchi says he has no regrets. Here’s how the school has grown

Catherine Carrera, North Jersey Record

‘Antagonistic’ to the faculty?
On the academic side, Barchi has seen pressure mount to a near-strike from his unionized faculty.

Faculty and students stormed in on Board of Governors meetings throughout the past year demanding that Barchi meet their requests as contract negotiations ensued. In the spring, the largest union, representing 8,000 faculty members, threatened to strike if an agreement wasn’t reached by a certain date.…

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Critics again blast Rutgers over football program in wake of head coach’s ouster

Santana, NJTVNews

Among the biggest critics is the faculty union, claiming Rutgers — which spends $94 million a year on sports — has lost $200 million since joining the NCAA conference in 2014.

“Once again, we’re faced with a huge bill for someone to not work for Rutgers,” the union said in a joint statement with administrators at the school.…

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Rutgers staff shut out of presidential search committee, union says

Star-Ledger Guest Columnist, Kathryn Neal

The search for the next Rutgers University president is underway. There is only one problem: 13,000 unionized staff have been shut out of the 23-member search committee. Executives from Rutgers governing boards and management have 10 seats; faculty have 11; and students have two. The exclusion is deliberate and part of a long-term pattern of Rutgers management disregarding staff.…

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Who Should Be Rutgers Next President? Someone Who Prioritizes Carbon Neutrality, Staff Say

Catherine Carrera, North Jersey Record

The next president of Rutgers University should be someone willing to commit the school to carbon neutrality, according to staff and faculty who spoke at two recent town hall sessions that were part of the university’s process to choose a new leader.

“The number one priority for the next president of Rutgers is going to be to make Rutgers carbon neutral,” said Robert Scott, an associate professor in the anthropology department.…

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For one Newark charter school not in session, the clock is ticking

Briana Vannozzi, NJTV News

The struggling charter failed to open on time for the 2019-2020 school year, and now its students are being bussed out to various community centers throughout the state. While the school is asking for parents’ patience and understanding as the situation is dealt with, the president of Newark’s teachers union is calling for an investigation, claiming a lack of oversight for charter schools is an ongoing issue in the state.…

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Longtime Kean president to step down. Dawood Farahi clashed with unions and oversaw massive campus expansion.

Rebecca Panico, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Kean University President Dawood Farahi announced he will step down next year, leading to calls for an open and transparent selection for his successor from faculty union leaders.

[…]

Although Farahi started out as a professor, he’s often clashed with the faculty union on campus, the Kean Federation of Teachers.…

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Raritan Valley Community College Faculty Union Disappointed With No New Contract

Mike Deak, Bridgewater Courier News

BRANCHBURG – With only a week to go before the start of classes, Raritan Valley Community College has not reached a settlement on a new contract with its faculty union.

The contract expired on June 30 but, according to a statement from Pattiann Kletz, the union president, negotiations have been continuing for nine months and a mediation session has been held to bring the two sides together.…

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AFTNJ NewsMediaNewark Teachers UnionPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips

Merit pay was the heart of a ‘revolutionary’ teachers contract in Newark. Now the Cory Booker-era policy is disappearing.

Wall, Chalkbeat
[…]

Last week, negotiators for the Newark Teachers Union and the district struck a deal for a new contract that scraps the bonuses for top-rated teachers, allows low-rated teachers to earn raises, and gives teachers with advanced degrees more pay. It also eliminates other provisions of the 2012 contract, which were continued in a follow-up agreement in 2017, including longer hours for low-performing schools.…

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N.J. college wants to go to war over a bad review. The faculty say it’s a big mistake.

Adam Clark, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A New Jersey college’s threat to sue an accrediting group that criticized one of its master’s degree programs amounts to an ill-conceived waste of time and money, its faculty union says.

A week after Kean University said it’s “standing up for what is right,” union leaders lashed out at the university for its reaction to losing an accreditation for its master’s of public affairs program.…

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Rutgers President Robert Barchi Stepping Down After School Year

NJ 101.5

[…]

“We look forward to welcoming a new President who shares our commitment to a diverse, equitable Rutgers that serves the people of New Jersey. We hope the Board of Governors will prioritize faculty, student and staff engagement in the search for a new president who is committed to our values. We expect that President Barchi will complete his unfinished business, including finally settling the contract and equalizing policies for the hundreds of unionized medical school faculty on the Biomedical and Health Sciences campuses who have been working without a contract for over a year now,” Todd Wolfson, president of faculty labor union, Rutgers AAUP-AFT, said in a written statement.…

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Op-Ed: More Accountability Should Be Endgame For Charter Schools

Chiera, NJ Spotlight

Illegally or not, charter schools take money for schools and students out of the very communities where it is most needed
donna m chiera spotlight
While “Avengers: Endgame” is smashing records at the box office, the hundreds of millions in precious public dollars that flowed to for-profit management companies and real estate concerns associated with charter schools — as the NorthJersey.com…

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Rutgers Gives Itself Great Report Card, Leader Of Faculty Union Differs

Sitrin, NJ Spotlight

Five-year report celebrates achievements in funding, construction and diversity; union official takes issue, particularly on tuition

[…]

“It’s a mixed bag,” David Hughes, professor of anthropology and vice president of the Rutgers American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers faculty union said. “There are bright spots for which President [Robert] Barchi should take credit, but those are overwhelmed by his failures and his misunderstanding of public higher education.”…

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AFTNJ NewsMediaNewark Teachers UnionPre-K to 12 NewsPress Clips

With contract about to expire, Newark Teachers Union says new deal with district is ‘very close’

Wall, Chalkbeat

The school year is over in Newark, but a big question lingers for teachers trying to budget for summer vacations or just pay the bills: How much will they earn this fall?

Union and district officials are still hammering out a contract for next school year that will determine how much Newark’s roughly 2,700 teachers are paid and how they can qualify for annual salary increases, which currently are tied to classroom performance.…

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Perth Amboy teachers reach contract agreement, students petition for better communication

PERTH AMBOY – An agreement in principle has been reached on a three-year contract between the Perth Amboy teachers union and board of education.

The agreement, which comes after more than a year of negotiations, protests and petitions from parents and students, was announced Friday in a release from Patricia Paradiso, a teacher at Robert N.…

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Negotiating since November, North Bergen teachers union urges BOE to approve new contract

Locked in negotiations since November, the North Bergen Federation of Teachers came out strong on Wednesday evening to urge the board of education to approve a new contract.

“I wanted people that are teachers to come up here tonight so you could see the people you are dealing with. Sometimes we get caught up with the negotiating team, it’s the negotiating team, but it’s not just the negotiating team: these are the people I’m representing,” said North Bergen Federation of Teachers President Elizabeth Lynch.…

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