Kimberley Harrington, New Jersey’s commissioner of education It got little notice and may not last all that long, but yesterday Kimberley Harrington finally won the full title that has gone with her job for nearly the past year: New Jersey’s commissioner of education. Gov. Chris Christie announced late in the day that Harrington had been […]
TRENTON — The state’s takeover of Jersey City Public Schools is coming to an end nearly 30 years after the city’s school district was deemed a “total educational failure.” The state Board of Education on Wednesday voted to grant the district local control over its instruction and programming, the final administrative category under supervision from […]
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) In an ironic twist, the fate of school funding for next year may not hinge on the usual Democratic-Republican politics, but instead on what has become a nasty feud between New Jersey’s top Democrat and its dominant teachers union. State Senate President Steve Sweeney and the New Jersey Education […]
Sweeney and Prieto’s $171 million school funding concord unveiled earlier this week represents an attempt at achieving peace between warring Democrat political factions, Save Jerseyans. Sweeney’s faction is challenging Prieto for the speakership. The NJEA is throwing mud at Sweeney. Somehow, the Senate President and Speaker hope, agreement will breed peace heading into the November election […]
Click here for reuse options!
By Senator Jennifer Beck The biggest issue facing our state is property taxes. And the biggest impact on that issue is school taxes. Over the next several weeks, a new plan for school funding will be debated in Trenton. There aren’t a lot of details being provided on this plan or its methodology, but estimates […]
I am very excited to announce my support for The Frederick Douglass Charter School for Boys, a new school that our community desperately needs. If approved by the New Jersey Department of Education, this innovative educational institution would be the first single-gender charter school in the state and has plans to open in August 2018. […]
Click here for reuse options!
I don’t know if you’re following this nonsensical school funding “debate” between Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, Save Jerseyans, but it’s rich. It really is! Prieto, aligned with the New Jersey (Mis)education Association, wants to spend an inordinate amount of tax dollars ($125 million) right away on education funding. Sweeney? He wants to […]
Click here for reuse options!
Credit: Amanda Brown Dick Zimmer Shortly after Betsy DeVos was sworn into office as U.S. Secretary of Education, I was invited, as a trustee of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), to meet with her at the Department of Education. I accepted the invitation with pleasure. When I posted a picture of myself with DeVos on […]
FLORHAM PARK — At a summit held by manufacturing leaders for state legislators last week, manufacturers said one of the biggest challenges facing the industry is finding qualified applicants to fill positions. “We have great schools in New Jersey, at every level, but no real program management goals when it comes to vocational schooling, and […]
GOP Assembly Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union) took up the cause of his ally, Chris Christie, earlier this week, writing to Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) after Tuesday’s State Budge Address to implore the majority party to come up with a new school funding formula in the next 100 days. “The current system is unfair, unsustainable and too costly for families across […]
Click here for reuse options!
Vice President Mike Pence stressed to a group of college administrators that the Trump administration is committed to greater education choice for elementary and high school students. “Parents on an increasing basis are able choose for their young children the school regardless of their income and area code,” @mike_pence says. The vice president spoke Monday […]
A study found that discipline, not money, is the best indicator of school performance. “Monetary investment in education is not sufficient to boost educational performance,” said Associate Professor Chris Baumann, a co-author of the study, which was featured in the International Journal of Educational Management. “Discussion of education policy often centers on funding, but the […]
Donald Trump prevailed where other Republican presidential candidates failed in Midwestern states in part because of new right-to-work laws that have diminished the power and influence of the teachers’ unions, according to labor policy analysts. “Unions have been knocked silly in Wisconsin, thanks to the one-two punch of Act 10 and right-to-work,” @workerfreedom’s Matt Patterson […]
Following her confirmation as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos shared that she views her department as useless, but sees an opportunity to minimize its impact. “It would be fine with me to have myself worked out of a job,” said DeVos to Axios. “But I’m not sure that – I’m not sure that there will […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) and a majority of the House of Representatives cast their votes on Tuesday, in accordance with the Congressional Review Act, to end two of the Obama Administration’s more onerous impositions on local school boards. “Education decisions should be made by local school boards, not officials in Washington. When […]
Click here for reuse options!
By James D. Agresti Betsy DeVos has been confirmed as Secretary of Education, but just barely. In the course of the hearings, outrageous claims were made about her views. Most originated from the public school industry itself, which is clinging to old forms for dear life. The result has been nothing but confusion. Let’s look […]
