This is an opinion piece from NJ.com, here is a link to the article:

New Jersey is about to take a giant step toward opening public schools to profit-making management companies, and the effort has a most unlikely supporter — the New Jersey Education Association.

In a move that displays either its weakness or cynicism — or both — the state’s largest teachers’ union has joined forces with archenemy Gov. Chris Christie and the powerful Camden County Democratic machine of George Norcross to endorse the “Urban Hope Act,” which would allow private companies to build and manage public schools using taxpayer money.

“We have always supported public school choice,’’ said Ginger Gold Schnitzer, the NJEA’s chief lobbyist.

Schnitzer’s words sharply contrast with previous comments from union leaders who condemned the same bill the organization now endorses. In June, for example, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian released a statement that read:

“The proposal is nothing more than an attempt to walk away from the state’s obligation to provide a thorough and efficient education to every student by handing over our students and our tax dollars to private companies.”

The union’s reversal of position came after the bill was amended to guarantee bargaining and tenure rights for teachers in privately managed schools — as many as 12 so-called “renaissance schools” slated for Newark, Camden and Trenton.

But the NJEA endorsed the proposed law while it still contained a provision that would require direct public financing of the construction of schools managed by private firms along with an exemption from competitive bidding laws.

This is an article from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

NEW BRUNSWICK — A scholar who studies and blogs about education finance says improving the state’s urban schools will take more money — and that merit pay is not likely to help.

Bruce Baker, an associate professor at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, spoke with The Associated Press for an occasional series of interviews on public education reform in New Jersey.

Baker’s work is more often cited by those skeptical about the so-called reform movement in education. He’s skeptical about whether students’ standardized test scores should be incorporated into decisions about which teachers should be laid off and which should make more money. Those are among ideas promoted by President Obama, Gov. Chris Christie and New Jersey Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf.

Baker, a former middle-school science teacher and tennis coach, has done research funded in part by teachers unions. But he’s also quick to point out that he once did consulting work for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination and is a critic of teachers unions.

AP: What’s the state of New Jersey’s public education system?

Baker: It’s strong. It’s strong for some reasons within its control and it’s strong for other reasons that are just the luck of being geographically where it is and having an affluent, educated population.

Part of what’s made it strong is the state has put financial effort into its schools.

This is an article from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

TRENTON — A bill that paves a legal path toward new public-private schools in three cities – including the Lanning Square Elementary School in Camden – passed two legislative committees Thursday.

The Democratic-sponsored bill was amended to overcome Republicans objections, though a legal advocate for low-income students threatened to bring a lawsuit to stop the program if the bill becomes law.

The Urban Hope Act would allow for up to four privately operated public schools to be authorized and built each in Newark, Trenton and Camden.

The bill (A4426/S3173) passed both the state Assembly and Senate budget committees and is expected to be voted on in both chambers Monday, the last day of the two-year state legislative session.

South Jersey Democratic leader George E. Norcross III has been pushing for the bill, particularly because he wants to see a new private-public school in the Lanning Square section in the center of Camden.

Gov. Chris Christie had indicated earlier he would support it, but the administration has been reviewing the bill, which changed in recent days and on Thursday.

The bill is sponsored by Norcross’ brother, state Sen. Donald Norcross, D-Camden. It is controversial because it circumvents the state’s School Development Authority, which had been charged with constructing schools in 31 of the state’s low-income school districts that are protected under two decades worth of state Supreme Court rulings.

This is an opinion piece from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf recently reiterated his desire to be able to act more quickly to close or restructure failing schools.

We could be on board with that — if we had any confidence that our state government can, with any credibility, identify truly failing schools. But we don’t. Instead of trying hard to make those determinations in a fair, meaningful fashion, the Gov. Chris Christie administration appears focused on validating its own claims about teachers union excesses and their impact on education.

Most of all, the would-be “reformers” continue to downplay the root problem in schools with substantial numbers of failing students: poverty. Most schools “fail” not because of what does or doesn’t happen within the classroom but because a community fails its children. Urban youths from troubled, broken families with poor nutrition and little if any parental support walk through school doors every day at a distinct disadvantage compared to most suburban students. Even the very best teachers can only do so much to compensate for those shortcomings.

Fighting poverty is extraordinarily hard work, however. So instead, our leaders keep pretending that the disparities in student performance can be corrected by “fixing” the schools.

What New Jersey — and the entire nation — truly needs is a far more comprehensive understanding of the vast differences among students outside the school setting, and how those differences carry over into the classroom.

This is an article from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

New Jersey’s chief of schools says the state should be quicker to reconfigure or close failing institutions.

Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf tells The Associated Press that would be one of his top priorities if he had free rein to modify the state’s education system.

Cerf says data show that New Jersey has one of the nation’s top public school systems — but that low-income students do relatively poorly. And he says the gap is bigger than in most states.

He says the New Jersey Education Association does not seem serious enough about addressing that gap. That’s the state’s main teachers union.

Cerf says the goal of the education system should be to give every student an equal opportunity “regardless of birth circumstances.”

One in a periodic series on efforts to remake New Jersey’s education system.

This is an article from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

EWING — Corey Goodson had been getting by in his classes at Asbury Park High School, but barely.

Now he’s trying much harder, which started happening when Goodson, getting ready for the football season a year ago, was told he couldn’t play.

“I didn’t have the credits,’’ he said.

Goodson fixed his GPA, something he talked about with pride on Saturday after Asbury Park defeated Florence, 42-18, in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I championship game at The College of New Jersey.

Goodson said he regrets missing his junior year of football, especially after being part of the school’s 2009 title team.

“We didn’t have a good season last year and I felt like I owed my team because I wasn’t there,’’ he said.

When turnovers and special teams benefited Florence in the first half, the Flash had three possessions that moved into the red zone, only to be turned away each time, with stops made by Goodwin, defensive back Armond Conover and linebacker Tajier Hammary proving especially significant.

Somehow Asbury Park led 12-0 at halftime. Once at that point, the rest was easy.

“Corey is a beast on defense,’’ said Asbury Park coach Matt Ardizzone. “He gives us full effort on every single play and it‘s going to be real sad to see him go.’’

Asbury Park finished its season at 10-2, rebounding from a less-than-stellar 2010.

This is an article from the Asbury Park Press, here is a link to the article:

JACKSON — The mother of two girls who became separated from them in Tunisia in a marital struggle in August was reunited with them and is back home in New Jersey.

Suzanne Feimster returned with one daughter on Nov. 15. Her husband, Walid Bensayeh, returned on Nov. 23 with their younger daughter and Suzanne’s mother, indicating that, at the very least, the couple had made some progress in attempting to work through their parenting difficulties. They have been separated for two years.

Now, they have begun proceedings to divorce and a hearing is scheduled soon in Ocean County, said Christine Hayes, a spokesperson for Feimster. Hayes is a teacher at Asbury Park Middle School, where Feimster also was employed before going to Tunisia with Bensayeh and the girls, Sumyra, then 4, and Rayhana, 3, for a visit with his parents.

“Now she’s in a secure, safe location with the kids,” Hayes said. “She has no idea where he (husband) is and he has no idea where she is.”

Feimster said in an email this week that she cannot comment at this time because of pending court cases, but added that “Sumyra, Rayhana and I are safe on American soil.”

Walid could not be reached for comment. Before the trip to Tunisia, he was living in the couple’s house that they owned in Pine Hill, Camden County. Feimster and the girls lived with her parents in Jackson.

This is an article from NJ.com, here is a link to the article:

Would streamline firing steps; expand preschool, kindergarten

TRENTON — The state’s largest teachers union said Monday it would support a streamlined process to fire ineffective tenured teachers, but it also unveiled a package of proposals that would require a considerable increase in funding for public schools.

In addition to revamped tenure rules, the New Jersey Education Association called for an increase in preschool programs and full-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes for elementary schools, and new state grants to pay for parental involvement initiatives.

The package comes as state officials have signaled that education reform measures would move through the Legislature this fall. The NJEA lost a key battle over pension and benefit reform legislation in June and is looking to regroup on tenure reform, charter schools and school voucher bills.

Lynne Strickland, director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which lobbies for suburban school districts, said she was doubtful the NJEA package would be received enthusiastically while money remains tight.

“It’s positive that they’re talking education issues at the top of the agenda,” Strickland said, and then added: “You’re talking billions of dollars. There are a lot of big ideas. Will there be enough money to support some of them?”

Steve Baker, a spokesman for the NJEA, said the proposals reflect what educational research shows is effective for student learning. The union did not develop a cost estimate for the programs, he added.

“We’re making the argument that, if you’re going to talk about education reform, let us look at the things that are demonstrated to be effective,” Baker said.

This is an article from NJ.com, here is a link to the article:

New Jersey’s bid to waive the requirements of a federal education law includes proposals to reward high-performing schools and force low-performing ones to remove ineffective teachers, according to a draft of the state’s application.

The “No Child Left Behind” law requires all public school students to demonstrate proficiency in math and reading by 2014, but it would be nearly impossible for New Jersey to comply — 55 percent of the state’s public schools have students who do not meet that standard, test data show.

In seeking the waiver from 100 percent compliance, the state’s application proposes a new system for public school accountability that would group schools into three tiers based on students’ performance on standardized tests. The federal law deems any school not in compliance as failing, a penalty that could result in withheld funds after the 2014 deadline.

According to the state’s application, the 5 percent of schools with the lowest test scores would be deemed “priority.” Another group with low graduation rates or wide achievement gaps would be considered “focus.” The state’s best schools would be called “reward.”

Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf said the proposed accountability system would support struggling schools and offer credit for progress toward the “flawed” federal law’s goal of having all students demonstrate proficiency in math and reading.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to school improvement, which is why we must focus our resources and most significant interventions on those schools with a longstanding history of low performance,” Cerf said.

This is an article from NJ.com, here is a link to the article:

They’re among the best, but they have a long way to go.

Fourth- and eighth-graders in New Jersey ranked near the top in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in math and reading, posting the second-highest reading scores in both grade levels, according to data released today.

The state’s fourth-graders ranked fourth nationally in math — up from fifth in 2009 — while eighth-graders got the third-highest scores, up from fifth two years ago.

Massachusetts students posted the highest scores in all four areas.

But results of the NAEP assessments, often nicknamed the “Nation’s Report Card,” also showed fewer than 40 percent of students nationwide were “proficient” in all of the categories tested.

New Jersey fared somewhat better, with 43 percent of fourth-graders and 45 percent of eighth-graders scoring proficient or better in reading. In math, 51 percent of fourth-graders and 47 percent of eighth-graders were proficient or better.

NAEP defines proficient as “solid academic performance” and “competency over challenging subject matter.”

“Being basic isn’t good enough,” Newark School Superintendent Cami Anderson said. “The NAEP is sort of the gold standard. It’s the best thing we have to measure true proficiency.

“We want highly proficient,” she said. “Obviously, we need to make leaps.”

The NAEP tests were administered between January and March this year to a representative sample of about 200,000 fourth graders and 170,000 eighth-graders across the country. In New Jersey, that included 3,100 fourth-graders and 2,500 eighth-graders.

The tests — which are scored from 0 to 500 — are the only nationally representative assessments given.