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.

Debbie and the Wonder Bar have offered me an opportunity to raise funds for the benefit John Key’s family. John Key was a teacher in the Asbury Park School District since 2000 and most recently, took a position as an assistant football coach for the Blue Bishops in the Fall of 2011. John was a past coach in Ocean Township and Monmouth Regional as well as stand out athlete in the Ocean Township School System as a proud Spartan.

John was tragically taken from us in the early morning of Sunday, October 16, 2011, when he was hit by a car trying to help another individual. John not only left behind his parents, but he also left behind two small children ages 8 and 10.

Function 11, a fantastic band, will be performing the evening of Saturday, November 19, 2011, at 8:00pm. Advance ticket sales are $20.00, with ticket prices of $25.00 at the door. A portion of the door sales will go directly to the benefit of John’s children through his parents. There will also be 50/50 ticket sales as well as other gift prizes, which will benefit the children and also help the APEAPF provide a scholarship in John’s name in the Asbury Park School District to be given out in June.
If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate to this worthy cause, please send a check to:

The Asbury Park Education Association Philanthropic Fund (APEAPF)
658 Cookman Ave. Suite 19
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(In the memo section, please write: FBO John Key)

We look forward to seeing you at this very worthy cause.

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

Accident victim’s friends, family fill the Paramount

ASBURY PARK — John U. Key Jr., the 37-year-old middle school teacher and assistant high school football coach who died in a Garden State Parkway accident Oct. 16, was remembered Monday as a quiet man who didn’t try to draw attention to himself, but let his life shine.

The Rev. Byron P. Wess, pastor of Key’s church, Second Baptist, made clear in his eulogy at the Paramount Theatre that Key’s premature death was not God’s doing. Rather, God is one’s strength when such a tragedy happens, Wess said.

Key died after being involved in a minor collision on the northbound lanes of the Parkway in Wall about 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning. He got out of his car and walked across several lanes to check on the occupants of the other car.

Key was killed when a third car struck him as he was making his way back to his own car, authorities have said.

“I’m sure you thought, ‘If only he hadn’t gotten on the Parkway, if only he hadn’t collided with the vehicle, if only he hadn’t gotten out of his car,’ ” Wess said. “But I submit the real tragedy is if John would have been the type of person who didn’t get out of his car.

“John died as he lived … moving beyond his space to see if someone needed something in their space,” the pastor said.

This was an article from the Asbury Park Press written by Nancy Shields:

ASBURY PARK — Assistant Asbury Park football coach John Key was an inspirational teacher during the past decade at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and then this fall at the city middle school, said John Napolitani, the president of Asbury Park’s Education Association Monday.

Key, 37, died about 2 a.m. Sunday when he was hit by a car on the Garden State Parkway in Wall after getting out of his car to check to see if the occupants of another car he had collided with were unhurt.

“He was just an outstanding employee and had a wonderful rapport with the students,” said Napolitani, 40, who went to Ocean Township High School, where Key was as a star running back and linebacker from 1988 to 1991. “He always had a smile on his face and never had a bad thing to say about anyone.”

Napolitani said Key had just obtained a principal certificate and was looking to move to the next level in his career.

“If he had been given that opportunity, he would truly have been an outstanding adminstrator,” the union president said.

Key, a resident of Long Branch and the father of two children, had been a teacher in the Asbury Park schools since September 2000. He came on the high school coaching staff in June after previously coaching for four seasons at Monmouth Regional High School and before that at Ocean Township High School.

WALL — An Asbury Park Middle School teacher and veteran football coach involved in a two-car crash was struck and killed by a third car as he was crossing the Garden State Parkway early Sunday, officials said.
John Key, 37, who was in his first season as an assistant football coach at Asbury Park High School, was pronounced dead on the scene after being hit by a northbound Mercedes-Benz, Sgt. Brian Polite said. He was returning from checking on occupants of a car that he had collided with, Polite said.
Key, of Long Branch, was driving a black Chevrolet that collided with a white Honda at 2:08 a.m., sending the two cars to oppposite sides of the northern lanes, Polite said. After going to check on the safety of the occupants in the Honda, Key again crossed the four lanes on foot near the 98.4 mile marker and was hit, Polite said.
“At the point that he ran over to see if they were OK, he was not injured,” Polite said. “When he attempted to cross the roadway again, it was at that point that he was struck by a blue Mercedes-Benz.”

No other injuries were reported, and police did not release the identities of the Honda’s occupants.
A father of two young children, Key was a standout running back/linebacker at Ocean Township High School from 1988-91, said George Conti Jr., Key’s high school football head coach.
Key played varsity football his sophomore through senior years and was the Spartans’ team captain his senior year, Conti said

“He was a person everybody looked up to,’’ Conti said.

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

ASBURY PARK — The Board of Education is moving ahead to get a new synthetic turf football field installed by the end of the school year, and hired Leon S. Avakian Consulting Engineers to get bidding documents ready and to supervise the project.

The board Wednesday night awarded a $145,000 contract to the engineering firm.

Geoffrey Hastings, school business administrator, said Avakian was chosen after getting quotes from other firms. The total cost of the project is expected to be in the range of $1.1 million, school officials said.

Board President Gregory Hopson said the board has planned to get a turf field for some time because of the Canada geese problem on the field adjacent to Deal Lake.

“We do have the finances to put our turf in,” Hopson said Wednesday.

School officials also asked families to come to a 5:30 p.m. meeting Thursday, Oct. 27 to learn how to support their children’s education through the Title 1 federal aid program that gives additional funds to districts with at-risk students to ensure that all children have a fair opportunity to obtain high quality education.

That meeting will be in the Barack Obama Building at 1300 Bangs Ave., which is being refurbished for its new school and community uses now that it is no longer operating as a neighborhood school. The district has reopened the Dorothy McNish Parent Center at the Obama Building.

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

ASBURY PARK — State education officials have extended Lester Richens’ job as fiscal monitor overseeing city school district finances for two years.

Richens started in the district in late May and signed on initially to work for six months through November. He also is the state fiscal monitor for the Garfield School District and works alternating two- and three-day weeks in Asbury Park at $600 a day.

The state has assigned a fiscal monitor to the district since 2007; he has virtual control over all spending, hiring and firing decisions. The difference now is that the three monitors before Richens worked full time in Asbury Park.

Richens, who is 65 and lives in Neptune, was superintendent of the Belmar School District for more than three decades and, after retiring in 2007, got a state job as the Burlington County executive superintendent of schools.

During his tenure in Asbury Park, Richens used his power to allow district officials to move forward with a new school configuration and educational initiatives when a divided school board was unable to work together to carry out its own duties.

A previous majority on the school board under Remond Palmer fought both Richens and the power the state is exerting over the local board but lost that battle.

From: Ernesto Cullari

My Mom Lee and her husband Matt sold all of their belongings and relocated their comfortable lives from New Jersey to Cebu, Philippines to start an orphanage that rescues impoverished kids from the dangerous streets. Street Kids Philippine Missions, a 301(c) non-profit corporation, is dedicated to giving those most vulnerable a place to live, learn, and be loved while being raised to be disciples of God’s Word.

On Saturday October 15th from 2pm-6pm, Street Kids PM is holding a fundraiser event at Chico’s House of Jazz in Asbury Park. With special guest performances by recording artists Sophie Dupin, Jay Loftus and others; win a Kindle Fire and other prizes in our raffle. Recommended donation is $50.
—I hope you can make it!

This Saturday, we will have our office open during First Night between the hours of 6:00pm and 10:00pm, this Saturday, October 1, 2011. Members of the APEA will be available to answer questions that pertain to education and what we do in the City of Asbury Park. During the evening, Chrissy Hayes will also have a table set up for information about one of our colleagues, Suzanne Fiemster. Suzanne has been battling her estranged husband for custody of her children. He has taken the children to Tunisia, where he will not allow them to leave with their mother. Chrissy has been instrumental in getting the information out to the public about this dire situation. Please stop by and support this cause. We look forward to seeing you at the opening of our office.