NJ Education Report

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian calls Christie a “liar”:

This dishonesty and rancor from a governor is reprehensible. But there is a pattern here. Like the Wizard of Oz (“pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”), diverting the public’s attention from what you’re really doing just may cover up your misdeeds.

NJSBA calls for the Legislature to restore “last, best offer” so that school boards have a fighting chance at the bargaining table, that it reform tenure laws, and overhaul seniority and bumping rights.

Newly-minted teachers face a tough job market and pin their hopes on teacher retirements (today’s Star-Ledger).

James Ahearn reviews the alternative high school assessment failure rate.

The Courier Post looks at Camden schools top-heavy infrastructure:

Camden City Schools approved next year’s budget with layoffs of more than 300 staff. But in the midst of these cuts, the school district retains 102 administrators making more than $100,000 each in base salary, for a total of $12 million annually.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on uncertain teacher lay-off prospects in school districts where budgets failed.

The Christie administration is considering adjusting physical education requirements, eliminating it altogether in elementary schools and reducing the number of hours required per week – currently 2.5 hours – in upper grades.

The Farmingdale Teachers Associations says that it agreed to a salary freeze in spite of Gov. Christie’s request for same.

Gordon MacInnes, former assistant education commissioner for Abbott implementation:

There is no other way to read the actions and statements of Gov. Chris Christie: He is New Jersey’s first governor to be a sworn enemy of public schools. Never, never, never has a chief executive of New Jersey so flamboyantly turned his back on the 1.3 million public school students and their parents.

Comic relief: In Washington Township, reports the Gloucester County News, school board members declined to give their business administrator normal purchasing rights so there’s no gas for the buses on Monday.