NJ Education Report

The Star-Ledger Editorial Board fulminates,

If NJEA members believe [$6.8 million in lobbying efforts] is an effective use of their money, they don’t know the value of a buck. It’s amazing there hasn’t been a coup. Already teachers are paying [NJEA President Barbara] Keshishian, executive director Vincent Giordano and [Spokeman Steve] Wollmer way too much. That’s a million a year in salaries deciding how to blow another seven million in lobbying — all because they gave teachers bad advice in the first place.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker explains in The Record how our current teacher tenure system “values the jobs of adults over the education of children and Alfred Doblin argues that, based on NJEA’s enormous spending power, “in New Jersey, education is not a constitutional mandate. It is big business.” Joe Williams, head of Democrats for Education Reform, tells NJ Spotlight NJEA’s lobbying cost this year ” is a staggering figure.”

Here’s the 2-5 year process for firing a tenured teacher in NJ, courtesy of James Smith, the head of security at Paterson Public Schools.

In the Lobby says that NJEA’s claim that public employees are bearing the brunt of financial sacrifices is horse pucky.

NJ Spotlight examines Acting Comm. Chris Cerf’s reorganization of the DOE.

Today’s Star-Ledger examines how Chris Cerf, “the man who represents perhaps the most important nomination of Gov. Chris Christie’s tenure is again facing questions about his openness, imperiling his confirmation as education commissioner at a time when the governor has made education reform one of his top priorities.” Senator Ron Rice is invoking senatorial courtesy to stymie Cerf’s confirmation because he says that the nominee is a liar. Says Rice, “the Governor will have to find someone else.”

NJ Spotlight and the Star-Ledger look at some of the backstory to Cerf’s nomination woes.

In Franklin Township, there are three open school board seats and no candidates.

USA Today analyzes standardized state test score inflation.

The New York Times reports that the NYC comptroller rejected a contract by the New York City Teaching Fellows to train and recruit teachers. Andrew Rotherham at Eduwonk says the decision is politics as usual; the idea that Comptroller Liu “is at all independent is ridiculous. He held his victory party at UFT (the city’s teacher’s union) headquarters for God’s sake.”