NJ Education Report

Gov. Christie explains why the State Legislature passed health and benefits contributions reform legislation but then failed to pass meaningful education reform: “I think they just became politically exhausted after pension and benefits reform,” Christie said. “Even though we had some areas of agreement in May and June, I think they just became politically exhausted and said ‘No, I can’t do any more, Governor, I’m sorry. We can’t take any more risks. We can’t anger anyone else. We can’t threaten anyone else. We’re just tired and we need to go run for re-election.'” (Courier-Post)

“Some 350 school board members across New Jersey must resign their positions immediately,” reports the Star-Ledger, “after failing to complete a criminal background check now mandated by state law, a Department of Education official said.” More coverage here from NJ Spotlight and here from Press of Atlantic City. The Trenton Times says school board members deserve a grace period to comply.

The Press of Atlantic City doesn’t like the Urban Hope Act.

Edweek’s State EdWatch blog focuses on Education Law Center’s objections to NJ’s waiver application to get a bye on No Child Left Behind strictures. ELC is protesting our application because there wasn’t adequate input from stakeholders; it also objects to the classification of some districts as “Reward Schools,” which means that some money could go to functional districts. Also, according to EdWeek, “State officials also acknowledge that some of the policy ideas they included in their waiver plan—such as private-school choice—will require legislative approval.” (You saw it here first.) NJ officials concede that some public comments “were cut off because they exceeded the size allowed through the website.”

The Courier-Post comments on the “audacious lies” in Camden Public Schools over the frequency of violence and vandalism.

For the 2010-2011 school year, the Camden school district reported to the state that there were just 35 incidents of violence, vandalism or weapons possession among its 13,800 students.

But according to the mayor’s office, city police responded to 249 incidents of violence in Camden’s schools. And those police numbers are probably just the tip of the iceberg. How many incidents of violence and bullying go completely unreported or the reports are tucked away and forgotten? Many, we suspect.

NJ Spotlight examines how the NJ DOE plans to spend the $37,848,434 in Federal money we won through Race To The Top. $19 million will go directly to districts that qualify for Title I funding and exhibit buy-in to reforms like data-driven teaching evaluations.

An A.P. piece running in both the Star-Ledger and the Record examines the (mixed) effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind, which is approaching its 10th year of implementation.

According to the Daily Record, the Parsippany School District has overpaid Superintendent Lee Seitz by almost $38K over the last 18 months. “The district gave Seitz a new contract a little more than a year ago, after the state proposed a salary cap for superintendents but months before it was implemented. The contract paid Seitz $220,565 this school year, up from the previous contract’s $212,000 salary and $43,065 more than the $177,500 allowed by the cap.”

From Jeremy Rosen at the Courier-Post: “A New Jersey court has ruled that a state Open Public Records Act request triggered the release of an Evesham student’s disciplinary record — a decision that could open a door for parents to check whether public school officials are consistently keeping kids safe.”

Here’s a Star-Ledger update on the “corrupt enterprise” that is the Elizabeth School Board.

Andrew Sullivan points to a study comparing U.S. schools to those in Finland and has this comment:

But for all the talk of equity and non-competitiveness in Partanen’s piece, this key sentence is skipped over rather quickly: “A master’s degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country.”