NJ Education Report

The Star-Ledger investigates a possible link between a small conservative group in D.C. – American Legislative Exchange Council – that provides mock-up bills and some of Gov. Christie’s education bills. From today’s Ledger:

Drawing on bills crafted by the council, on New Jersey legislation and dozens of e-mails by Christie staffers and others, The Star-Ledger found a pattern of similarities between ALEC’s proposals and several measures championed by the Christie administration. At least three bills, one executive order and one agency rule accomplish the same goals set out by ALEC using the same specific policies. In eight passages contained in those documents, New Jersey initiatives and ALEC proposals line up almost word for word. Two other Republican bills not pushed by the governor’s office are nearly identical to ALEC models.

Gov. Christie’s office denies any connection. There’s a related article here.

NJ’s rate of autism, perhaps the most expensive disability for schools to treat, has doubled in the last six years — as high as one in 49 children — , and The Record explores different explanations. The CDC said that rates in Union County were a “valid representation” of the rest of the state:

New Jersey’s results were based on the records of 7,082 children — all of the children who turned 8 in Union County in 2008, according to Walter Zahorodny, the lead researcher and an assistant professor of pediatrics at UMDNJ in Newark. Of these, 145 were found to have autism spectrum disorders, leading to a rate of 20.5 per 1,000 children, or one in 49.

Education Law Center’s new press release neatly pivots from the only-recently-funded anti-bullying legislation to Gov. Christie’s failure to fully fund the School Funding Reform Act.

The NJ DOE is expanding its teacher evaluation pilot from 11 to 30 districts and is soliciting volunteers (NJ Spotlight). Also in Spotlight, the DOE is getting some flack for hiring pricy consultants.

If you missed my conversation with NJSBA’s Ray Pinney on tenure reform, you can listen to it here.

The New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce supports Sen. Teresa Ruiz’s tenure reform bill:

Unfortunately, New Jersey suffers from one of the nation’s largest achievement gaps between rich and poor students. I see this frequently in my manufacturing company in Linden. We have tried to hire production personnel and have been shocked to find that applicants cannot subtract fractions. The problem, 23⁄4 minus 5⁄8 , was answered correctly by only six of 100 applicants, and most had high school diplomas. As a small-business owner, I can tell you we do not have the resources to re-educate employees in the basics.

“You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” Department: Asbury Park’s Board of Education, burdened with a total comparative cost per pupil of $24,306 and declining enrollment at the high school (from 440 kids last year to 390 this year) has a lot on their minds. Including, according to Asbury Park Press, the color of the new artificial turf field:

The $716,800 field is on the way to becoming a reality and has been sought by many board members, perhaps most particularly by former school board president Remond Palmer, who showed up Wednesday night pushing hard to get the proposed green field changed to blue.

At times, the former city high school athlete who has twice been in a position of school board president and twice been removed by the state, interjected himself into the board’s proceedings. When board President Gregory Hopson told Palmer he was out of order, Palmer was dismissive.

A new study out from Scholastic Education and the Gates Foundation queried 10,000 teachers about their views on school policies, including tenure. Results show that 90 percent of teachers say tenure “should reflect evaluations of teacher effectiveness,” and that tenure should “not protect ineffective teachers.”