NJ Education Report

The Christie Administration is proposing new regulations for the Interdistrict Public Choice Program, reports NJ Spotlight, which would allow more than one district per county to accept “choice” students and allow students to transfer to out-of-district high schools after 9th grade.

The Trenton Times reports on Hamilton Public Schools in Mercer County, where the “school district has been paying the insurance broker at the center of a federal corruption probe of Mayor John Bencivengo for the past three years despite not having a written contract with the firm, prompting an investigation by the state Department of Education.”

NJ Spotlight features a “video spotlight” with explanatory notes on Gov. Christie’s “red meat” speech this week at the American Federation for Children’s “School Choice Summit.”

From the Star-Ledger: “There have been 9,000 fewer children from low-income families enrolled in subsidized pre-school and after-school programs over the last 2-1/2 years, largely because of more stringent requirements, and members of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee said Thursday the rules should be eased.”

This week the Supreme Court ruled that the State Legislature can cap sick-day pay-outs to superintendents, assistant superintendents, and business administrators. That ruling overturns an earlier lower court ruling, reports the Press of Atlantic City, which had ruled the caps violated tenure laws.

From the Courier-Post: “A secret Department of Education proposal called for the state to intervene in [Camden’s] school district by July 1, closing up to 13 city and charter schools.But while reserving the right to exercise his ‘statutory authority,’ Gov. Chris Christie has no plans to enact the DOE scenario, according to his spokesman.’It never made its way to the governor’s office,’ said Michael Drewniak. No one from the governor’s office was involved in preparing the document,’ he added.”

The A.P. looks at new trends in students taking Advanced Placement exams:

Last year, 18 percent of U.S. high school graduates passed at least one AP exam (by scoring 3 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5), up from 11 percent a decade ago.
But there also many more students falling short — way short — on the exams.
The proportion of all tests taken last year earning the minimal score of 1 increased over that time, from 13 percent to 21 percent. At many schools, virtually no students pass.

Diane Ravitch has a new blog.

Democrats for Education Reform asks, “What Kind of President Would Mitt Romney Be on Education?”  Is he a pragmatist who valuesRace to the Top and the DREAM Act, some “constructive role for the federal government to play in education” or is he “an ideologue in alliance with his party’s extreme right wing?” Check out DFER’s education report card for President Obama and Candidate Romney.