NJ Education Report

That’s the subject of my post today at WHYY’s Newsworks, which looks at the differing views of Cory Booker, Barbara Buono, Dick Codey, and Steve Sweeney:

Everyone’s waiting for Newark Mayor Cory Booker to announce whether or not he’ll challenge Chris Christie for governor. Some consider him the N.J. Democratic Party’s best hope in the face of Gov. Christie’s surging post-Sandy popularity. But Booker’s not the only Democratic gubernatorial hopeful.

The short list includes state Senator Barbara Buono, who announced her candidacy on Wednesday, and Senators Steve Sweeney and Dick Codey.

 One likely theme of the upcoming primary is education reform, especially if Booker is a contender. He’s closely associated with percolating issues like tenure reform, merit pay, charter schools, and vouchers, not to mention his starring role in the Facebook/Newark partnership.

In particular, Booker’s passionate about tweaking N.J.’s new tenure reform bill to eliminate seniority-based lay-offs and bullish on school choice: “I hold no allegiance to a school delivery model. I really don’t care if you’re a charter school, a magnet school, a traditional district school. The question is: Are you providing quality education?”



Read the rest here.