NJ Education Report

For the few NJ school districts that still have April elections (see Spotlight coverage), the deadline for filing applications for school board candidacy is 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25,. Here’s the Candidate’s Kit from NJSBA.

 New Jersey school districts are ramping up preparations for the new teacher evaluation legislation, set to launch statewide in September. One of the first tasks is for each district to select a teacher evaluation rubric. NJ Spotlight reports that 60% of NJ’s 500+ districts have chosen the model created by Charlotte Danielson (originally intended for professional development, not evaluation, by the way). Details here.

Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, per Philly Burbs, “ is sponsoring legislation to require all New Jersey public school districts to offer full-day kindergarten rather than just a half-day.” About 70% of NJ school districts currently offer full-day kindergarten. Assemblywoman Wagner predicts that her legislation won’t go anywhere because no one has the money.

The Director of The Foundation for Newark’s Future, Greg Taylor, is taking another gig and will be replaced by by the foundation’s chief financial officer, Kimberly Baxter McLain. The Foundation oversees the distribution of the $100 million Facebook grant and is responsible for raising matching funds. (Taylor’s salary, a hot topic, was $382K.)

Leslie Brody at The Record looks at the how gifted and talented programs in NJ are being “squeezed out” because of No Child Left Behind’s emphasis on underachieving students and the rising costs of special education.

To the exasperation of parents and advocates, New Jersey gives no specific guidance on how to identify or serve gifted children, and provides no aid targeted toward helping districts meet the state’s mandate to give them “appropriate educational challenges.” By contrast, the state gives districts extra aid for each special needs child enrolled, and chipped in $163 million this year for those with extraordinary costs — though many districts say that aid still doesn’t go far enough. Special needs children have precise plans spelling out services that schools are legally obligated to provide.

(Also see this article from the New York Times on whether children accepted into accelerated programs are either “gifted” or “well-prepared.”)