NJ Education Report

“Paying teachers on the basis of master’s degrees is equivalent to paying them based on hair color,” said Thomas J. Kane, an economist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and director for the Center for Education Policy Research.
Mr. Kane said decades of research has shown that teachers holding master’s degrees are no more effective at raising student achievement than those with only bachelor’s, except in math. Researchers have also shown that teachers with advanced degrees in science benefit students. (Wall St. Journal)

Gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono speaks truth to reporters at Trenton Central High: “I’ve been in prisons that look better than this school,” Buono said. “The message that this sends to children is that, ‘You don’t matter. You’re worthless.’ And nothing could be further from the truth.”

The Star-Ledger Editorial Board considers Newark teacher union president Joe Del Grosso’s decision to refuse to sign off on a Race to the Top application, thus depriving Newark’s kids of $30 million in resources.  And here’s the “Fine Print” from NJ Spotlight.

Also, reports The Record, Paterson’s teacher union  refused to sign off on a $20 million RTTT grant: “the union’s rejection of the grant application echoed the tense situation in Newark, where the teachers union also balked at an application for $30 million. Newark’s union president, Joseph Del Grosso, said he was asked for input only on Tuesday, and he thought the plan for the money would benefit consultants and vendors, rather than students. Newark officials expressed outrage.”

This week the Perth Amboy School Board fired embattled superintendent Janine Caffrey for the third time, perhaps the charm. (Central Jersey and Star-Ledger)

The Hunterdon County Democrat Editorial Board applauds the hard-won school district consolidation there.

From the Star-Ledger: “For the first time in its nearly 130-year history, New Jersey Institute of Technology’s trustees have stripped a faculty member of tenure and fired him, citing ethics violations, school officials said.”

NJ Spotlight interviews NJEA’s new president, Wendell Steinhauer.

Why Buono: The NJEA was among the first to endorse Buono, a Democratic state Senator and longtime ally. “She’s our 100 percent candidate — very seldom do you get a candidate who matches up on all the issues.”
But just in case: “I look forward to working with [Gov. Christie] on issues where we can find common ground. I don’t think he’ll lay down his weapons, nor do I think he would expect that of us, but I’d welcome the chance to sit down with him

The Press of Atlantic City reports on the wave of “pre-testing” occurring across NJ districts as teachers determine student current knowledge in order to gauge growth at year’s end, in accordance with the state’s new data-driven teacher evaluation system.

In Bergen County, reports The Record, an unusually large group of superintendents have had their goals for bonus pay rejected by the new Executive County Superintendent Scott Rixford.

The Atlanticville reports on the annual meeting of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators in Jackson. There, State Commissioner of Education Christopher Cerf highlighted the importance of his initiatives:

According to data provided by the state’s 19 community colleges, anywhere from 57 to 92 percent of first-year students were enrolled in remedial courses — material that should be conquered in high school — in 2011. Although the state’s K-12 public schools fare better than many others in the country, poor and minority students scored drastically lower — sometimes by more than 30 points — on recent standardized tests, Cerf added.
“We can’t live in a state where if you’re poor, black or Hispanic, you just don’t get an equal opportunity at life,” he said. “That’s not a state or a nation that we want any of us to live in.”