NJ Education Report

NJ Spotlight analyzes Cory Booker’s “enigmatic role” in Newark Public Schools as he fields harsh criticism from his GOP opponent Steve Lonegan.

Speaking of Lonegan, he just fired a senior staffer for unleashing “profanity-filled” remarks at Booker, according to Talking Points Memo. For the profanity itself, see here.

Bill Holland, Executive Director of the NJ Working Families Alliance, slams Gov. Christie’s stewardship of NJ public schools.

From Montclair: “Board of Education members were told Monday night that economically disadvantaged blacks students are falling behind their white classmates at the elementary school level by as many as 60 percentage points in language arts and nearly 50 points in mathematics according to the most recent series of state-mandated standardized testing.”

“Just 26 of the 598 high school students in Paterson Public Schools who took the SAT tests this year had scores that reached the college and career readiness benchmark, according to statistics released by city education officials.” (The Record)

The School Development Authority, suffering from heat exhaustion generated by its negligence in repairing dilapidated Trenton Central High School, has asked a Mercer County judge to dismiss a law suit filed by the Trenton School Board on the grounds of a technicality.

David Sciarra of Education Law Center compares the cushy digs at Phillipsburg High School to the rot at Trenton Central High.

State Senator Robert Singer says the state shouldn’t give Lakewood Public Schools a $4 million bailout because the district is broke. He didn’t rule out a loan, says the Asbury Park Press. For my take see here.

A report from the Federal Reserve of New York says that Camden Public Schools were hardest hit by the recession. DOE spokesman Mike Yaple explained that “Camden currently spends 30 percent more per student than the state average – nearly $24,000 a child – and the amount per student we have sent to Camden has increased since 2009. We have long said that this is not a problem of having enough resources, but of using those resources to improve student learning.”

From the Daily Record: “The [Parsippany] township Board of Education stunned a large, angry crowd at its Thursday meeting by overturning a teacher layoff and reduction in force enacted two weeks ago, then reversing its vote after a late-night executive session.”

Commissioner Chris Cerf will speak at the NJ School Boards Association Annual Workshop about new value-added assessments and changes in academic standards at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

In a victory of common sense over home rule, three districts —  Lambertville, Stockton, and West Amwell –– are merging. Here’s an update from the Hunterdon County Democrat on governance matters.

NJ submitted 12 applications for the most recent district/school-specific Race to the Top grants.

Seven of the 27 newly-approved interdistrict choice districts are in South Jersey, reports the Press of Atlantic City. They are Atlantic City, Vineland, Pinelands Regional, Pennsville, Middle Township, Upper Township, and Wildwood Crest.