NJ Education Report

Gov. Chris Christie gives his State of the State address at 3 this afternoon in the State Assembly Chamber as he tries to distract everyone from Bridgegate. The Star Ledger obtained an excerpt from his speech that indicates that Christie will call for a longer school day and a longer school year. (No word on how school districts can fund the necessary staff salary increases when there’s a 2% cap and current trends indicate that new bargaining agreements — based on traditional classroom days — are already creeping close to 2.5% annual increases.)  From the Ledger:

“Despite the improvements we are seeing in Newark and Camden, I believe we need to take bigger and broader steps to adjust our approach to K-12 education to address the new competitive world we live in,” according to an excerpt from the speech obtained by The Star-Ledger.  

“Our school calendar is antiquated both educationally and culturally. Life in 2014 demands something more for our students. It is time to lengthen both the school day and school year in New Jersey.” 

The speech will provide no details about the plan so it is unclear how much Christie wants to add to the school day, or the 180-day school calendar.