News

Christie Proposes Longer School Day and Year: He’s Right on This One

January 17, 2014

Laura Waters

Here’s my thoughts on this one, posted at WHYY’s Newsworks:

Those of you who are not big Chris Christie fans may be forgiven for indulging in a bit of schadenfreude during the Governor’s State of the State address on Tuesday afternoon. (That’s a German word for taking pleasure in in the misfortune of others and a great “Avenue Q” song.) As the Governor wilted over the lectern, audience members buzzed about the latest revelations of Bridgegate and whether his presidential aspirations were toast. In what may be one of the shortest State of the States in history, Christie stumbled through a sorrowful preface (“mistakes were clearly made”) before getting to the point.

You can’t blame him for sticking to his forte; fully one quarter of his speech (here’s the transcript) was devoted to public education reform. Specifically, Christie proposed an extension of the school day and the school year. Currently most N.J. public school students attend school for 180 days a year, the minimum set by state statute. The average school day in N.J. is six and a half hours. Only five states in the country have shorter days

Read the rest here.

Laura Waters

6 Comments

kallikak, January 18, 2014 @ 4:55 pm Reply

What he didn't say is that these parameters are regularly the topic of negotiations between boards and local bargaining units.

What, exactly is he proposing?
NJ Left Behind, January 19, 2014 @ 4:18 pm Reply

Yes, you're right. I think he's looking at extending school days in high-poverty/low-performing urban schools, along the lines of Wilson's bill. Of course, that would mean that teachers in those schools received more money than teachers in suburban schools. This result wouldn't be inconsistent with Christie's or Cerf's strategy.
kallikak, January 19, 2014 @ 6:10 pm Reply

“This result wouldn't be inconsistent with Christie's or Cerf's strategy.”

Would you care to elaborate on that strategy?
NJ Left Behind, January 20, 2014 @ 3:00 pm Reply

The strategy of rewarding teachers who are willing to work in some of NJ's broken school districts. Call it merit pay or job security without reference to years served. Educators who accept greater challenges should get greater rewards.
kallikak, January 21, 2014 @ 5:00 am Reply

“The strategy of rewarding teachers who are willing to work in some of NJ's broken school districts.”

You mean teachers willing to work in districts administered directly by the State of New Jersey without community input or oversight?

Yeah, I could see how they might expect a bit of vigorish for assignments where they have to earn their wings every day with no job security beyond their last review.
NJ Left Behind, January 21, 2014 @ 2:36 pm Reply

Please, Kallikak. I didn't say that. There are plenty of needy districts in NJ that aren't under state control.