NJ Education Report

What it means: The bill is a blueprint from Sweeney, an all-but-certain Democratic candidate for governor in 2017, for his plans to address what has become a gaping chasm between what the school funding law mandates and what has actually been provided. But the proposal for a study commission is hardly a bold step, and questions have been raised about whether only postpones the tough choices until after the gubernatorial election.  

What it isn’t: The bill is a switch from what had been the expected next move from Sweeney. The Senate president had been working with state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) to craft a bill that could significantly redistribute aid to districts. That bill appears all but dead with this new proposal.

And why not take this moment to fix the state’s method of financing charter schools? The stellar performance of the charter sector in Newark and Camden is the success story of the decade in New Jersey, but they are struggling financially.  

They get no money for capital costs, and that should change. They are supposed to get 90 percent of the operating costs of traditional schools, but many receive much less because the fine print excludes them from any share of the $600 million in adjustment aid. In Jersey City, charters get less than 60 percent of the operating costs of the district.

Teachers in Neptune are “working to contract” and students “are outraged,” reports the Asbury Park Press, because traditional senior activities like a trip to Six Flags were cancelled because teachers are refusing to attend. The contract expired last June and teachers continue to be paid based on the old contract and retro pay will be allocated once contractual disputes are resolved. The Board and the union’s bargaining team agreed to a contract but the union membership voted it down. That tentative agreement included annual salary increases of 2.8% to 2.9% and a freeze on the dollar amount that employees would pay for health benefits. A student said, ““It’s ridiculous. If you look on Twitter, everybody is in a rage. These are moments we’re supposed to be creating with our friends to have lasting memories.”