Newark Superintendent Is Advising School Board Members to Lie to the State
Just when you think Newark Public Schools District can’t get any more dysfunctional, another perversion pops up. Example: today Chalkbeat reports that during October’s board
2022 Mid-Terms: Winners Listened to 81% of Parents Who Support School Choice
This is a press release from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Education played a significant role in the 2022 election cycle in America—and
Top New Jersey Officials Demand More Honesty and Less Vomit From Murphy’s Education Department As Student Proficiency Plummets
When someone stands up and says New Jersey schools are #1 I have an immediate reaction to vomit because I know that’s not true. That’s
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New Jersey Loses under Proposed Redistribution of Title I Money
EdBuild, which describes itself as a “non-profit bringing common sense to our school funding system,” has come out strongly against an amendment to the reauthorization
Why the Current ESEA Draft Will Hurt Vulnerable Children
Last Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives passed an emasculated rewrite of NCLB called the Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA). To be fair, consensus is
Why We Need a New Education Law with Federal Oversight
From The Hill: Billions of federal dollars are spent on education each year, and no taxpayer wants to see this investment wasted. When federal dollars
AFT Endorsement of HRC Sparks Allegations of Toxic Testing and Plans for Charter Union
On Saturday, after AFT President Weingarten announced that the union was endorsing Hillary Clinton, the blogosphere exploded. While Randi issued tweet after tweet buy arimidex
Sunday Leftovers
The N.J. Department of Education, to no one’s surprise, confirmed that the state will not make any substantive changes in the Common Core,, despite the
N.J. D.O.E. Will Release Teacher Evaluation Database Next Week
The New Jersey Department of Education received a bit of flack after its announcement of the first year’s results of using Student Growth Percentiles, as
N.J. D.O.E. Approves Eight New Charter Applications in First Round
NJ Spotlight looks today at this latest round of charter reviews. The state rejected six applications and approved eight in this first phase of charter
QOD: Chris Cerf is Committed to Returning Local Control to Newark
The new state-appointed superintendent of Newark Public Schools says he’s committed to returning New Jersey’s largest school district to local control and confident he can
NEA Approves New Anti-Accountability Items at the Expense of Disadvantaged Kids
The U.S. Congress is seemingly close to reauthorizing ESEA, now called the “Every Child Achieves Act.” But the current proposal is overly deferential towards Tea
QOD: New Brunswick Board Member and Charter School Chief on the N.J. Charter Moratorium Bill
Here’s Dale Caldwell in today’s NJ Spotlight on the bill, originally sponsored in the State Assembly by Mila Jasey and Patrick Diegnan and now a Senate
QOD: It’s Time for a “Middle Class Politics of Education”
FOX’s first GOP debate is a month from now and Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of Jeb Bush, can’t disavow college and career-ready standards
Camden Parent on Superintendent Rouhanifard’s Community Engagement
“From the first high school fair to the new School Information Cards, I’m thrilled about the new opportunities I have to get involved in my
N.J. Suburban Parents Bury Their Heads in the Sand Too
Erika Sanzi at School Matters asks whether suburban parents are burying their heads in the sand regarding their perceptions of school excellence versus actual reality.
Christie and Baraka: Perfect Together?
It depends upon whom you ask. The latest wranglings over the return of local control to Newark Public Schools is predicated on an agreement between
“Small But Mighty Group of Teachers” Urge Senate to Include Accountability AND Action in ESEA
Alice Johnson Cain, Vice President for Federal and State Policy at Teach Plus, makes a convincing case for why the U.S. Senate must include action
Note to U.S. Congress on ESEA Rewrite: Take a Tip From the Supreme Court’s Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
After I read the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage on Friday, I couldn’t stop thinking about the pending reauthorization of ESEA, newly christened the
Sunday Leftovers
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Gov. Christie will work together on a transition plan to return local control of public schools to Newark, and the
“If [Cerf] lasts three years in this job I’ll light my hair on fire.”
That’s Tom Moran in yesterday’s Star-Ledger editorial on the story that’s lit up the state and national media, as well as the blogosphere: on Tuesday
Follow-Up to Quote from Newark Charter School Dad (Who Has Bandwidth to Spare)
Sometimes comments to editorials like this (see previous post) are just as illuminating as the editorials themselves. Shortly after NJ Spotlight published Mr. Frazier’s editorial,
QOD: A Newark Dad Explains Why His Children Attend Charter School
Altorice Frazier, a Newark father of four who describes himself as “a product of the foster-care system and group homes” and “a troubled kid” who
