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11-18-13 p.m. Politickernj-State Street Wire - Passed in Senate: 'pay forward' commission, full-day kindergarten consideration, more [Click on More below to see K-12 education-related bills passed.]
Politickernj - Fernandez-Vina approved in Senate for Supreme Court ..."That sets the stage for the first nominee of Gov. Chris Christie’s to ascend to the higher court after Senate Democrats rejected two earlier nominees and have held two other nominees in limbo without a Judiciary hearing..."
Press of Atlantic City - State website helps students study for standardized tests
NJ Spotlight - Cyberschool Offers Teachers Online Lessons to Prepare for Common Core…State’s new website provides resources ranging from lesson plans to videos as NJ begins phasing in tough new standards
The Record - Senate OKs in-state tuition rate for N.J. students living in U.S. illegally
11-18-13 p.m. Politickernj-State Street Wire - Passed in Senate: 'pay forward' commission, full-day kindergarten consideration, more
TRENTON – The Senate passed bills today – many unanimously - dealing with alternative tuition payment methods, possible full-day kindergarten [task force], and more.
Education
S1991: This directs the Board of Nursing to encourage nursing schools to give academic credit to students for training received in the military as corpsmen and medics.
S2086: The purpose of this bill is to change the deadline for filing petitions of nomination for school board candidates so that it matches the deadline for filing petitions of nomination for other candidates seeking elective public office.
This bill changes the deadline for filing petitions of nomination for school board candidates. Specifically, the bill changes the filing deadline for candidates in school board elections in November from no later than 4 p.m. of the day of the holding of the primary election for the general election to no later than 4 p.m. of the last Monday of July.
S2093/A1825: Requires the Department of Education to develop an educational fact sheet for distribution to parents concerning sports-related eye injuries.
S2271: Permits a state college to enter into joint purchasing agreement with other units of State and local government.
S2344: This bill affords immunity from civil liability for damages to police officers appointed by private, nonprofit institutions of higher education for any damages arising out of and directly relating to the lawful exercise of their authorized police powers.
S2458/A248: This bill provides that whenever the Education commissioner changes the date of the annual April school election, the commissioner must also change the May 19 deadline by which a town determines appropriations in voter-rejected budgets.
S2763/A3972: This bill establishes a task force to study and evaluate issues associated with the establishment and implementation of full-day kindergarten.
S2778: This bill establishes a New Jersey Advisory Council on Youth and Collegiate Affairs to act as an advisory body on youth and collegiate affairs to the Legislature and state departments.
S2945: Increases from six to eight the number of governors of the Board of Governors of Rutgers that is necessary to constitute a quorum.
Politickernj - Fernandez-Vina approved in Senate for Supreme Court
TRENTON – The full Senate passed the state Supreme Court nomination of Judge Faustino Fernandez-Vina Monday. The vote was 38-0.
That sets the stage for the first nominee of Gov. Chris Christie’s to ascend to the higher court after Senate Democrats rejected two earlier nominees and have held two other nominees in limbo without a Judiciary hearing.
Fernandez-Vina is the Superior Court Assignment Judge in Camden County. Christie announced his intention to nominate Fernandez-Vina on Aug. 12 when he also said he would not renominate Justice Helen Hoens because, he said, Democrats had indicated her reappointment would draw opposition. (Mooney/PolitickerNJ)
http://www.politickernj.com/69656/fernandez-vina-approved-senate-supreme-court#ixzz2l5VHUkCB
Press of Atlantic City - State website helps students study for standardized tests
By DIANE D'AMICO, Education Writer The Press of Atlantic City
New Jersey's Department of Education on Monday launched a new website offering lessons and resources aligned to both state and national education standards.
The New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange, online at www.njcore.org, currently has about 2,000 lessons and other resources available both to educators and the general public. The items were compiled from a variety of sources, and some have been given a special "blue ribbon" status by a panel of educations trained in alignment to the Common Core standards.
Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said the website was an effort to help teachers and their students find quality resources aligned to the Common Core, on which new state tests will be based.
Cerf said the site is in response to what he called "the anarchy of the web," which has a lot to offer but not always in a well-defined manner.
"There is no shortage of material on the web," he said. "But not all of it is good."
Cerf said some 600 New Jersey educators have helped develop the resources on the site. Notices will go out to all school districts informing them the site is now available for public use.
Anyone can register to use the site but only educators, using their state staff ID number, will be able to upload their own lessons and rate lessons posted to the site. Cerf said they encourage teacher collaboration.
New Jersey has the first state site in the nation to offer that option, he said. Lessons will be rated on their alignment to the standards, their rigor, the ease of use and whether they allow for differentiated instruction for different types of learners.
Teachers at the recent New Jersey Education Association Convention in Atlantic City had asked Cerf if the state planned to provide resources to help teachers meet the new standards. Some complained they did not have materials to implement the Common Core.
The site includes information about both the Common Core, which focuses on just English language arts and math, and state standards, which include all subject areas. A review of the 2,000 lessons, however, show they are focused almost exclusively on math and language arts. Cerf said the site will continue to grow.
Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241 DDamico@pressofac.com
…State’s new website provides resources ranging from lesson plans to videos as NJ begins phasing in tough new standards
John Mooney | November 19, 2013
What it is: NJCore.org – New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange.
What it does: The website launched yesterday provides more than 2,000 resources for teachers -- including lesson plans, activities, videos, curricula and assessments -- for teaching to the Common Core State Standards that are being phased in by the state over the next several years. The site also lets teachers to share their own resources and rate resources posted by others.
What it means: The website is another tool in the Christie administration’s public campaign to raise awareness -- and win acceptance -- of the new standards and their related testing, which are slated to start in the next school year. Last week, the administration released the results of the state’s latest student assessments, with a heavy emphasis on the transition that the testing is going through in order to phase in the standards. In addition, it has held more than 500 workshops across the state, attended by nearly 15,000 educators, to help prepare for the new standards.
For teachers: “As we work together to track the transition from our current standards to the Common Core, there has been an understandable expectation that teachers will get the guidance to what they need to be effective,” state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said yesterday. “Now, with a single click, they will be able to access the resources to any (requested) topic.”
Parents, too: The public can get free access to resources that explain the standards and their practical applications. However, the site does have different tiers of registration, where only certified teachers will have the ability to download the full resources and to rate others.
National and homegrown: Most of the website’s resources at this point have been culled from sources outside New Jersey, basically providing links to organizations ranging from the International Reading Association to the Khan Academy educational programs. But state officials said they hope the site will become a clearinghouse where New Jersey teachers will share their ideas and strategies.
Seal of approval: The state has recruited 32 teachers to evaluate the resources provided and to give a stamp of approval for what they consider exemplary material.
Traffic report: The site yesterday already had 600 registered users, according to state education officials.
How much does it cost: While the education department didn’t put a precise price-tag on the project, Cerf said the technology alone cost “several hundred thousand dollars,” largely paid through unspecified grants. There will be additional expenses for site maintenance and “curating” the resources.
Easy to use: At a time when the new federal healthcare website isn’t exactly giving government websites a good name, registration to NJCore.org was easy and glitch-free yesterday, and navigation was relatively easy if you knew what you were looking for.
What do you think? NJ Spotlight would like to hear from educators about how useful the new website has been in helping with class preparation. We would also like to hear your thoughts about the new common standards and testing and how you feel about the state’s help in preparing for them.
Feel free to post your comments to this article, or join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #njcore or on Facebook.
The Record - Senate OKs in-state tuition rate for N.J. students living in U.S. illegally
Monday, November 18, 2013 Last updated: Monday November 18, 2013, 7:28 PM
BY MICHAEL LINHORSTSTATE HOUSE BUREAU
New Jersey could soon give in-state tuition to college students who grew up in the Garden State but are living in the country illegally.
In a 25-12 vote Monday, the state Senate approved a measure that would grant what supporters call “tuition equality.”
Monday’s vote comes after supporters were encouraged by an apparent shift from Governor Christie, who previously opposed in-state tuition for immigrants without legal permission to live in New Jersey because, he said, the state could not afford it. But last month, during his reelection campaign, the Republican governor said the economy had improved and he planned to take up the issue with the state Legislature.
Democrats said the bill is a matter of fairness.
“These are New Jerseyans, and they want to go to school here,” Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said ahead of the vote. “They deserve a right to have the same educational opportunities as every other student in this state.”
The bill applies to students who graduate from high school in New Jersey after attending high school in the state for at least three years. If it becomes law, eligible students would qualify for the lower in-state tuition rates at state colleges and could also qualify for state financial aid programs.
It still requires a vote by the full Assembly before it goes to Christie’s desk. The Assembly plans to vote on it before the lame duck session ends in January, a spokesman said.
Representatives of the governor’s office declined to comment Monday on whether Christie supported the Senate bill.
State Sen. Robert Singer, R-Ocean, the only person who spoke against the legislation Monday, said he was concerned the change would take seats away from New Jersey students who are living in the state legally.
“Understand by doing this we are clearly saying to New Jersey students – totally qualified, who are citizens of this country and this state, who have lived here their whole life – ‘There’s not enough room for you,’” Singer said. “Though the intent is wonderful, the outcome is not.”
It’s unclear what the change would cost the state. Tuition from the state colleges is not included in New Jersey’s budget, but opponents of the bill argue that any decrease in tuition received by the colleges would lead to an increase in state aid.
Email: linhorst@northjersey.com
