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NJ Spotlight--New Applicants Still Lining Up to Open Charter Schools in New Jersey DOE received 24 applications for new schools while still giving more preference to expansions Although the Christie administration has lately backed the expansion of existing charter schools, it is still receiving a healthy number of new applicants, including a few making multiple tries to win approval. The state Department of Education last week received 24 new applications for charters to open in 2017, including eight making at least their second attempt.
NJ Spotlight--Public Program Delivers Seal of Approval to Private Pre-K Schools Grow NJ Kids program completes first evaluation, awards three stars to Newark early-education facility For more than two years, the state has been working to create a uniform rating system for private preschools. The effort aims to shed light on the murky question of preschool center quality, spur improvements, and help parents as they decide where to send their children for daycare and early education.
Star Ledger--Christie not ready to back mandatory school water testing for lead Gov. Chris Christie doesn't want to make a knee-jerk reaction to elevated lead levels found in water at the state's largest school district and isn't yet ready support to mandatory water testing in schools, he said Tuesday. The primary lead concern in New jersey is the outdated lead-based paint in its old houses, not its water sources, Christie said during a news conference.
The Record—Op Ed--The Record: Lead exposure
ON TUESDAY Governor Christie announced he is adding $10 million from this year's budget in response to growing concerns across the state about exposure to lead both in housing and in drinking water at public schools. The governor pointed out that despite recent headlines concerning lead in water fountains in school buildings, a more pressing issue remains lead-based paint in aging housing, particularly for children in low- and middle-income households.
NJ Spotlight--New Applicants Still Lining Up to Open Charter Schools in New Jersey
DOE received 24 applications for new schools while still giving more preference to expansions
Although the Christie administration has lately backed the expansion of existing charter schools, it is still receiving a healthy number of new applicants, including a few making multiple tries to win approval.
The state Department of Education last week received 24 new applications for charters to open in 2017, including eight making at least their second attempt.
The list encompassed schools large and small, urban and suburban, and at least two networks trying to expand into the state. It included four new proposals in Newark, three in Paterson, and two in Lakewood.
John Mooney | April 6, 2016
NJ Spotlight--Public Program Delivers Seal of Approval to Private Pre-K Schools
Grow NJ Kids program completes first evaluation, awards three stars to Newark early-education facility
For more than two years, the state has been working to create a uniform rating system for private preschools. The effort aims to shed light on the murky question of preschool center quality, spur improvements, and help parents as they decide where to send their children for daycare and early education.
The program, Grow NJ Kids, is still years away from its goal of rating 1,800 preschool providers on a scale of one to five stars. But this week the Department of Human Services announced that a preschool in Newark, Clinton Hill Community and Early Childhood Center, has become the first to make it through the lengthy evaluation and improvement process and receive a rating, in this case three stars.
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/04/05/public-program-delivers-seal-of-approval-to-private-pre-k-schools/
Meir Rinde | April 6, 2016
Star Ledger--Christie not ready to back mandatory school water testing for lead
Gov. Chris Christie doesn't want to make a knee-jerk reaction to elevated lead levels found in water at the state's largest school district and isn't yet ready support to mandatory water testing in schools, he said Tuesday.
The primary lead concern in New jersey is the outdated lead-based paint in its old houses, not its water sources, Christie said during a news conference.
Schools are already testing their water, he said, and for the the most part that's been fairly successful.
One of the governor's concerns about mandating testing in schools is that the state would be responsible for funding and overseeing a program that would span 4,000 school buildings, he said. Currently, schools are left to conduct testing when they want to and without state supervision.
Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| on April 05, 2016 at 5:28 PM, updated April 06, 2016 at 2:07 AM
The Record—Op Ed--The Record: Lead exposure
ON TUESDAY Governor Christie announced he is adding $10 million from this year's budget in response to growing concerns across the state about exposure to lead both in housing and in drinking water at public schools. The governor pointed out that despite recent headlines concerning lead in water fountains in school buildings, a more pressing issue remains lead-based paint in aging housing, particularly for children in low- and middle-income households.
Christie's push to find and allocate more money immediately for lead remediation in housing is a welcome development, a reminder of the pre-presidential contender Christie who sought to meet problems head on, in a pragmatic and timely way. Christie said "as public officials our duty is to protect the public, and that's what we'll continue to do."
