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NJ Spotlight--Lawmakers Cut Murphy Some Slack on Date of First Budget Address
New governor gets more time to compile spending plan, allows Treasurer Muoio to clear Senate confirmation process
It took a messy government shutdown last year before state lawmakers and former Gov. Chris Christie could reach agreement on his final budget. But this year, lawmakers are already cooperating with new Gov. Phil Murphy on budget issues.
Legislation seeking to relax the state's legal deadline for the governor's annual budget message has already been introduced to give Murphy's administration a little more time to compile its first state spending plan.
John Reitmeyer | January 25, 2018
Star Ledger--Cap on N.J. superintendents' salary may soon follow Christie out the door
A week after Republican Gov. Chris Christie left office, New Jersey Democrats are beginning a push to reverse one of his controversial education policies.
The state Senate Education Committee on Thursday will consider a bill to overturn Christie's superintendent salary cap, a pay limit that opponents say spurred a "brain drain" of school chiefs leaving their posts.
Brent Johnson and Adam Clark Updated 7:31 AM; Posted 7:30 AM
Princeton Packet--PRINCETON: Board approves later state time at high
The starting time at Princeton High School was moved back 30 minutes beginning in September, as officials this week addressed concerns about student wellness at a school where nearly a third of all students were chronically absent in the past academic year.
The school board voted Tuesday to go from 7:50 a.m. to 8:20 a.m., in a time difference that Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane acknowledged was “not a magic bullet.” School now will end at 3:21 p.m., compared to the current 2:51 p.m.
“There are many other measures that we can take, both at school and at home, to promote more sleep and less stress for our children,” he said during the school board meeting. “Nevertheless, the research is clear. A later start time does make a difference. Students do get more sleep.”
Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer| Jan 24, 2018 Updated 15 hrs ago
Education Week--Teacher Recruitment and Retention: It's Complicated
At a broad national level, statistics tell us there is no teacher shortage. In fact, the number of U.S. teachers has grown by 13 percent in four years, far outpacing the 2 percent rise in student enrollment during the same period.
But that doesn't mean teacher shortages aren't real.
In certain states and districts, and in particular specialties like special education or foreign languages, teacher shortages are a recurring fact of life. An Education Week analysis of federal data finds that all 50 states and most territories reported experiencing statewide shortages in one teaching area or another for either the 2016-17 school year, the current one, or both. Besides special education and foreign languages, frequent problem areas included math, computer science, science, English/language arts, and English-as-a-second-language instruction.
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/01/24/teaching-shortages-many-answers-for-a-complex.html
Debra Viadero| January 23, 2018
