7-28-14 NJ Spotlight - State Auditor Cries Foul Over Failure to Fill County School Superintendent Posts...Report says having someone at the education helm in all 21 counties is required by statute..'Calling out Gov. Chris Christie on a long-disputed issue, the state auditor has accused his administration of violating the law by failing to staff county school offices as required by statute. At issue is the appointment of county executive school superintendents for each of New Jersey’s 21 counties, which the Christie administration has not done since the earliest years of his first term...The auditor’s report said the state should nevertheless seek to either comply with the law or amend current statutes to match its plans.'
7-25-14 Education Week -Common Core Contracting Shows Uneven Trends, Study Finds...'An analysis of contracting for common core-related materials shows a limited number of states accounted for the 600 opportunities in 2012 and 2013, with many other states showing no activity so far, according to Paul Irby, a market analyst at Onvia, a Seattle-based government business intelligence company. Eleven states[including New Jersey] made at least 10 common core-related contracting awards in the last two years, while 20 states have had no awards, or only one, according to Onvia's review of bids, requests for proposal (RFPs), and awarded contracts in its proprietary database of government contracts.'
7-25-14 NJ Spotlight - Time Runs Out for Christie Plan for Lengthier School Days, Longer School Years...'Administration's $5 million innovation fund one of the casualties of budget process...“Even though the innovation fund wasn’t in the state’s budget, we still intend to pursue the issue,” Yaple said. “It’s just that we’ll find other avenues to make it happen.” '
Star Ledger - More New Jerseyans in the dark about Common Core standards, poll finds...'Although a controversial subject in education circles, more New Jerseyans say they know nothing about the Common Core State Standards than those who say they have heard a lot about them, according to a new poll.But the Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Public Mind Poll released Wednesday also reports more than half of those who have heard "some" or "a lot" about the standards say they disapprove of them…'
7-23-14 Press of Atlantic City - State to require new teachers to meet higher grade point average...'New teacher candidates will be required to graduate from college with a minimum 3.0 grade point average under new regulations that took effect this month.However, the new GPA requirement will not be effective until Sept. 1, 2016, to accommodate teachers already in college. Teachers graduating prior to Sept. 1, 2016, must have a 2.75 GPA.Teachers entering the profession through an approved Alternate Route Training Program can also have a 2.75 GPA or higher...Effective Sept. 1, 2015, prospective teachers will also have to pass a state-approved test of basic skills, score a 1660 or higher on the SAT or 23 or higher on the ACT, or a combined score of 310 on the Graduate Record Exam'....
NJ Spotlight - Gov. Christie and State Teachers Union Not at Odds on All Fronts...'Administration, NJEA hammer out compromise on how much new online testing will count toward teacher evaluations…’It can be hard to figure out the relationship between Gov. Chris Christie and the state’s biggest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association. In the beginning of his first term, he vilified the union -- and vice versa -- over budget cuts and pension changes. Then the two worked together developing the state’s tenure reform law, even meeting together for the signing…’
7-22-14 Wall Street Journal - N.J. Salary Cap Is Driving Away Superintendents