Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

2-23-18 Education in the News

New Jersey Spotlight--Interactive Map: Highlighting the Results of New Jersey's AP Tests

More June graduates took and passed their AP exams than in prior years, but poorer districts continue to lag in the number of test-takers

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/02/23/interactive-map-highlighting-the-results-of-nj-s-advanced-placement-tests/

Colleen O'Dea | February 23, 2018

 

Jersey Journal--Should teachers be armed with guns?

During a listening session at the White House with survivors of last week's Florida school shooting, President Donald Trump said he would consider a proposal to arm school teachers to prevent future tragedy.

The president said "teachers and coaches ... would have a concealed gun on them. They'd go for special training." 

Critics jumped on this, saying arming teachers would only make the problem worse.

The top law enforcement official in Polk County, Florida, says his department has started a program that will train and arm teachers in schools. "We had coaches that ran to stand in front of their students with no gun," the sheriff said. "Why not give them a fighting chance?"

The Jersey Journal| Updated 6:45 AM; Posted 6:45 AM

 

Star Ledger--Teachers shouldn't have guns, can't 'shoot our way to safety,' says NJEA

Arming teachers with guns would make schools less safe and convert them to "armed fortresses of fear," the state's largest teachers union said Thursday, adding that teachers "cannot shoot our way to safety." 

In a statement, The New Jersey Education Association sharply rejected President Donald Trump's assertion that schools could be safer if some teachers were allowed to carried concealed guns. 

Instead, the union called on lawmakers to make guns harder to obtain, easier to track and less likely to get into the hands of individuals who will use them to harm others. 

http://www.nj.com/education/2018/02/teachers_shouldnt_have_guns_cant_shoot_our_way_to_safety_says_njea.html#incart_river_index

Adam Clark| Updated 12:55 AM; Posted Feb 22, 8:58 PM

 

The Record--Editorial: NJ students mobilize against gun violence

NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, addressing a conservative political conference, says "many in legacy media love mass shootings, you guys love it." (Feb. 22) AP

No one can deny the courage and gumption shown in recent days by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who have stood together, faced down taunts and bravely spoken up to bring greater awareness to the need for greater gun control after seeing 17 people at their school shot and killed by a disturbed former student on Valentine’s Day.

Enough, they say, and more and more young people across the country are stepping up to agree with them, to show them they are not standing alone. Young people across New Jersey are standing up, too, refusing to stay silent in the wake of ongoing carnage at America’s schools, refusing to sit quietly any longer about the dangers of gun violence and their fears of another possible mass shooting.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/02/22/new-jersey-students-mobilize-against-gun-violence-neveragain/364798002/

NorthJersey Published 4:27 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2018 | Updated 5:46 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2018

 

Education Week--Trump Suggests Bonuses for Teachers Trained to Use Guns During a School Shooting

President Donald Trump said Thursday he'd like to see bonuses for teachers willing to carry firearms  to protect their students from an active school shooter. And he said he wants to make federal money available to provide school staff "additional training" to use firearms properly.

"I think a concealed permit for teachers and letting people know there are people in the building with a gun, you won't have, in my opinion you won't have these shootings," the president said at a White House meeting on school safety, attended by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Florida state chief Pam Stewart, other cabinet officials, and senior White House staff. "What I'd recommend doing is the people that do carry, we give them a bonus, we give them a little bit of a bonus, because frankly they'd feel more comfortable having the gun anyway, you give them a little bit of a bonus, so practically for free you've now made the school into a hardened target."

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/02/trump_guns_teachers_bonuses.html

Alyson Klein on February 22, 2018 2:43 PM