Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

3-28-18 Education in the News

Star Ledger--Damned if you do, damned if you don't: What parents should know about how schools handle threats

The heightened sensitivity to gun violence prompted by the killing of 14 students and three staff members at a school in Florida last month has left some New Jersey parents angered by what they see as a lack of information from school districts on how alleged threats are reported to the community.

Parents say this social media post made a threat against a school in Toms River. It has been altered to remove the identity of the person in the photo, as well as offensive language used in the post. (Submitted photo)

What little information does get out about how these districts handled the report of a threat has also prompted criticism. In some cases parents insist districts overreacted, while in others they assert the district failed to take their concerns seriously enough, suggesting officials are damned if they do and damned if they don'

http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2018/03/school_boards_react_gun_posts.html#incart_river_index

Steve Strunsky| Updated Mar 27, 7:06 PM; Posted Mar 27, 7:05 PM

 

Star Ledger--After death of Linda Brown, a look at how racial segregation persists in N.J.

Linda Brown, the Kansas girl at the center of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down racial segregation in schools, has died at age 76.

Her father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll the family in an all-white school in Topeka, and the case was sparked when he and several black families were turned away. The NAACP's legal arm brought the lawsuit to challenge segregation in public schools, and Oliver Brown became lead plaintiff in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the Supreme Court that ended school segregation.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/03/linda_brown_racial_segregation_persists_nj.html#incart_river_index

Chris Sheldon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| Posted March 27, 2018 at 09:18 AM | Updated March 27, 2018 at 09:22 AM

 

Press of Atlantic City-- How will Gov. Murphy’s budget affect South Jersey schools?

No school district in New Jersey will receive less aid than last year, and many will see an increase under Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed 2018-19 school aid plan released earlier this month.

Schools in The Press of Atlantic City’s coverage area, on average, will receive some of the lowest increases, according to county aid totals.

While Murphy has proposed a 3.1 percent increase for Atlantic County schools in his first budget, schools in Cumberland, Cape May and Ocean counties each would receive less than 2 percent more in aid. The state average was 3.5 percent, with the largest bump going to Union County.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/education/how-will-gov-murphy-s-budget-affect-south-jersey-schools/article_92dd0c67-a568-553e-a221-add229be069b.html

CLAIRE LOWE Staff Writer| March 28, 2018

 

NPR--Dept. Of Education Fail: Teachers Lose Grants, Forced To Repay Thousands In Loans

America needs teachers committed to working with children who have the fewest advantages in life. So for a decade the federal government has offered grants — worth up to $4,000 a year — to standout college students who agree to teach subjects like math or science at lower-income schools.

But a new government study obtained by NPR suggests that thousands of teachers had their grants taken away and converted to loans, sometimes for minor errors in paperwork. That's despite the fact they were meeting the program's teaching requirements.

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/03/28/596162853/dept-of-education-fail-teachers-lose-grants-forced-to-repay-thousands-in-loans

Cory Turner| March 28, 20185:01 AM ET