Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

9-18-18 Education in the News

NJ Spotlight--Edgy Debate in Trenton Over Murphy’s Planned Changes to School Testing

Democratic legislators clash with education commissioner, suggest administration is moving to scale back and ultimately ditch controversial PARCC test without having properly prepared a replacement

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/09/17/edgy-debate-in-trenton-over-murphys-planned-changes-to-standardized-school-testing/

John Mooney and Carly Sitrin | September 18, 2018

 

 

NJ Spotlight--Murphy’s Revisions to Public-Employee Health Plans Could Save Taxpayers $500M

Workers should see only slight increases to premiums, or possibly small reductions, while governor claims the deal shows what happens when cooperation replaces conflict

Gov. Phil Murphy yesterday announced changes to government-employee health plans, touting them as saving taxpayers nearly $500 million, with only slight premium increases or even some reductions for public workers.

http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/18/09/17/murphys-revisions-to-public-employee-health-plans-could-save-taxpayers-500m/

John Reitmeyer | September 18, 2018

 

 

Star Ledger--What you should know about the deal Murphy just struck with public worker unions

Gov. Phil Murphy struck a deal with public workers over changes to health care plans for active and retired employees, his administration announced Monday.

Both sides hailed the changes as an important step in reducing the cost of health care for public employers and public employees. This year's $38.4 billion state budget includes $3.4 billion for employee health care. That's not to mention the billions paid by workers themselves and local governments and school districts.

 

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/nj_murphy_public_worker_unions_health_care.html#incart_river_index

Matt Arco and Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com| Posted September 18, 2018 at 07:07 AM | Updated September 18, 2018 at 07:07 AM

 

 

StarLedger--Not so fast on axing PARCC in N.J., lawmakers tell Murphy

Gov. Phil Murphy vowed on the campaign trail last year to eliminate the controversial PARCC exam as soon as he took office. 

That didn't happen. And now his administration's plan to at least begin phasing the test out has some state lawmakers saying:"Not so fast."

Last week, the state Board of Education delayed a vote on Murphy's plans to eliminate four of the six exams and loosen graduation requirements. Board members cited concern over a lack of research and data on the issue. 

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/lawmakers_tell_murphy_not_so_fast_on_axing_parcc_i.html#incart_river_index

Brent Johnson| Updated Sep 17, 10:57 PM; Posted Sep 17, 4:42 PM

 

The Record--Editorial: Please, don’t save PARCC

The state Board of Education appears reluctant to take action on curbing the impact of the standardized PARCC exams, despite the intentions of both Gov. Phil Murphy and his education commissioner, Lamont Repollet, to dump PARCC as soon as it is feasible.

We have just one question for board members: Why?

https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/09/17/editorial-please-dont-save-parcc/1337719002/

North Jersey Record Published 3:08 p.m. ET Sept. 17, 2018 | Updated 4:50 p.m. ET Sept. 17, 2018

 

 

Associated Press (via Philadelphia Inquirer) DeVos to students: Don't hide behind a Twitter handle

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Monday encouraged students to engage others with respect and not to "be nasty" while hiding behind Twitter handles, leading one student to wonder why her boss, President Donald Trump, doesn't appear to abide by those rules.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/20180917_ap_c546e9c13923477898debe4e4b3850d3.html

KRISTEN DE GROOT, The Associated Press| Updated: September 17, 2018 — 2:28 PM EDT

 

 

Education Week-Dual-Language Learning: 6 Key Insights forSchools

For decades, two factors drove the demand for dual-language education: a desire to preserve native languages and recognition that dual-language learning can boost overall achievement for English-language learners. Now, a growing number of states also see bilingualism as key to accessing the global economy, as evidenced by the surging popularity of the “seal of biliteracy”—a special recognition for graduates who demonstrate fluency in two or more languages. The popularity of the seal is spurring even more demand for dual-language-education programs.

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/09/17/dual-language-learning-6-key-insights-for-schools.html

Corey Mitchell| September 15, 2018