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Associated Press 2-9-10 ‘N.J., school advocates argue over financial evidence’ The Education Law Center has asked Judge Peter Doyne to bar the state from introducing information from the state treasurer and other officials about why the state cut subsidies to public schools by about $1 billion this year...Associated Press 2-11-11 ‘N.J. fiscal woes data can be used as evidence in school funding case’ A judge says state attorneys can introduce evidence about New Jersey's fiscal woes during an upcoming hearing on whether the state is adequately funding schools.
The Record ‘N.J. students score resounding success’ Members of New Jersey's Class of 2010 who took Advanced Placement tests can be proud: 72 percent of their exams had scores of 3 or above, the highest passing rate in the nation.
Star Ledger ‘Braun: N.J. vouchers would wrongly use taxes for schools with religious affiliations’ “...If it’s true that New Jersey no longer has the money to support public schools, how in the world will it have the money to support private religious schools, whether they be Catholic schools, yeshivas, or madrassas?..”
The Record ‘Teaneck, Fair Lawn districts and Bergen County Technical Schools receive $780,000 in school [facilities] grants’...The SDA has provided 388 grants totaling $126 million to districts since the resumption of the program last May..."
Associated Press ‘Hearing is scheduled on whether N.J. budget problems will be allowed into evidence in school funding dispute’ The Education Law Center has asked Judge Peter Doyne to bar the state from introducing information from the state treasurer and other officials about why the state cut subsidies to public schools by about $1 billion this year.
By The Associated Press
TRENTON — A judge appointed by New Jersey's Supreme Court to consider whether New Jersey is adequately funding its schools in the wake of state aid cuts has another issue to wrestle with.
A group that advocates for students says the state shouldn't be allowed to introduce evidence about its fiscal constraints.
The Education Law Center has asked Judge Peter Doyne to bar the state from introducing information from the state treasurer and other officials about why the state cut subsidies to public schools by about $1 billion this year.
The advocates say the state has tried to introduce the evidence even after the Supreme Court said it was beyond the scope of the Doyne's assignment.
A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Friday in Hackensack.
Associated Press ‘N.J. fiscal woes data can be used as evidence in school funding case’
Published: Friday, February 11, 2011, 2:27 PM Updated: Fri, February 11, 2011, 2:28, PM
TRENTON — A judge says state attorneys can introduce evidence about New Jersey's fiscal woes during an upcoming hearing on whether the state is adequately funding schools.
State Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne also said today that the information can be introduced into the court record but that his report won't take sides on whether those budgetary constraints made the cuts necessary.
The state Supreme Court appointed Doyne to help sort out whether Gov. Chris Christie was within his constitutional rights last year when he cut aid to local schools by about $1 billion.
The Education Law Center, a group that advocates for students, had asked Doyne to bar the state from introducing the information.
The hearing is scheduled to begin Monday in Hackensack and could last a few weeks.
The Record ‘N.J. students score resounding success’
Thursday, February 10, 2011
BY LESLIE BRODY
Members of New Jersey's Class of 2010 who took Advanced Placement tests can be proud: 72 percent of their exams had scores of 3 or above, the highest passing rate in the nation.
Participation in rigorous AP courses has grown over time in this state and nationwide, according to data released Wednesday by the College Board, which administers the program.
Students who get a score of 3 or above can earn credit at many colleges and universities.
Trevor Packer, vice president of the AP program, said New Jersey public schools' scores were so high that educators should consider encouraging a wider band of students to take the challenging classes.
"New Jersey is doing a good job," Packer said. "The question is, How can we make sure we're spreading this good program across more students without diluting its quality?"
The board cites research showing that students who pass AP exams do better in college than comparable peers who don't participate.
Doing well in AP courses can also help students stand out in college admissions.
Minority gap remains
About 18.6 percent of all New Jersey public school students who graduated last year passed at least one AP exam during high school, a slightly higher rate than the national average of 16.9 percent.
* 25,016 New Jersey seniors in public high schools took AP exams at some point.
* Among exams with passing scores, roughly the same share scored a 3, 4 or the highest grade of 5.
* U.S. history, English literature, English language and Calculus AB were the most popular subjects.
The nagging achievement gap remained, however, with blacks, Hispanics and low-income students taking fewer AP courses. They also passed the courses at lower rates than white students.
Whites accounted for 58.7 percent of the graduating class and 58.5 percent of AP takers. Blacks made up 15.9 percent of seniors but 5.7 percent of AP takers. Hispanics made up 16.9 percent of seniors but 11.3 percent of AP takers. Asians made up 8.3 percent of seniors but 16.6 percent of AP takers.
Only 10.7 percent of AP takers came from low-income families.
The report put New Jersey near the bottom of the 50 states when measuring "equity and excellence," meaning the share of minorities achieving high scores.
E-mail: brody@northjersey.com
Star Ledger ‘Braun: N.J. vouchers would wrongly use taxes for schools with religious affiliations’ Published: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 10:00 AM Updated: Thursday, February 10, 2011, 2:13 PM
By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist
TRENTON — At recent Sunday masses, churches in the Newark Archdiocese showed a film urging parishioners to donate money to Catholic ministries, including schools. The voice-over on the film noted that Catholic education "conveys the message of Christ."
That is, of course, appropriate. Catholic schools should convey the message of Christ — but the furtherance of that message should not be accomplished with public funds that come not only voluntarily from Catholics but also involuntarily through taxes from Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, other believers and non-believers.
I am Catholic. A graduate of a Catholic elementary and a Catholic high school. I contribute weekly to my parish, monthly to a Catholic hospital, and annually to my high school.
Voluntarily.
It is just plain wrong to use taxes to promote a religious message.
That is what the Legislature, at the urging of Gov. Chris Christie and political bosses in Camden and Essex County, are about to do within weeks, if not days.
Fear and hatred of Catholics has vanished in this country, mostly because of the contributions of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland and other Catholic nations. No one winced the other day when nuns testified for the voucher bill and bishops sat in the direct line of sight of Albert Coutinho, the chairman of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee. We are now as American as apple pie. As Christie himself proves, Catholics are more than mainstream, they are in leadership.
But what if these were not Catholics? What if they were, oh, say, Muslims? What if, every time a nun extolled the virtues of Catholic schools, it was, instead, an imam promoting the values of the Quran in madrassas? What if, instead of helping Catholic schools convey the message of Christ, the bill — which it surely could — helped Islamists convey the message of Muhammad?
Why not? Yeshivas in Lakewood will get money from these vouchers. Why not Muslim schools? Will the architects of this bill help only some religions, not others?
While I might endorse the Catholic message, not everyone does — not even all Catholics. I’ve heard Catholic priests use pulpits to urge the defeat of marriage equality. I’ve heard them use pulpits to condemn abortion and birth control. Must all people, through their taxes, pay to endorse these messages — even if these beliefs offend the beliefs of others?
Wasn’t that issue settled by the First Amendment — and the specific ban on tax money going to religious ministries in the New Jersey Constitution?
The Senate voucher bill creates an $800 million, five-year "pilot" program, with much of the money, 25 percent, going, not to children "trapped" in failing urban public schools — as Christie likes to say — but to children already attending Catholic and other private schools.
It won’t go to the poorest, but to families at 250 percent of the poverty line — almost $65,000 for a family of five. Eligible children will remain eligible even if their circumstances improve — if, say, an unemployed parent gets a job and makes $100,000 or more.
Chris Christie announces approval of 23 new charter schools in N.J. During a visit to the Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark, Gov. Chris Christie announce the state’s approval of 23 new charter schools — an increase by nearly a third of all the charter schools in the state. Christie praised high performing charter schools in urban and disadvantaged areas as providing a model for fixing chronically failing school districts and urged the creation of new kinds of charter schools. He also suggested the charter school movement had been stymied in the past by politicians beholden to special interests, including the state’s largest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, or NJEA. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger) Watch video
If not all the available vouchers are used in the 13 target districts in this so-called "pilot," then the legislation allows the money to be redistributed among now non-eligible districts. The public also will have to pay for the transportation of these students to their religious schools.
That’s what makes the "pilot" description of the program a joke. Once enacted and funded, will the state actually take vouchers away from children who receive them?
In a few days, the Christie administration must appear in court to justify why it cut public schools by $1 billion. In arguments before the state Supreme Court, Christie’s lawyers said the state simply did not have the money to pay for a mandated public school-aid formula.
Vouchers will reduce tax revenues by up to $800 million. If it’s true that New Jersey no longer has the money to support public schools, how in the world will it have the money to support private religious schools, whether they be Catholic schools, yeshivas, or madrassas?
I am a Catholic. Catholics should support Catholic charities and schools voluntarily. The church hierarchy should reorder its finances to keep urban Catholic schools alive — although, as former Essex Catholic students and alumni will attest — the Archdiocese’s record is not good.
But no Catholic — neither I nor Chris Christie — has the right to expect Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and non-believers to support our causes, convey our messages, involuntarily through their tax dollars.
The Record ‘Teaneck, Fair Lawn districts and Bergen County Technical Schools receive $780,000 in school grants’
Thursday, February 10, 2011
BY JOSEPH AX
The Record
STAFF WRITER
The New Jersey Schools Development Authority on Thursday announced more than $780,000 in grants to Teaneck and Fair Lawn districts and to the Bergen County Technical Schools. The SDA has provided 388 grants totaling $126 million to districts since the resumption of the program last May, state officials said. The SDA helps pay for projects addressing safety problems, overcrowding and other needs.
In each case, the money will help pay for building repairs and renovation, officials said.
The Bergen County Technical Schools will receive $568,000 to help fund a new roof at the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack and a new boiler at the Technical High School in Paramus. The district will pay $851,000 towards the projects.
In Teaneck, the Eugene Field High School — which serves as the administrative building rather than a functioning school — will get a new roof, thanks to $184,000 in SDA money and $277,000 in matching funds from the district.
And Fair Lawn will receive $33,000 from the SDA to pay for new windows at Memorial Middle School. The district will also contribute $49,000.
The funding came from a (state) bond issue. E-mail: ax@northjersey.com
