NJ Spotlight - Fine Print: NJEA PAC’s Report Shows Union Sharing Wealth with Candidates…Teachers union lists $1.4 million in spending, most of it for hot legislative campaigns and counties

Press of Atlantic City – New Jersey schools chief: Development gaps by race, income not OK

By DIANE D'AMICO, Education Writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 12:01 am

New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf told attendees at the New Jersey School Boards Conference in Atlantic City Tuesday that New Jersey may have one of the top-performing public education systems in the nation, but there are still too many disadvantaged and minority students who continue to underperform.

"Our job is not done until significantly more children graduate from high school ready to be launched into adulthood," Cerf told school board members and school administrators at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Cerf rattled off numbers on a presentation showing that while New Jersey has an 86 percent high school graduation rate, and is in the top five states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, there are still huge achievement gaps between white and minority and low-income students.

"Imagine if that situation were reversed and the white students were on the bottom," he said. "Would anyone tolerate that?"

He defended himself against critics who oppose new state tests and claim he is trying to privatize education by promoting charter schools. He said only 3 percent of all schools in the state are charters, and they educate only 2 percent of students, most in urban districts.

"We have opened 24 new charter schools, but we also closed 10," he said. "I am not interested in privatizing education."

He said he is not concerned so much with state testing as he is with what test results mean.

"I care about what (test results) tell me about the life trajectory of the students who take them," he said. "Will they get a job? Will they wind up in the criminal justice system? The numbers tell a very distressing story."

He said a high rate of students do pass the state high school graduation test, but the test is only really measuring ninth-grade skills. He showed a slide of the high rate of remedial courses taken by students at New Jersey community colleges to stress the impact of graduating high school students unprepared for the future.

He said the most important step the state has taken is adopting the Common Core Standards in 2010, which set a high bar for all students. School districts have been adapting curriculum to meet those standards. New state tests will begin in the 2014-15 school year. Students will be tested in language arts and math in grades 3 through 8, and high school students will take end-of-course exams in algebra I and II and geometry, plus English in grades 9, 10 and 11.

Students currently in grades 7 through 11 who will take the new tests in high school will not have to pass them as a graduation requirement during the trial period.

Cerf promised that regulations are being rewritten to require less bureaucracy and encourage more innovation in high-performing districts. But, he said, the state will continue to intervene in schools where student performance is below standards.

He encouraged school board members to become familiar with the Common Core standards, and said the most important obligation of any school board is to hire the right superintendent to implement them. He said the board must set high expectations for that leader, and must be committed to protecting and defending them in the face of change.

"We are at a pivot point in public education, and you are the vanguard in a world that is often loud and sometimes mean," Cerf said.

The school boards conference continues in Atlantic City through Thursday.

Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241 DDamico@pressofac.com

NJ Spotlight - Fine Print: NJEA PAC’s Report Shows Union Sharing Wealth with Candidates…Teachers union lists $1.4 million in spending, most of it for hot legislative campaigns and counties

John Mooney | October 23, 2013

What it is: The New Jersey Education Association Political Action Committee (NJEA PAC) last week filed its latest Receipts and Expenditures Quarterly Report with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. It covers spending by the union’s political arm on the November 5 gubernatorial and legislative elections.

What it means: The 31-page report shows how NJEA PAC spreads its wealth to more than 100 different organizations with a stake in the 2013 elections, be it for individual candidates or tickets or for county and state party apparatus. It is the most that the NJEA PAC has spent at this point in a state election, said the union’s director, reflective of the union’s investment in the race not just for governor but also the Legislature. The list is predominantly Democratic, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono, but the NJEA includes a few Republicans in its largesse.

The totals: The NJEA PAC lists $1,439,772.32 in expenditures and another $353,424.19 in the bank. Of the total, $1.2 million went to legislative candidates or committees.

What it’s not: The report is a fraction of the NJEA’s overall spending thus far, with more than $5 million paid out by its Super PAC, Garden State Forward, much of it to the benefit Buono, the Democratic challenger to Gov. Chris Christie.

Quote: “We are all in this year, as much as we have ever been,” said Vince Giordano, the executive director of the NJEA. “I don’t think that should surprise anyone.”

Where it comes from: The money in the NJEA PAC comes out of voluntary contributions from the union’s 200,000 members. It is not derived from dues. The Super PAC, however, is funded from dues.

As much about the Legislature: With Buono trailing Christie badly in the polls, the NJEA is focusing on at least retaining the Democratic majority in the Senate and Assembly. “In many ways, just as important is protecting the Legislature,” he said.

A last hurrah: After 43 years in the union, Giordano is stepping down as director of the NJEA on December 1, and one of his last acts is managing the NJEA’s PAC. The union’s government relations chief, Ginger Gold Schnitzer, would normally oversee it, but she is running the Super PAC. That leaves Giordano the final say in determining who the PAC contributes to and how much. “I have gotten more involved in the politics than ever before, and certainly met a lot of interesting people,” Giordano said. “It’s definitely been an interesting experience.”

Largest sum: The biggest individual contributions are $25,000 each to Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Passaic, and Mercer counties’ respective Democratic organizations. After that, $24,600 was contributed to each of two campaigns critical to the NJEA: the Democratic ticket led by state Sen. Jeff Van Drew in the hotly contested 1st District, and that of Marie Corfield, the NJEA-backed teacher running for Assembly in the 16th.

Republicans, too: There’s a handful of Republican incumbents on the NJEA’s endorsement list, including members of the Senate education committee and the GOP’s leadership. They include state Sens. Thomas Kean Jr. ($6,000), Diane Allen ($5,500), and state Assemblyman John Bramnick ($6,000).

Three weeks to go: This is, of course, not the end of the NJEA’s contribution to the campaigns, with both bountiful dollars and manpower still available. “We will be making more contributions,” Giordano said. The next and final campaign finance report comes after the election.