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NJ Spotlight--Opinion: A Good Start Toward a Multiyear Budget Strategy for New Jersey
There are no quick fixes for the state’s ongoing budget crisis, but the best place to begin is with the chronically underfunded pension system
During the past seven months the Economic Policy Committee established by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) — with participation from Republican and Democratic leadership and a volunteer group of 35 policy and fiscal experts — considered the mounting fiscal gaps in the state budget.
Richard F. Keevey | September 10, 2018
Philadelphia Inquirer--Old schools, hot buildings: A ‘public health concern’?
When Rafi Cave dropped his daughter off at school Friday, it felt like a revelation — it was the first time since classes began Sept. 4 that children at Evans Elementary in Yeadon had a full day's instruction.
"We're a week into school, and she hasn't met her reading teacher yet," Cave, a member of the Yeadon Borough Council, said of his fourth grader, Ryen.
Last week's late-summer heat wave forced schools from Philadelphia and Camden to Tredyffrin/Easttown and Cheltenham to call multiple early dismissals in the nascent school year.
To Gina Curry, a member of the Upper Darby school board, the fact that many school systems were unable to cool their buildings is a symptom of a larger problem.
"This is not just a matter of air-conditioning units," Curry said. "It's about a failing infrastructure. This is a public health concern."
Kristen A. Graham and Maddie Hanna, Posted: September 8, 2018
Asbury Park Press--PARCC testing still here, but defanged: Editorial
Three facts:
1) New Jersey public schools are consistently rated among the best in the nation.
2) More than half of New Jersey students wouldn’t even receive a high school diploma if current PARCC exam scores were used as a graduation requirement.
3) PARCC scores in English and math have counted for 30 percent of teacher evaluations.
The first two items tell us the PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) tests are failing to properly reflect the educational achievement of New Jersey’s children. That makes the third item wildly unfair.
https://www.app.com/story/opinion/editorials/2018/09/07/parcc-testing-nj-elimination/1221798002/
Asbury Park Press Published 10:20 a.m. ET Sept. 7, 2018
Press of Atlantic City--Our view: Sweeney candid on pensions in push for true fiscal reform
State Senate President Steve Sweeney’s bipartisan task force has delivered an impressive list of recommendations on how to restore financial responsibility to state government.
With the state straining to pay the interest on $48 billion in bonded debt and facing a $152 billion shortfall in funding government worker pension and retiree health benefits, spending reforms are long overdue.
Press of Atlantic City| September 10, 2018
NY Times--Does Teacher Diversity Matter for Students’ Learning?
Research shows that students, especially boys, benefit when teachers share their race or gender. Yet most teachers are white women.
As students have returned to school, they have been greeted by teachers who, more likely than not, are white women. That means many students will be continuing to see teachers who are a different gender than they are, and a different skin color.
Does it matter? Yes, according to a significant body of research: Students tend to benefit from having teachers who look like them, especially nonwhite students.
Claire Cain Miller| Sept. 10, 2018
Education Week--State Grades on K-12 Achievement: Map and Rankings
Education Week| September 5, 2018
