Opinion: NJ's 'Fatally Flawed' Merit Pay ProgramOur problem in New Jersey is not the lack of a merit system. Our problem is how we’ve chosen to measure merit.
In Tuesday’s State of the State speech, Governor Chris Christie declared education reform his highest priority.
"The time for a national conversation on tenure is long past due," Christie asserted. "I propose that we reward the best teachers, based on merit at the individual teacher level.… I am committed to improving the measurement and evaluation of teachers."
Been there, done that, Guv.
New Jersey has had a merit pay system for teachers for years. True, leaders of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) deny it exists. President Barbara Keshishian said recently that any merit pay proposal is "fatally flawed." That's just semantics. Our problem in NJ is not the lack of a merit system. The problem is how
Supreme Court Remands Abbott v. Burke to Lower Court for Fact FindingJustice's order appears to put burden of proof on Christie administration
In the Assembly chamber of the Statehouse on Tuesday, justices of New Jersey’s Supreme Court listened as Gov. Chris Christie in his State of the State address made a not-so-subtle jab at the Abbott v. Burke school funding case.
“We must end the myth that more money equals better achievement,” Christie said. “It is a failed legal theory, and we can no longer waste our children’s time or the public’s money waiting for it to work.”
Two days later, the justices answered back: "Not so fast."
The court yesterday ordered the latest Abbott challenge to Christie’s $1.1 billion in school aid cuts be remanded to a lower court for fact-finding hearings. The justices are