Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week
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For the life of me, I can't think of one good reason why New Jersey needs this:State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) has filed a bill to be heard on Thursday that would create an Innovation Fund and appropriate $5 million in its first year to help schools trying new programs in scheduling, technology and other areas. [emphasis mine]The proposal is a mirror image of the fund that Gov. Chris Christie included in his fiscal 2014 state budget, but which was cut out of the final spending plan by the Democrat-controlled Legislature.Ruiz signed off on that cut as a member of the state Senate budget commit
Well, well, well - look who's coming to Rutgers this week:KEYNOTE ADDRESSWhy Aren’t Students Ready? Barriers to College Access for America’s YouthThursday, 10:00 am–11:15 am, Livingston Student Center, Livingston HallSpeakerDr. Steve Perry CNN Education Contributor; Principal, Capital Preparatory Magnet SchoolThe keynote address, no less. How lovely; nice to see Rutgers University - perhaps the most important center for teacher training in the state - give a forum to one of the best-known teachers union haters in the country.I wonder: did the organizers of this conference chose Dr. Perry becau
As I mentioned before, America's foremost union basher, Steve Perry, is coming to Rutgers this week:KEYNOTE ADDRESSWhy Aren’t Students Ready? Barriers to College Access for America’s YouthThursday, 10:00 am–11:15 am, Livingston Student Center, Livingston HallSpeakerDr. Steve Perry CNN Education Contributor; Principal, Capital Preparatory Magnet SchoolHere's a funny coincidence: I just happened to finish Perry's anti-union screed book, Push Has Come To Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve - Even If It Means Picking a Fight*. Some of you probably find it odd that I would pay to sub
NOV 10
Sunday Music: Pat Metheny, Song for Bilbao
I never thought this blog would turn out the way it did. I don't apologize for the tone I've taken - I thinks the times demand it - but I also think I need a little more joy around this dump.Hold me to it, folks: every Sunday, let's just listen to some really good music. Pat Metheny, from 2002; one of my all time favorites from him is the version on Travels. On this version, Lyle Mays's piano/synt
Mythbusting Chris Cerf at @NJEA: Poverty
Chris Cerf, New Jersey's very reformy Commissioner of Education, spoke on Friday at the NJEA convention. And the commish made it clear that he is gravely, deeply worried that he is being misunderstood:The idea that anybody thinks that poverty doesn't matter is inconceivable. Of course it matters. Of course it is a huge predictor of academic and educational success. There's no doubt. But it is also
NOV 09
Mythbusting Chris Cerf at @NJEA: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Chris Cerf, NJ Education Commissioner, at the New Jersey Educators Association convention, Atlantic City, 11/8/13*:I always look forward to this event and I'm really delighted. And I want to extend my appreciation particularly to the leadership of the NJEA, with whom I feel that we've had a sometimes spirited discussion, but always a positive and a respectful one.NJ Governor Chris Christie, 11/5/1
NOV 08
Mythbusting Chris Cerf at @NJEA: Prelude
Chris Cerf, New Jersey's Commissioner of Education, gave a remarkable speech today at the NJEA convention in Atlantic City. I'll get to the content soon enough, including some busting of the "myths" Cerf tried to sell us today.But before we get to that: let's deal with the elephant in the room, shall we?CHRIS CERF (11/8/13): Look, I think it's important to have a spirited, public debate
NOV 07
Teacher Evaluation Without Research Backing: SGOs
Tomorrow, NJ Education Commissioner Chris Cerf will address the membership at the NJEA's teachers convention. He is supposed to be taking questions.Perhaps someone will ask him why we NJ teachers are wasting our time with these ridiculous Student Growth Objectives or SGOs (also known as Student Learning Objectives or SLOs). Because there is no evidence that they work:There is little evidence on th
No One Manipulates the Press Like TFA
In general, I like Leslie Brody of the Record: she's smart and fair and usually does a good job. Which is why I found this puff piece on Teach For America in New Jersey so frustrating:Teach for America got a major public relations boost in September when a federally funded study found that on average, its “corps members” slightly outperformed teachers who entered the profession after traditional t
What Happened Tuesday?
I've listened to a fair bit of punditry and read a fair bit of opinion about Tuesday's election results. And it still doesn't make sense to me.I'll leave Virginia out of this because I really didn't follow the race. But here in Metro NYC, we had two big, contiguous races. Both ended in landslides - but for candidates who couldn't be more different:Bill de Blasio is an unreserved progressive whose