Gov. Christie goes national with N.J. education battle | State | NewJerseyNewsroom.com -- Your State. Your News.

Gov. Christie goes national with N.J. education battle | State | NewJerseyNewsroom.com -- Your State. Your News.

Gov. Christie goes national with N.J. education battle

THURSDAY, 02 DECEMBER 2010 09:37

Share this Twitter Myspace Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Slashdot Furl Yahoo Technorati Newsvine Facebook Export PDF Print E-mail Tags schools school charter christie jersey state reform education public federal funding choice aid action providing million reported number high cuts

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

And the battle rages on between Governor Christie and the state school system. Speaking before a room full of education reform advocates, Christie denounced the efforts of New Jersey's school officials and the union.

Christie appeared Tuesday as the keynote speaker for Excellence in Action in Washington, D.C., an educational forum started by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

According to NorthJersey.com, Christie railed against the New Jersey Education Association again, for opposing merit pay, tenure reform and expanded school-choice programs, such as charter schools.

He spoke about his influence in urging voters to reject school budgets that did not include cuts he had been seeking in teacher benefits back in April. And he said superintendents needed to sacrifice their high salaries until they can show how their schools have improved.

Christie has made school choice a priority in education reform, and his administration plans to expand the number of charter schools, which are public schools that operate separately from local school administration. Right now, 73 New Jersey charter schools get public funding.

Seven new charter schools will open in September, and 50 others are pending. But New Jersey's

School district gambled, lost on class sizes, now tough decisions await

School district gambled, lost on class sizes, now tough decisions await

Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post

Art Johnson at a school board meeting last month

By CARA FITZPATRICK

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 9:02 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010

Posted: 6:13 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010

• Post a Comment
• E-mail
• Print
• Share
• Larger Type

Faced with a $59 million price tag to comply with the state's class-size law, Superintendent Art Johnson took a wait-and-see approach, gambling that voters would approve a constitutional amendment to relax the rules.

But the voters didn't.

Now, the Palm Beach County School District is among the state's top class-size offenders. District officials face an estimated $16 million penalty and a variety of potentially unpopular choices to lower class sizes next year, including boundary changes, double sessions, cutting under-enrolled classes, even declaring popular schools or programs "closed."

Johnson defended his decision today . He said other school districts emptied their monetary reserves and cut classes to meet the stringent requirements this year, while Palm Beach County made "extraordinary efforts" to preserve academic programs and protect

The Oakland police chief’s middle school strategy | The Education Report

The Oakland police chief’s middle school strategy | The Education Report

The Oakland police chief’s middle school strategy

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 at 4:45 pm in community, crime, middle schools,violence
4 Comments »

Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts is in Washington, D.C. right now, lobbying the federal powers that be to give him $6 million for a pilot community policing program at four Oakland middle schools.

Batts’ plan is to hire 24 police officers and to assign them to four Oakland middle schools: Frick, Madison, Roosevelt and Westlake.

Officer Jeff Thomason, a public information officer for the police department, said four of the six officers at each school would provide security, and that two would serve as mentors and run the O.K. Program for gang and violence prevention.

“Basically, we want to start our community policing model at those schools,” Thomason said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a comment

Would you put your child in this school?

By Katy Murphy
Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 6:49 pm in achievement gap, teachers
4 Comments »

That’s the mantra in the Long Beach school district, according to a new McKinsey report that named the school district — and the Oakland-based charter management organization, Aspire Public Schools — among the 20 most-improved school systems in the world.

Long Beach is an ethnically diverse, high-poverty school district in a California port city, just like Oakland. Unlike Oakland, it’s had stable leadership for years, under a superintendent — in his ninth year — who once attended school in the district and later returned to be a teacher, principal and administrator.

If you have a chance to read McKinsey’s two-page case study on the Long Beach school district’s teacher preparation, training and coaching strategies, I’d love to hear how they compare to your experience in Oakland. It’s on pages 48-50 (linkhere).

Two things that caught my attention: Read the rest of this entry »

New D.C. teachers union chief says he'll be more aggressive

New D.C. teachers union chief says he'll be more aggressive

TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz Reprints COMMENT 0 Comments BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment.Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Discussion Policy

By Bill Turque

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2010; 10:56 PM

The new president of the Washington Teachers' Union said Wednesday that he would cooperate with D.C. school officials in implementing the labor contract he vehemently opposed last spring. But Nathan Saunders also said he would be far more aggressive than his predecessor in ensuring that teachers' voices are heard when policy gets made.

"Where the contract requires collaboration, I absolutely will collaborate. Collaboration didn't become a bad word when I got elected," said Saunders, in an interview shortly before his formal installation ceremony at the American Federation of Teachers office on Capitol Hill.

Saunders, the former union general vice president, unseated incumbent George Parker in a runoff election Tuesday after a campaign in which he said Parker had failed to take a hard enough line in

New Jersey Superintendent Salaries in Context « School Finance 101

New Jersey Superintendent Salaries in Context « School Finance 101

New Jersey Superintendent Salaries in Context

by schoolfinance101

These two figures provide some updated context to an earlier post on Arbitrary Pay Limits for NJ Administrators. The bombastic rhetoric on this topic refuses to die down. So, here are a few more figures to put NJ public school district administrator salaries into context. Note that these two figures compare THE TOP 20 SUPERINTENDENT SALARIES to salaries of a) the majority of private independent school headmasters statewide, and b) the average of a large number of NJ Hospital administrators (non-physician chief executives). Just a little more fodder for the conversation.

Figure 1

Mean and Median Compensation by Group

New overseer for charters urged | Thoughts on Public Education

New overseer for charters urged | Thoughts on Public Education

New overseer for charters urged

Share

State board too consumed by charter petitions

Posted on 12/02/10 • Categorized as Charters

By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Charter schools have become a time sink for the State Board of Education, with a third of its time spent dealing with schools serving 5 percent of California’s students. Relieving that burden is one reason that the Little Hoover Commission, a state oversight body, is recommending that California establish an independent body to directly authorize and oversee charter schools.

A California Board of Charter Schools would not replace local districts and county offices of education, which are still the primary authorizers of charters, but it would offer an alternative path for charter applicants, and, under the Little Hoover Commission’s plan, it would have the ability to revoke the authorizing power of local districts that are either too lax in monitoring charters or discriminatory in keeping them out. The Little Hoover Commission heard

This Week In Education: Lobbying: Did USDE Leak Sharpton Criticism Of For-Profits?

This Week In Education: Lobbying: Did USDE Leak Sharpton Criticism Of For-Profits?

Leaders: Alonso's Smooth Approach To School Reform [image: image from t2.gstatic.com]Talking on the phone to Baltimore's Andres Alonso is like talking to Benecio Del Toro (if only Benny could carry a conversation about education reform). Alonso has that slow, calm, way of talking -- it sounds like ...

Lobbying: Did USDE Leak Sharpton Criticism Of For-Profits? [image: Flock of spoons_1000-thumb-600x450-37313] There's a kerfluffle surrounding Inside Higher Ed's coverage of the for-profit (Gainful Employment) debate that's no, not about substance, but rather about who said what to whom in emails. Lanny ...

AM News: Schools Prepare For Budget Pain [image: News2] More schools targeted to close in Hub Boston Globe: Boston School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson is expected to recommend tonight the closing or merging of more than a dozen schools, a proposal that goes further than one she ...

Normalizing Inadequacy - Ed Thoughts

Normalizing Inadequacy - Ed Thoughts

Normalizing Inadequacy - Ed Thoughts

by Sabrina

Recently, Education Secretary Arne Duncan set Reformy listeners' hearts aflutter when he declared that public schools need to adjust to "The New Normal" of lean budgets and sacrifice. It's clear that we're in really tough economic times, and I agree with Secretary Duncan that we should be thinking about ways to use educational funds more effectively (especially the bit about paring down central office costs...).

But there are two big oversights in this recent discussion of "doing more with less" that we really ought to address.

First of all, when times are tough, don't responsible adults make sure the basics are covered before they splurge on extras? If there are schools and districts in America that can't offer enough books to allow students to get their homework done, or pay all of their teachers, or offer a full curriculum, why did our government just award over $4 billion for experimental, unproven reforms? If my neighbor lost his job and risked homelessness because he had less money to pay rent, I'd be mighty confused if he went out and spent a bundle building himself a jet

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan keynotes Jeb Bush's ed reform conference

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan keynotes Jeb Bush's ed reform conference

Duncan keynotes Jeb Bush's ed reform conference

by Mike Klonsky

The sponsors tell the story

Arne Duncan has long been a favorite of the neocon wing of the Republican Party. He played a big role in pumping new life into a largely discredited Newt Gingrich when he made Gingrich the centerpiece of his road tour. Yesterday, Duncan, with the 2012 elections looming on the horizon, did his best to resuscitate the political corpse of Jeb Bush by keynoting the former Florida gov's 2-day so-called, National Summit on Education Reform in D.C.

According to WaPo's Valerie Strauss:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave the keynote speech today; the Republican Bush led a standing ovation for the Democratic Duncan, showing that school reform is, indeed, a bipartisan effort, if not a monolithic one.

The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Thomas writes:

Actually, this isn’t a shock. While Jeb has called President Obama a big spending liberal, and

Principals as Instructional Leaders–Again and Again | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Principals as Instructional Leaders–Again and Again | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Principals as Instructional Leaders–Again and Again

by larrycuban

Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die. Everyone wants principals to be instructional leaders but no one wants to take away anything from the principals’ job.

Like superintendents and teachers, principals are expected to instruct, manage, and politick to be effective leaders. Because principals, like teachers and superintendents, have limited hours and energy (e.g., spending time with family, friends, sleep, exercise, reading–need I go on?), they face tensions over what they should choose to do each day. Thus, choices become compromises to ease tensions entangled in their teaching, managing, and politicking roles.

Most principals are passionate about being an instructional leader. Yet, they admit privately and in workshops I have led that they spend most of their time on managerial tasks. To be an instructional leader, however, principals must spend large chunks of their time in classrooms, working to both support and evaluate teachers. Current reform talk makes that choice even harder.

Calls for principals to be CEOs can be heard from superintendents, pundits, and others who couldn’t last a week

Today we voted and who can miss an ugly orange sweater like that? « Fred Klonsky's blog

Today we voted and who can miss an ugly orange sweater like that? « Fred Klonsky's blog

The Reformy Agenda: “An inside job.” There are few more despicable characters in American corporate history than the Waltons. And I don’t mean the nice family from the TV series. I’m talking about the founders of Wal-Mart. A Big box bottom feeder is what Wal-Mart is. Anti-union, low ...

Today we voted and who can miss an ugly orange sweater like that? It is the ugliest sweater I own. I bought it at Target on sale. It is bright orange. It is the color of a construction vest on the interstate. I bought it because I know how the IEA RA works. I’ve gone since Bob Haisman ran ‘em. I wear it because I ...

Rickey Hendon gives one of the great speeches on the floor of the IL senate for civil unions. “When I sit here, I hear adulterers, and womanizers, and folks cheatin’ on their wives, and down-low brothers, sayin’they gonna vote against this bill, IT TURNS MY STOMACH, THE HYPOCRISY drippin’in this chamber right now. We know what you do at night! ...

NYC Public School Parents: Where in the World is Chancellor Black?

NYC Public School Parents: Where in the World is Chancellor Black?

Where in the World is Chancellor Black?

by Patrick J. Sullivan

The news blackout on our new chancellor continues into its third week. Education beat reporters are starting to get testy as they chased rumors of Cathie Black appearances around town. Here's Beth Fertig'snon-coverage from WNYC:

Outgoing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein allowed reporters to follow him on visits to schools when he first took office in 2002. His schedule was also routinely released by the Department of Education.

But the department has been unusually secretive about Black's schedule. She has not granted any interviews to the media since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced her appointment

The Latest on the DREAM Act « Student Activism

The Latest on the DREAM Act « Student Activism

The Latest on the DREAM Act

by Angus Johnston

Two big developments yesterday in the effort to pass the DREAM Act in the current lame duck session of Congress…

First, Harry Reid and Dick Durbin have introduced a new, scaled-down version of the bill in hopes of tempting wavering senators to join the team. The changes to the bill are major, and they make vote-counting a lot more difficult, at least in the short term. The new bill may shift a large number of votes, or none — it’s just impossible to say right now. If I get word on new commitments, I’ll pass them along in an update.

Second, though, is the big hitch. Yesterday all 42 Senate Republicans signed a pledge to filibuster any and all

Queens Teacher: How a Billionaire Control$ the World

Queens Teacher: How a Billionaire Control$ the World

How a Billionaire Control$ the World

by Queens Teacher

Tax Free Corporate Billions Leveraged to Take Over Social Policy Making
from Schools Matter

The new Gates Foundation financials are out, and things look much improved in 2009 following the 2008 meltdown. When you click on this chart to enlarge it, you will see that the Gates Foundation now has nearly 30,000 millions of dollars (that's 30 billion) to use as it sees fit to bribe, to silence,

The Battle for Seattle: Part One | Seattle Education 2010

The Battle for Seattle: Part One | Seattle Education 2010

The Battle for Seattle: Part One

by seattleducation2010

Part 1

Someone asked me recently to describe the presence of the Broad Foundation in Seattle. At first I thought that would be an easy task because it all started with our superintendent, Dr. Goodloe-Johnson, right?

Well, not really. It started several years before she arrived on the scene here in Seattle and it started with two people, Don Nielson and Joseph Olchefske.

The Broad Foundation’s goal is to privatize our public school system by way of charter schools. Eli Broad has become influential over the years, beginning in 1999, in transforming school districts around the country to his vision of what education should be. As Mr. Broad makes clear in a recent post on the Huffington Post, he does

School Tech Connect: Civil Unions in Illinois

School Tech Connect: Civil Unions in Illinois

Civil Unions in Illinois Thank you, Greg Harris, Sarah Feingoltz, Harry Osterman, Barbara Flynn Currie, John Fritchey, Deborah Mell, Constance Howard, David Koehler, Heather Steans, John Cullerton, Carol Ronen, Governor Quinn, Rick Garcia, and all of the other tireless people ...

Where Do The Children Play? I dunno; we've taken recess away to drill for reading and math tests. One in ten American children now have a diagnosis of ADHD. I know I'm supposed to be writing about how fabulous Twitter is, or how neat the new Google Labs are, but honestly? I can't ...

Words Escape Him I've been trying to read between the lines of this NEA press release and its associated post about the roundtable discussion held with Van Roekel and Duncan. NEA is trying to push collaboration, which as Michelle Rhee would tell you is like totally ...

Niggas Is Doing They Homework, Yo — The Jose Vilson

Niggas Is Doing They Homework, Yo — The Jose Vilson

Niggas Is Doing They Homework, Yo

by Jose

Jay-Z, Cornel West, and Harry Belafonte before Decoded Talk

I had the pleasure and misfortune of running into videos my former students get involved with, and one of them featured a gang from one of the neighborhoods my school represents. I watched a bit of it, annoyed that these pseudo-gangsters would put their videos on YouTube (“Real gangsters move in silence …” – Biggie), but more perturbed because they paraded in a coterie down a set of project buildings. I watched as the faces I once knew, who I never taught but I saw promise to their teachers they would do better, yelled in defiance to the camera about another pseudo-gang and how “pussy” they were and how this set of misguided youth is more malignant than the other.

One even observed that their rival group never gets out and made this quip: “Niggas is doing they homework, yo!” and laughed heartily.

Inside, I sat there and boiled. On a day like today, remembering the types of struggles a small but powerful group went through to extract consent from the majority rule to do the things “niggas” like these take for granted. If they had been that loud in their projects during the time Rosa Parks was arrested for sitting in the front of a

Where Can Teachers Find Collegiality Today? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Where Can Teachers Find Collegiality Today? - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Where Can Teachers Find Collegiality Today?

By Deborah Meier on December 2, 2010 8:51 AM | No comments | No recommendations

Dear Diane,

Sometimes the outrages of our wealthy fellow citizens stagger me, and I feel incoherent in face of the offenses they commit on a daily basis. It hurts most of all when I see decent people caught in the web—as victims or even winners. The events in New York City are shameful. Enjoy the fact that Bill Gates sees you as the worst of his adversaries. Still, we've got to stop agreeing so much!

It's a relief these days to shift from contemplating the ugly takeover of our public institutions by private wealth—at a time when these very same people have undermined the economy of the nation itself—to talk about what fascinated me for 45 years. It was not the politics of schooling.

A new book by Ryan Teves that just arrived in my mailbox is worth reading. Teves is a math and science secondary school teacher who now runs a tutoring service in Scott Valley, Calif. It's called In Defense of the American Teen and