Friday, March 29, 2013
Chief architect of tenure reform cautions against putting too much importance, too soon, on student performance on state tests.
As the Christie administration’s new regulations for teacher evaluation near a critical juncture, the prime author of the landmark tenure reform law behind the proposed rules said the administration may be moving too aggressively in some places. State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), the legislator most credited for the new tenure law, said yesterday in some of her first public comments on the regulations that the administration’s plans to base 35 percent of certain teachers’ evaluations on state test scores, starting next year, may be too ambitious. “If we are going to roll out regulations in the first year with the 35 percent component, I have severe concerns with that,” Ruiz said in an interview. Ruiz, usually fairly circumspect in her …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Under governor's proposal, poorest districts could get less in next year’s state budget.
The Christie administration’s plans to adjust the state’s school-funding formula and reduce the extra aid for at-risk students hit another snag yesterday, as Senate and Assembly Democrats took steps to block the changes before the 2014 state budget is even introduced. The Senate and Assembly budget committees both endorsed a resolution that effectively rejects a report filed by the administration under the School Funding Reform Act, which proposes changes to the complex formula used to divvy up almost $9 billion a year to schools. The Education Adequacy Report filed by state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf last month proposed increasing the base amounts that all districts should be spending on pupils, but decreasing the extra amounts -- …
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Following up on the past year's initiatives is just the beginning of what the commissioner and the senator plan to accomplish in the year ahead.
They are arguably the two most influential players in New Jersey public education: the state commissioner steering, if not dictating, Gov. Chris Christie’s agenda, the state senator who was the architect and driving force behind the groundbreaking tenure reform act. But with a new year comes new challenges for Education Commissioner Chris Cerf and Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), as they move from laws and initiatives launched in 2012 to making them stick in 2013. And that doesn’t include other projects -- including a shared concern that New Jersey teachers get the best preparation possible. NJ Spotlight spoke with both of them in the waning days of last year and the first of this one, asking them to elucidate their priorities for 2013. For …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Three-year pilot would be funded by corporate contributions that would earn 100 percent tax credits.
A Democratic-backed bill aimed at extending the school day and the school year could morph into a broader measure that also pays districts to experiment with innovative approaches as to how time is used in schools. The bill (S-2087) would furnish up to 25 districts with grant funding to evaluate longer school schedules. The pilot would run for three years and be paid for with corporate contributions that in turn would earn 100 percent state tax credits. The measure passed the Senate Education Committee Monday; it was voted out by the Assembly education committee in June. Just as soon as it passed, one of its chief Senate sponsors said yesterday that she would revise the bill significantly before taking it to a full vote, opening up both …
Tugwalla
12:08 am on Sunday, March 31, 2013
7m out.....ummmm....err....yea....that's right whatever your sick mind wants to do! more ›