News

Christie’s $268 million blunder

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:05:04 -0400

3,900 remain unemployed while governor delays

More than two weeks after the first states submitted their applications for federal aid intended to put school employees back to work this fall, Governor Christie continues to dig in his heels, refusing to submit New Jersey’s application for $268 million in already-approved funds.

Incredibly, the administration continues to insist that it needs more time and “technical advice” in order to complete a “thorough and complete application,” which consists of a single question.

On the 16^th day since the first applications were submitted, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement:

“It is completely implausible that the state could not have completed this one-question application and submitted it two weeks ago or more. California and Illinois submitted their applications on Friday, August 13. Tennessee and Kansas submitted theirs that weekend. Anyone who looks at the application can see that it is easier to apply for this funding than to open a new checking account.

“After all, Governor Christie’s administration managed to prepare and submit a 1,000-page Race to the Top application over a three-day holiday weekend. This is a three-page, one question application, and he’s still asking for more time 16 days after the first applications were submitted.

“Governor Christie should just be honest with the people of New Jersey. Unlike other governors who saw the opportunity to put people back to work and jumped on it, he is putting his own anti-public education political agenda ahead of the needs of New Jersey’s working families. There is no other way to explain his willingness to keep 3,900 New Jersey professionals on the unemployment rolls when quick action two weeks ago could have ensured they’d be working this week when school begins.

“It is an affront to every unemployed person in the state that the Governor cares so little about helping get people back to work. And it is even worse, because he’s also denying students across the state a better education.

“His $1.3 billion in cuts have already guaranteed thousands of layoffs and will result in larger class sizes and fewer opportunities for students. His administration’s mishandling of the Race to the Top application has cost the state $400 million. Now his inexcusable delay in applying for the $268 million that the federal government is trying to return to New Jersey taxpayers will end up harming the very public schools that money was intended to save.”

Background information.

Previously: Clock is ticking on 3,900 jobs

For more information, contact Steve Baker at New Jersey Education Association.

New Jersey loses out on Race to the Top funding

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:01:23 -0400

Gov. Christie’s application fails to make the grade

NJEA president Barbara Keshishian released the following statement today:

"Last June, Gov. Christie rejected a 'Race to the Top' application prepared by his Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler, and replaced it with his own. The original application was developed over several weeks in consultation with educational stakeholder groups including NJEA, and it had the support of hundreds of NJEA local education associations, as encouraged by the Race to the Top application guidelines. Gov. Christie's substitute application, which was hastily prepared without input from professional educators, lacked any such support.

"New Jersey's failure to win Race to the Top funding is a direct result of Gov. Christie's misguided decision to hijack the grant application process for his own political purposes. His decision to reject the collaboration required by the US Department of Education cost New Jersey a chance at $400 million.

"He made it clear in June that he was not interested in the input of professional educators in the application process, and he insisted that he knew best what it takes to win this grant. He now owes the people of New Jersey an explanation for why his application failed. And he owes students and taxpayers an apology for undermining a process that could have brought much-needed resources and genuine reform to our state's public schools.

"The original application, which Gov. Christie rejected, was the result of weeks of study, research and collaboration among NJEA, other education groups, Commissioner Schundler and other top NJ Department of Education officials. It contained innovative, research-based reforms, including a novel approach to compensating successful school communities. That application had pledges of support from close to 400 of our local education associations, as well as from NJEA.

"Yet Gov. Christie chose political gamesmanship over the best interests of New Jersey's students and taxpayers. He broke with his own commissioner and submitted his own application, and when it made the list of finalists, he openly boasted that he didn't need the support of NJEA and its members, despite our helping to craft an application designed to bring real reform to New Jersey's schools.

"His irrational, ideological hatred of NJEA -- which led him to throw his own Commissioner of Education under the school bus for cooperating, rather than conflicting, with NJEA -- has led to utter failure, and the loss of desperately needed funds for our public schools.

"Maybe this costly lesson will convince Gov. Christie to realize that collaboration is preferable to confrontation when it comes to building consensus around sound public policy."

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow nails Gov. Christie

Clock is ticking on 3,900 jobs

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:07:51 -0400

Christie stalling while educators languish on unemployment rolls

With just a few days left before classes start this fall, Gov. Christie is inexplicably dragging his feet on completing a slam-dunk application for $268 million. The federal money, already approved by Congress, would put 3,900 laid off school employees back to work.

More than two weeks after publicly questioning whether he would apply for the money at all, he continues to stall. His indefensible delay threatens to leave 3,900 New Jersey school employees on the unemployment rolls rather than working in our schools in September.

Although many states have already signed and submitted their applications, Gov. Christie indicated last Monday that he still needs more time to prepare and submit New Jersey’s application.

That is odd, considering that the entire application consists of a single question. Here it is:

It really is as simple as that. Check a box. Sign your name. Write the date. The whole application fits on 3 pages, and two of those pages are simply an explanation of how states are required to use the money.

Nevada’s Republican governor had that state’s application finished on August 16. Alabama’s Republican governor submitted his application on August 20. Even the Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa managed to submit an application on August 16.

But as of today New Jersey’s governor is still waffling and stalling, protesting that he still has until next week to get the application in. Why does he think that putting 3,900 professionals back to work won’t be a "measurable help" to the state’s struggling economy?

The answer is growing clearer every day. Chris Christie apparently wants to financially starve New Jersey’s public schools, and use scarce funding to advance his ideological agenda. He seems to take delight in slashing their budgets, no matter what the educational or human cost of his massive cuts. The $268 million allocated to New Jersey closes only a small part of the $1.3 billion hole Gov. Christie has blown in school budgets since February. But for a governor intent on slashing, it’s a personal insult when anyone challenges the wisdom of his budget priorities.

Gov. Christie appears willing to put 3,900 jobs at risk to prove a point. He’s willing to leave 3,900 New Jersey families struggling and sacrifice a better education for New Jersey’s children because he’d rather see educators collecting unemployment in September than working in New Jersey’s schools.

Those are his priorities, not New Jersey’s. They certainly are not the priority of the 78% of New Jersey parents who told Zogby pollsters that the state should invest more in public education, not less.

Gov. Christie needs to apply for the funding today. He needs to direct his Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler, to tell districts immediately how much they will receive, so they can start rehiring school employees now. If he doesn’t, there is only one possible conclusion: he really does think that 3,900 jobs just don’t matter. New Jersey residents know better.

NJEA statement on Schundler firing

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:06:01 -0400

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian made the following statement:

“Today, Gov. Chris Christie made Education Commissioner Bret Schundler the latest scapegoat for his $400 million debacle. After days of blaming everyone from a ‘mid-level employee’ to the Obama Administration to NJEA for his failed Race to the Top application, the governor continues to deny responsibility for shortchanging our public schools.

“The governor can blame whomever he wants for his failure to secure a much-needed grant of $400 million for our schools, but this is what happens when you slap together an application instead of using a well-prepared, collaboratively constructed one. His application lost far more points for the failure to collaborate with educators than his ‘clerical error.’

“During his RTTT press conference, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, ‘the best ideas in education come from the local level.’ He said that people working in schools know the best ways to reform schools. That is why NJEA worked collaboratively with the Commissioner on our original application which included the correct budget data.

“A team of talented researchers and educators from NJEA worked closely with Commissioner Schundler in an effort to develop a winning ‘Race to the Top’ application. They combed through mountains of research, and on May 28, reached agreement with the Commissioner on an application that was research-based, educationally sound, and highly creative in areas like merit pay. More than 400 of our local associations also signed onto that application.

“Unfortunately, on June 1 – the deadline for the application – Gov. Christie rejected the application, and submitted his own without giving NJEA or other education groups the opportunity to read it and provide input. The Commissioner unilaterally removed our support.

“We expect that there will be another opportunity to apply. We hope that the governor will learn from his mistakes, make a fresh start, and instruct the next Commissioner of Education to sit down with stakeholders to prepare the state’s next application as the Race to the Top guidelines require. Together we can create a strong, winning application that brings sound reform and critical resources to New Jersey’s public schools.”

Now, more than ever … Teacher for a Day!

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:31:12 -0400

With attacks on public education mounting, and education “experts” sharing their views from every soapbox, it’s time to let the public know exactly what goes on in our classrooms – and what our work really entails. It’s time for the NJEA “Teacher for a Day” program to sprout up in as many local associations as possible, and we have all the resources locals need to do so.

Teacher for a Day is a program that allows individuals from the community become guest teachers and experience an entire school day. Under the watchful eye of a regular classroom teacher, guest teachers perform all the duties a teacher would do in a normal day—teaching class, performing lunch and hall duty, recess supervision—in order to “walk a mile” in educator’s shoes. It’s a fun, easy, and eye-opening way to have participants learn first-hand the challenges of teaching.

Since most of the public have not been in a classroom in years, they simply don’t understand what today’s schools are all about. Teaching is not—nor was it ever—the “cushy job” a lot of people think it is, and there is no better way to show this than to let the public try it for themselves. This program has proven to work to build positive support for school employees, students, and public schools alike.

And while it’s true that Teacher for a Day successfully works to debunk the myths about teaching as a “cushy job”, there is so much more your local can gain from hosting a Teacher for a Day event. By bringing public figures and members of the community into the schools and having them witness the real-life, everyday educational environment, we open up the lines of communication and begin to have meaningful discussions on how we can all work together to keep New Jersey’s schools the best in the nation.

If your local is interested in hosting a Teacher for a Day event in your school district, simply visit our Teacher for a Day page and submit a request for a program binder. Once you have a chance to review it, contact us about setting up a date.

What’s the best part? Teacher for a Day is a PRIDE-approved grant project. Talk to your UniServ on how to fill out an application.

Education Jobs bill a victory for educators

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:28:38 -0400

In a major victory for New Jersey students, the U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 10 passed the Education Jobs bill by a vote of 247-161 – paving the way for an estimated 3,900 laid-off teachers and school staff to return to school in September.

The legislation, which brings $268 million in federal funding to New Jersey, passed the U.S. Senate on Aug. 6. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama following House passage.

NJEA and its affiliates sent over 64,000 emails to Congress in support of the bill – more than a fifth of the 302,000 sent by all NEA affiliates combined.

The legislation was spearheaded by New Jersey Senators Robert Menendez (D) and Frank Lautenberg (D), and provides $10 billion in education jobs funding to beleaguered state governments, which have laid off hundreds of thousands of school employees.

New figures from the U.S. Department of Education estimate that some 161,000 teachers and school employees who had received pink slips will be heading back to school this fall as a result of the law. In New Jersey, an estimated 10,000 teaching positions are unfilled due to 7,000 retirements and another 3,000 layoffs. Thousands of educational support professionals have also lost their jobs.

The federal funding will help reduce rising class sizes and soften the blow of Governor Christie’s $1.3 billion in state aid cuts, which have already had a profound impact on the state’s public schools.

On Aug. 13, NJEA Secretary Treasurer Marie Blistan and dozens of Gloucester County school employees attended Sen. Menendez’s press conference in Glassboro to publicly thank him for his efforts in making education a priority, even in difficult economic times.

“NJEA and its over 200,000 members are and have always been committed to promoting a quality system of public education for all students and that mission will never waver,” Blistan told reporters, parents, and school officials who gathered at the event. “We applaud Senator Menendez, Senator Lautenberg and the members of Congress who supported this legislation for recognizing that in order to have a brighter future, we must make our public schools a priority.”

Gallery

Education jobs bill a victory for students, parents, and NJEA

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:09:30 -0400

Over the summer, an estimated 10,000 teaching positions and thousands of ESP positions went unfilled, due to $1.3 billion in state school funding cuts imposed by Gov. Chris Christie and the Legislature.

But that was before NJEA members took action.

The legislation, which brings $268 million in federal funding to New Jersey, passed the U.S. Senate on Aug. 6. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama following House passage.

NJEA and its affiliates sent over 64,000 emails to Congress in support of the bill – more than a fifth of the 302,000 sent by all NEA affiliates combined.

NJEA sent a flyer to all members telling them of the win – and informing them of the next steps NJEA intends to take to bring laid-off members back to work.

In addition to Lautenberg and Menendez, eight New Jersey Congressmen – all Democrats – supported the legislation: Reps. John Adler, Rob Andrews, Rush Holt, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Steve Rothman, and Albio Sires.

Resources from the U.S. Department of Education include:

Secretary Duncan’s letter to governors;
Initial guidance for states to explain the program; and
The application for funding for the program.

2010 SLC features record attendance

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:36:03 -0400

Gov. Chris Christie and his so-called toolkit for education reform was a persistent topic of conversation. Discussions about ways to protect collective bargaining rights in New Jersey were frequent and intense. And the phrase “Race to the Top” was uttered on many occasions. With these and other topics on their minds, it’s no surprise that a record number of members packed the East Brunswick Hilton last week for the annual Jack Bertolino Summer Leadership Conference (SLC). Nearly 2,000 local, county, state and retired association leaders joined NJEA’s officers and staff for the premier advocacy training event of the year.

Whether they took “Vital Skills for Experienced Presidents,” “Organizing in the Community with PRIDE,” or one of the other 44 nine-hour workshops, attendees learned the skills and gathered the information they need to serve their members and advance public education in New Jersey.

This year’s event featured many of the great training opportunities that NJEA members have come to expect. Nearly a dozen elective offerings, held on Day 2 of the conference, ranged from “Why Public Pensions Matter” to “Reforming our Schools to Death.”

A new component of the 2010 SLC was the Member Advocacy Center (MAC), which was open to attendees when their workshops were not in session. In the MAC, visitors could collect information on the tools available from each division at NJEA to help local associations organize members, parents, and the community around the cause of great public schools.

“Members had many opportunities to discuss critical issues that impact their profession and their future security,” noted NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “We know that many leaders will return to their association with new ideas, strategies, and enthusiasm.”

Classroom Close-up garners Emmy nominations

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:46:56 -0400

NJEA is proud to announce that “Classroom Close-up, NJ” has once again received Emmy nominations, this time in three categories.

In the Human Interest Program/Special category, Classroom Close-up, NJ was nominated for its second show in the 2009-10 season. That show included the segments “Fitness Friday,” “Day for Darfur,” “Jellybean Conspiracy, and “Camden’s Own.” Schools in Rockaway, Tuckerton, Manahawkin, and Camden were featured.

In the Public/Current/Community Affairs Program/Special category the program was nominated for the fifth show of the season, which included the segments “Trebuchet,” “Winslow Marathon,” “Recycled Olympics,” and “Cup Stacking.” Schools in Newton, Winslow Township, Ringwood, and East Windsor were featured.

In the Education/Schools Program Feature or Segment category the program was nominated for the “High Tech Hall” segment of its twelfth show this past season. High Tech Hall is a major feature at the annual NJEA Convention (see Page 6).

“Classroom Close-up, NJ” airs on NJN Public Television every Monday at 7 p.m. and every Saturday at 9 a.m. It is a co-production of NJEA and NJN, with additional funding provided by PSE&G.

The show is the winner of eight Emmy Awards. Winners will be announced Sept. 25.

The TRUTH about NJ's public schools

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:26:06 -0400

Writing scores are the best in the nation: New Jersey 8^th graders rank first in the nation in writing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Source: National Center for Education Statistics.

Math scores are among the nation's best: New Jersey public school students score among the very best in the nation in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Reading scores are among the nation's best: New Jersey public school students score among the very best in the nation in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Highest Advanced Placement scores in the nation: New Jersey is first in the nation in the average Advanced Placement (AP) score for public school students this year.
Source: College Board

Public school students outperform private school students on Advanced Placement exams: In New Jersey, public school students score higher than private school students on their AP exams.
Source: College Board

High school graduation rate is the best in the nation: New Jersey ranks number one in the percentage of students graduating high school.
Source: Education Week

Among the best in the nation in preparing students for higher education: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education ranks New Jersey near the top for how well its schools prepare students for college.
Source: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

Among the nation's "Smartest States": New Jersey has been named as one of the four "smartest states" in the country based on the quality of its public elementary and secondary schools.
Source: Morgan, Kathleen O'Leary and Scott Morgan (eds). Education State Rankings 2007-2008: Pre K-12 Education in the 50 United States. (Morgan Quitno Press: Lawrence, KS). 2007.

Leading the nation in the number of children attending preschool: New Jersey is first in the nation in the percentage of 3 and 4 year olds who are enrolled in preschool.
Source: Education Week

New Jersey leads the nation in reducing the achievement gap: New Jersey ranks first in the nation for reducing the achievement gap between white and black elementary students in reading and math.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (math) (reading)

"I thought I'd stay forever"

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:01:57 -0400

By Mary Ellen Flannery
NEA Today

When Amanda Valente’s fifth-graders studied ancient civilizations last year, they dressed like Spartan warriors, drew on pharaoh beards, and played the games of Ancient Rome in their own bazaar.

So why does it feel like Valente – the recently crowned teacher of the year in her New Jersey district — has been tossed to the lions? Why does it feel like ancient siege warfare has come to public education?

When school starts this August, Valente won’t be back at Lincoln Park Middle School, planning the kinds of lessons that get kids excited about learning. Neither will Eric Mains, her fifth-grade colleague down the hall; or Elizabeth Fineberg, the school’s media specialist; or Evelyn Martin, the veteran aide who works one-on-one with special education students in an intensive reading program.

“We have never had a year like this,” said Matt Spencer, the local union president, with frustration. All in all, the district’s recently approved budget means that nearly a quarter of Lincoln Park’s roughly 100 educators won’t be returning to their campuses, including a guidance counselor with 24 years experience.

Of course, they’re not alone. In 80 percent of districts nationwide, unless Congress steps in to support the Education Jobs Fund, which would provide $23 billion in emergency funding, more than 300,000 high-quality teachers and hard-working support professionals will lose their jobs. Class sizes will soar; unemployment ranks will swell; and, most of all, the students will lose out. (Learn more and take action now at EducationVotes.)

“It just seems like education isn’t such a priority,” said Valente, in the closing days of her Lincoln Park tenure. “And it’s sad — because I think the kids deserve more than that.”

ONE SMALL SCHOOL

Amanda Valente didn’t know, at first, that she wanted to be a teacher. After business school, she went into marketing, but “it wasn’t fulfilling,” she said. “I was in a cubicle, in an office… it’s not like here. There’s this connectedness here – with the staff, with the kids.”

This past year was her third year in the classroom and her most successful yet, as demonstrated by her award in June as the district’s teacher of the year. “By year three, you’re in it. You know your craft,” Valente said. “It’s very difficult to imagine moving on.”

But she has no choice. This year, Lincoln Park, a small K-8 district in Morris County, New Jersey, lost $1 million in state aid, roughly half of its usual share, thanks to a bullying governor who has given little thought to the consequences of his $820 million cuts.

Does he care to know what it means when class sizes go from 20 to 30? Or 30 to 40? Does he care what happens – or, more to the point, what doesn’t happen – when support professionals are cut? When after-school programs are eliminated? When a school library is closed?

This is not just a problem in New Jersey. School districts from California to North Carolina are grappling with these questions – but the answer is pretty simple: Students suffer.

Bulging class sizes means “the loss of one-on-one time with kids who have high needs,” said Seanna Vail, a third-grade teacher at El Crystal Elementary in San Bruno, California, which lost a third of its staff this year. “And I don’t care how good of a teacher you are, when you have 30-plus kids of varying abilities, somebody is going to get left behind.”

The loss of Evelyn Martin, an aide at Lincoln Park Middle, means that sixth-grader who reads at a second-grade level won’t have her trained help. It means the special education student who joins her for lunch every day, learning valuable social skills, will go it alone. “What’s going to happen to him? What’s going to happen to all of these kids who need services? How exactly does this make sense?” Martin asked angrily.

Down the hall, media specialist Elizabeth Wineberg also was laid off. Next year, her school’s library will be staffed 10 hours a week by a visiting librarian. Will that person host Twilight parties like Wineberg? Will she be able to maintain the library’s collection of books and databases? Could she possibly have the time to assist teachers and students in research projects, teach two classes in media studies, and also advise student council?

“I really tried to get students to love the library,” Wineberg said wistfully.

This week, school ends in Lincoln Park — as does the Valente and her colleagues’ time here. Last week, they packed their books and thank-you notes into cartons, and recollected their favorite moments. “There’s a million smiles that I’ll always remember,” Valente said. She’ll start a new job in another New Jersey district this fall, but she was still bittersweet at leaving her teammates and students.

“I thought I’d stay here forever,” she said.

Privatization task force has the wrong prescription for Pre-K in New Jersey

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:01:56 -0400

Gov. Chris Christie’s privatization task force has missed the mark on preschool, according to the co-directors of National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). On their blog Preschool Matters … Today!, NIEER Co-directors Ellen Frede and Steve Barnett question why the group would advocate the privatization of state pre-K since the task force report actually declares New Jersey’s system of preschool education a privatization success story. The report recommends destroying the state’s best known privatization triumph rather than expanding it, and depends on faulty math and false claims to justify its recommendation.

In a July 30 post, Frede and Barnett said that the rationale given by the New Jersey Privatization Task Force for replacing preschool education with a child care voucher – to save on the costs of building new facilities – is an argument that doesn’t hold water.

“Facilities account for only about 10 percent of the overall cost. If the state saved big on facilities, say 20 percent, it still would only save two percent on total cost. Besides, most of the pre-K classrooms New Jersey needs have already been built, and as we already noted preschool is largely privatized so most facilities are private,” write Frede and Barnett.

“We are all in favor of eliminating waste and increasing efficiency,” Frede and Barnett continued. “If the state wants to save money on pre-K without harming New Jersey’s children, we believe it could save $100 million a year with simple research-based changes that would not reduce effectiveness.”

The complete analysis can be found at Preschool Matters … Today!

The National Institute for Early Education Research (www.nieer.org), a unit of the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, supports early childhood education policy by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research. NIEER is supported through grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts and others.

DOE delegation heads to DC in search of RTTT funds

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:01:56 -0400

In the wake of Gov. Chris Christie’s massive cuts in state education funding, N.J. Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler is going where the money is—Washington, D.C.

Schundler will lead a delegation of state education officials to meet with U.S. Department of Education reviewers for the Race to the Top Phase 2 (RTTT2) grants on Wednesday, Aug. 11.

Incoming Deputy Commissioner Andy Smarick, current Deputy Commissioner Willa Spicer, Assistant Commissioner of the Division of District and School Improvement Rochelle Hendricks, and Newark Public Schools Executive Assistant Daniel Gohl will accompany Schundler.

New Jersey is one of 19 finalists and has requested $400 million in federal funds. All 19 states will make in-person presentations to peer reviewers this month. Because preliminary scores will be kept confidential until the process is complete, it is not known how New Jersey fared among the 19 finalists.

The U.S. Department of Education’s figures estimate that there is enough RTTT funding remaining to fund up to 12 states when final decisions are made. That announcement is expected in September.

Throughout April and May, NJEA worked closely with Schundler in an effort to develop a winning Race to the Top application that was research-based, educationally sound, and highly creative in areas like merit pay. More than 400 local associations signed onto the application. But when Gov. Christie rejected the Schundler application and submitted his own, the overwhelming majority of our local affiliates then withdrew their support.

Still, NJEA has promised cooperation. “If New Jersey receives a grant, NJEA will seek to work cooperatively with the Department of Education to implement effective education reforms which will keep New Jersey public schools among the very best in the nation,” stated NJEA President Barbara Keshishian.

State officials have acknowledged that New Jersey may have to accept less than the $400 million that was requested. Either way, the amount of federal funds would in no way offset the deep cuts in school aid enacted by Gov. Christie and the Legislature. “Those cuts are 14 times the amount of annual funding that the grant would bring,” Keshishian noted.

Christie plays politics with “Race to the Top” story

NJEA PAC Releases Congressional Endorsements

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:48:10 -0400

The New Jersey Education Association’s 125-member political action committee has voted to endorse seven incumbents in the general Congressional elections and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D) for the open Senate seat vacated by former State Senator Bill Baroni (Mercer, Middlesex).

“NJEA is as committed as ever to endorsing and electing pro-public education candidates,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “Each of our endorsed candidates has distinguished himself or herself by advocating for great public schools, public school employees, and for the 1.4 million New Jersey schoolchildren our members educate.”

NJEA PAC voted on the recommendations of local interview teams from each congressional district. Those endorsements are:

CD-1: Rep. Rob Andrews (D)
CD-2: No Endorsement
CD-3: Rep. John Adler (D)
CD-4: No Endorsement
CD-5: No Endorsement
CD-6: Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D)
CD-7: No Endorsement
CD-8: Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D)
CD-9: Rep. Steven Rothman (D)
CD-10: Rep. Donald Payne (D)
CD-11: Pending Screening
CD-12: Rep. Rush Holt (D)
CD-13: No Endorsement
LD-5: No Endorsements for Senate and Assembly seats
LD-14: Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D) for open Senate seat

The New Jersey Education Association represents more than 200,000 teachers, certificated staff, educational support professionals, and retired members. NJEA’s mission is to advance and protect the rights, benefits, and interests of members, and promote a quality system of public education for all students. For more information, go to www.njea.org.

NJEA urges Christie to be “first in line” for emergency job aid

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:49:04 -0400

NJEA today urged the New Jersey Department of Education to begin preparations for distributing an estimated $268 million in emergency federal education aid aimed at preserving jobs in education.

Approximately 10,000 teaching positions and thousands of support staff have been lost as a result of $1.4 billion in state school aid cuts under Gov. Christie’s FY2011 budget.

“This emergency aid would bring back some 3,000 teachers and other school employees – almost a third of those laid-off,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian, “That’s good news for our students and their parents, who are worried about their children’s class sizes.”

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 61-39 today, and Speaker Pelosi has called the House of Representatives back into session at the beginning of next week to vote on final passage of the bill. The bill is expected to gain easy passage in the House and be signed by President Obama next week.

States will have 30 days to apply for their share of the money. If any state fails to apply, the money will be distributed directly to Title I schools in the state. “We call on Gov. Christie to be first in line to apply for New Jersey’s share of this job-creating money,” said Keshishian. “He also should immediately direct the Department of Education to begin preparing a quick and efficient distribution of the funds.”

“The Department of Education needs to take the lead in working with districts to prepare for the influx of federal aid we expect will be approved in the next several days,” said Keshishian. “This federal funding is explicitly intended to get teachers and other school employees off the layoff list and back in front of their classrooms where they belong.

“Districts do not have much time to prepare before school begins,” Keshishian noted. “The Department should be providing districts with estimates of how much additional aid they will receive, so Boards of Education can begin to determine how many laid-off teachers they can bring back. Boards may need to hold special meetings to revise budgets and approve new hiring.”

We cannot afford to delay our preparations one minute,” said Keshishian. “This money is a lifeline thrown to our students, and to our state’s economy.

“We will still experience cuts in staffing and the loss of programs this year,” she warned. “But this funding will help shield students from some of the most harmful consequences of Gov. Christie’s budget cuts. We have an obligation to our children to get this money to our districts as quickly as possible, so that students benefit from it beginning on the first day of school.”

NJEA joins Lautenberg in call for jobs funding

After months of dark news around education funding in New Jersey, the bright sunshine outside Paramus High School was a wonderful metaphor for the promise of federal funding that would bring back more than 3,000 laid-off teachers and school employees.

The setting was an Aug. 5 news conference, at which NJEA Vice President Wendell Steinhauer joined New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg to urge the U.S. House of Representatives to concur with a Senate vote to send $268 million in "desperately needed dollars" to the Garden State.

An estimated 10,000 teachers and many other support professionals have lost their jobs as a result of $1.4 billion in cuts approved by Gov. Chris Christie and the Legislature.

"This legislation is the right thing," said Lautenberg. "It will get teachers and school employees off the unemployment lines, and back in the classroom."

Christie plays politics with “Race to the Top” story

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:25:56 -0400

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement:

“Gov. Chris Christie has used what should be good news – New Jersey’s selection as a finalist for $400 million in federal ‘Race to the Top’ funding – to once again attack NJEA and its members.

“It’s a tired act, and it needs to end. This governor – who has cut $1.4 billion from public education, resulting in the layoff of thousands of teachers and deep program cuts that will hurt students badly – now wants to make people believe he’s the champion of public education.

“That’s absurd and dishonest.

“The fact is, throughout April and May, a team of talented researchers and educators retained by NJEA worked closely with state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler in an effort to develop a winning ‘Race to the Top’ application. They combed through mountains of research, and on May 28, reached agreement with Commissioner Schundler on an application that NJEA felt was research-based, educationally sound, and highly creative in areas like merit pay.

“More than 400 of our local associations also signed onto that application.

“Unfortunately, on June 1 – the deadline for the application – Gov. Christie rejected the Schundler application, and submitted his own. The overwhelming majority of our local affiliates then withdrew their support.

“That application was creative and well-conceived – not ‘watered down’ or ‘status quo’ driven, as the governor would have people believe.

“It is clear by now that this governor will do anything to deflect attention away from the damage that his cuts have done to public education. He traffics in bumper sticker soundbites attacking teachers and NJEA, but real education policy is more complicated than that.

“If New Jersey does end up winning a grant, the infusion of resources may help in some small way to offset the deep cuts in school aid enacted by Governor Christie and the Legislature. Those cuts, however, are 14 times the amount of annual funding that the grant would bring.

“If New Jersey receives a grant, NJEA will seek to work cooperatively with the Department of Education to implement effective education reforms which will keep New Jersey public schools among the very best in the nation.”

Don’t miss Staples Teacher Appreciation Day

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:27:56 -0400

Visit your local Staples store on Saturday, Aug. 21 for Teacher Appreciation Day. See the hottest new items for your classroom, learn about Copy & Print services that can help make your school year easier, and find out about Staples Rewards Teachers Program, which includes teaching and art supplies. The first 100 teachers will receive a free gift. Visit www.staples.com/teacherday for details.

Testy Christie rejects cooperation

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:53:43 -0400

Puts ideology ahead of education – again

by NJEA President Barbara Keshishian

Apparently, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing in Gov. Christie’s administration. Earlier this week, the governor abruptly rejected a carefully crafted agreement reached between his own Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler, and the New Jersey Education Association.

The agreement, designed to bolster New Jersey’s bid for $400 million in federal Race to the Top education funding, was the result of weeks of collaboration between educators and the Christie administration’s Department of Education. Striving to improve on the state’s earlier failed application, the parties agreed on a series of meaningful, progressive reforms designed to keep New Jersey’s public schools among the best in the nation.

Late last week, an agreement was struck and Commissioner Schundler proudly announced it on the Department of Education website. NJEA went to work, reaching out to locals and urging them to sign on to the application.

Such sign-on is an integral part of the application process. It is intended to make sure that educators – the professionals who will be charged with implementing the reforms – have meaningful input into designing the reforms. By working together, NJEA and the Department of Education arrived at a plan that would have empowered educators and benefitted students. At the same time it bolstered New Jersey’s chances of winning $400 million in federal funding for schools that have been devastated by Gov. Christie’s massive budget cuts.

Apparently, when Gov. Christie began getting some pressure from his right-wing base for having cooperated with NJEA instead of blindly attacking, he caved in almost immediately. Throwing his hand-picked Commissioner of Education under the fi gurative school bus, he went back to his bullying ways and gutted the carefully crafted agreement in favor of a poorly considered plan designed to undermine public schools rather than strengthen them.

It was a glimpse inside a dysfunctional administration, where cooperation with outsiders is considered tantamount to treason, and where the best interests of New Jersey come second to the ideological agenda of the governor. Even the governor’s top lieutenants are not safe from Christie’s wrath if they dare take a step back from the administration’s scorched-earth policies, as Commissioner Schundler can now attest. In the all-conflict-all-the-time world of Gov. Christie, negotiation, cooperation and sharing of ideas are signs of weakness.

Instead of a broadly supported, well-crafted application, Gov. Christie has substituted a version that takes reliance on standardized testing to a whole new level. If he succeeds in imposing his educational agenda, parents can expect more class time devoted to test preparation and more pressure on their children to perform on those tests. After all, in the governor’s world, that test score is the only definition of learning and success.

That is just the sort of myopic perspective that the US Department of Education hoped to avoid when it made educator buy-in a critical component of the Race to the Top grant application process. Unfortunately, Gov. Christie is not interested in reforms that help New Jersey’s schools. He’s only interested in waging war against our public schools and the people who have made them the best in the nation. Educators have no role to play in his version of education “reform.”

Barbara Keshishian, a mathematics teacher in New Milford, is the elected president of 200,000 teachers, certifi cated staff, educational support professionals, and retired members of the New Jersey Education Association. NJEAPres@njea.org

Christie reneges on $400M “Race to the Top” agreement

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:53:43 -0400

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian today expressed “deep disappointment, utter frustration, and total outrage” at Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to renege on agreements reached last week with NJEA and other stakeholders in finalizing the state’s “Race To The Top” application.

“Gov. Christie’s decision to pull the plug on last Thursday’s agreed-upon ‘Race To The Top’ application will greatly jeopardize New Jersey’s chances of getting $400 million in federal education funding over the next four years,” Keshishian said. “This is a classic case of ‘bait and switch.’

“Instead of supporting the application agreed to by his Commissioner and staff, Gov. Christie has decided to submit his own application, and to unilaterally remove the support of NJEA and hundreds of its local presidents from it,” Keshishian said, adding that NJEA only learned about the governor’s decision after placing a call to Education Commissioner Bret Schundler to check the status of the state’s application.

“We greeted the news with a mixture of deep disappointment, utter frustration, and total outrage,” Keshishian said.

“Just last Thursday, Commissioner Schundler said: ‘We are extremely pleased that the 200,000-member NJEA has agreed to endorse our application and its bold reform agenda designed to improve education in New Jersey.’

“What happened to that sentiment?”

“For months, Gov. Christie and Commissioner Schundler said they wanted NJEA’s support for the Phase II application, and we responded. We put a team of people together to research the best practices that would not only comply with RTTT’s guidelines, but also lead to better instruction and higher student achievement,” Keshishian said.

“The biggest losers in this entire fiasco are the state’s 1.4 million students,” Keshishian added.

“We met repeatedly and talked in detail with Commissioner Schundler and Deputy Commissioner Willa Spicer, and were in constant contact with them in order to reach agreement last Thursday – and to give NJEA adequate time to contact our local association presidents to urge them to join us in signing on. Hundreds of them had signed on as of this morning.

“Rather than put his support behind the agreement that his own Commissioner negotiated, Gov. Christie is insisting on an application that seeks to replace collaboration between teachers with competition for inadequate bonuses; an application that seeks to threaten teachers’ jobs rather than give them the confidence to take on new challenges.

“In April, the governor wrote on his blog that he was hoping to submit a Race To The Top application with ‘sufficient support from New Jersey’s education stakeholders – including the NJEA,’” Keshishian said.

“Now, we learn that despite all that hard work – and the long-overdue collaboration that New Jerseyans want between Gov. Christie and NJEA – the governor has once again chosen the path of conflict.”

Important information for RIFed members

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:29:29 -0400

As a result of Gov. Christie’s draconian budget cuts, many districts are planning to lay off teachers and other school employees. While NJEA and its members are still fighting for additional funding to reduce the need for RIF’s, it is likely that Gov. Christie’s budget cuts will result in many lost jobs. If members of your association are facing RIFs, please direct them to this resource page.

Governor's toolkit targets schools, communities

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:23:55 -0400

Gov. Christie’s attack on NJEA members is entering a new, dangerous phase.

As if the one-two punch of his $1.4 billion in cuts to state education spending and the recently enacted 2% cap on local school revenues aren’t enough, he’s now pushing for passage of his “toolkit” of bills that threatens to gut our collective bargaining rights.

Among other things, the “toolkit” would:

Give Executive County Superintendents expanded powers, including final approval of all local contracts;
Once again allow boards to impose their “last, best offer” at the end of fact-finding;
Cap all fact-finder awards at 2%; and
Impose a tight, hard 2% cap on labor costs – which is much more restrictive than the 2% cap on school budget revenues.

To see how the cap on labor costs would impact a hypothetical local association, click on this flyer and share it with your colleagues.

“This toolkit would artificially limit salaries and benefits for school and public employees to levels well below the rate of inflation, and well below the rate of growth in private sector compensation,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian.

“Gov. Christie claims the toolkit is necessary to keep property tax growth under control, but refuses to acknowledge that his deep cuts in state aid to schools and municipalities put pressure on local taxpayers in the first place,” she added.

The “toolkit” may be up for a vote in the Legislature in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned, and check njea.org regularly for updates and information on how to urge your legislators to oppose these bills, which will harm our students and a public school system that is among the very best in the nation.

Welcome to the new njea.org

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:15:29 -0400

Based on member feedback, we have created a new website that is more dynamic and user-friendly, with lots of photos and graphical elements. And it's easier to navigate. Also new is an enhanced search feature to make it easier to find what you are looking for, as well as print and share features on all articles.

Another great feature of the new site is the Member Dashboard, and our ability to provide you with customized content based on your role in the association. So if you are a local leader and you log in, you will see news, tools and resources relevant to you. There are also links to your association contacts, your contract and your personal profile.

Stay connected

The new njea.org makes it easier to stay connected with your union. There are easy-to-find links to Facebook and Twitter where you can become a fan of and follow NJEA. There is also a new forums feature on the Member website where you can connect with other members by posting questions and ideas that others can comment on.

Give us your feedback

We are very excited about the new site. We hope you are, too. We welcome your feedback, which will help us reach our goal to continually improve the site and your experience when visiting njea.org.

Young Leonardos

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:06:46 -0400

Young Leonardos - Kindergarten and first grade students from New Egypt Primary School realize their unlimited learning potential in the spirit of the great Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci. The “Young Leonardos” celebrate the union of art and science in this project. Families gather for learning nights with Leonardo activities.

Rita R. Williams of the New Egypt primary school in Ocean County was awarded a continuation grant in the amount of 5,000 from the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education, and the project is designated as an Edithe Fulton Grant for the Arts.

Second-grade artists were added to the project which initially began with Kindergarteners and first graders. Together, these young students enjoy many exciting opportunities to experience integrated learning and unlock their unlimited potential as “Young Leonardos.” Leonardo da Vinci, the great Renaissance man serves as the role model for their joyful learning adventure.

During the summer, each grade level is researched and framed in the form of a curriculum map. All projects revolve around art with selected topics that connect to science.

An art room chant begins each class in a safe, risk-free environment where students explore, discover, and become aware of the connectedness of learning. Learning to think like Leonardo allows students to immerse themselves in experiences that are meaningful and sustainable. Students draw and write in their Leonardo notebooks and paint at easels on canvas while listening to music from Italy, including opera. Students record their thoughts while they draw, paint, perform science experiments, or build a digital portfolio. Second graders create a website to share with school and e-pals.

Family learning events are held at night with the help of teachers and Honor Society student volunteers. Funding is constantly sought to continue the project and family evening events. The PTO helped when grant funding was low, and support was provided from the board of education.

For further information, contact:

Rita R. Williams
School - (609) 758-6800

Gallery

>>Read about more innovative programs on our Hipp Foundation page.

Financial literacy resources for teachers and students

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:28:52 -0400

The fourth annual Financial Literacy and Education Summit webcast will be on Monday, April 19 from 10 a.m. to noon. The webcast is free and is a joint project of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa. To view the webcast, register in advance at practicalmoneyskills.com.

This year's topic is "Advancing Financial Stability and Responsibility" andit targets financial literacy educators, their students, math teachers and anyone in general who wants to know more about how to best navigate personal finances. The webcast will feature an introduction by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, and a guest appearance by Michelle Green who heads President Obama's financial literacy effort at the Treasury Department.

Note that the Practical Money Skills website is a year-round free classroom resource. Click on "For Educators" on the top banner and there is a wealth of financial literacy curriculum for students of all ages.

Welcome to My NJEA

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:28:52 -0400

Welcome to the Member Dashboard - MY NJEA. This page has been created especially for you! As more content is added to our beautiful, new website, this page will feature articles that are targeted to your needs and interests. Through the “My Association” link below, you’ll find contact information for your local and county leaders and your UniServ rep, as well as your contract, and much more.

Click on “Member Connection” to interact with other visitors in our Forums and share your thoughts and ideas in our Idea Box.

Families make a difference

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:28:52 -0400

It may be cliché, but we all know it takes a village to raise a child. That’s one reason NJEA created FAST, Families and Schools Together Work for Children. The goal of the FAST program is to encourage families to be involved in their children’s education, to enhance their academic progress, and to feel welcome in public schools.

FAST is a coalition of education advocates, community groups, and schools working together to foster family involvement in education.

FAST programs are currently underway in several districts, including Atlantic City, Bridgeton, Burlington City, Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Jersey City, New Brunswick, Newark, Passaic City, Pemberton, Trenton, Vineland, Wanaque, West Windsor - Plainsboro, Winslow Twp., and others are beginning.

Christie's toolkit targets schools, communities

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:25:56 -0400

Gov. Christie continues his attack on public education and the middle class with his proposal for a 33-item “toolkit,” designed for use by municipalities and school districts battered by his draconian budget cuts.

Taking direct aim at the men and women who work in our schools and provide other critical services, Christie’s proposed toolkit would undermine collective bargaining and civil service protections designed to prevent politicians from using school and municipal jobs as patronage gifts for their supporters.

The toolkit also attempts to artificially limit salaries and benefits for school and public employees to levels well below the rate of inflation in the economy, and well below the rate of growth in private sector compensation.

Christie claims the toolkit is necessary to keep property tax growth under control, but refuses to acknowledge that it is his deep cuts in state aid to schools and municipalities that put pressure on local taxpayers in the first place. Gov. Christie’s budget placed a priority on tax cuts for the wealthiest people in New Jersey. Now he wants to force middle class New Jersey resident to pay for the tax breaks enjoyed by millionaires.

As the Legislature considers the governor’s proposals, along with its own ideas for property tax relief this summer, NJEA will continue to lobby against additional changes which will harm students, their public schools, and the professionals who make those schools the best in the nation.

Activities benefit children

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:25:56 -0400

Many parents are concerned about over-scheduling their children. While it’s true that children need down-time, extra-curricular activities such as sports, music, art, drama, and student council can add value to your child’s education, build confidence, and provide insight into what their future career path may be.

Visit our Family Involvement page for some tips about how families can add activities to enhance their child’s learning.

Are NJ Public Employees Overpaid? NO!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:56:34 -0400

According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, New Jersey’s public employees are NOT overpaid. According to the report, “Public-sector workers’ compensation is neither the cause, nor can it be the solution to the state’s financial problems. Only an economic recovery can begin to plug the hole in the state’s budget. Unfortunately, the state’s own current budget balancing efforts may prolong the economic downturn by increasing unemployment and reducing demand for products and services.” Read the report in full.

A dark day for democracy

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:59:42 -0400

Sweeney makes caps deal, Oliver still deciding
After promising a careful, deliberative process to discuss and consider various proposals for a new property tax cap plan, Senate President Steve Sweeney struck a deal with Gov. Christie on a radical new cap which is far more restrictive than either the current 4% cap or the new 2.9% cap the Legislature passed earlier this week. Click here for press coverage of the July 3 events and an outline of the Sweeney-Christie deal. Here is NJEA's statement to the press.

As of this moment, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has not yet committed to the new deal. It is imperative that NJEA members reach out to their representatives to urge them to STOP Sen. Sweeney's closed-door deal from becoming law.

We must take action today! We need you to do THREE THINGS:

1. Call Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Urge her NOT to sign on to the Sweeney-Christie deal. Contact Assemblywoman Oliver at 973-395-1166 and AswOliver@njleg.org

2. Call and e-mail your Senator and Assembly members. Tell them to say NO to the Sweeney-Christie deal. Here is a roster of legislators and a district locator.

3. Please FORWARD this page directly to your MEMBERS, and urge them to call and e-mail Assemblywoman Oliver and their own legislators.

We need to let legislators know that we are paying attention, even on a holiday weekend in July. We need to let them know that they will be held accountable for the damage that is caused to our schools if this deal goes through.

Summer Conference empowers leaders

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:07:30 -0400

Every year, over 1,500 members dedicate a part of their summer vacation to becoming better leaders. The NJEA Jack Bertolino Summer Leadership Conference (SLC) is the Association's premier event for advocacy training. This year's SLC will be held August 7-13, 2010 at the Hilton East Brunswick.

NJEA leaders will come together to attend seminars on every aspect of member advocacy. Over 40 workshops are offered providing nine hours of training. Members may also select from a variety of elective offerings between sessions.

View last year’s photo gallery.

Is the Cat in the Hat coming to your school?

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:01:05 -0400

Each year in February and March, NJEA’s Cat in the Hat visits nearly 300 elementary schools across New Jersey to celebrate Read Across America. This is just one way NJEA works with its members to promote childhood literacy in our schools. Coming Sept. 1, members will be able to sign up online to have the Cat in the Hat visit their schools. The first 50 members who sign up for a Cat visit will receive an authentic striped stovepipe hat.

Visit our Read Across America page.

What the health benefits bill means – and what it doesn’t

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:28:06 -0400

NJEA members need to understand what S-3, the proposed legislation affecting health benefits and S-4, the proposed legislation affecting sick leave buyouts and disability, actually mean – and what they don’t mean.

Thanks to shoddy reporting in the press, some NJEA members have concluded that these bills would impact them as current employees.

For the most part, they do not.

Mandatory premium sharing

The one element of these bills that would affect current members is a proposal to require all active employees who have coverage under the School Employees Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) to contribute 1.5% of their base salary toward their premiums. This would begin with the expiration of existing contracts, and it would be in addition to any other amount that may be required through the local collective bargaining process.

NJEA will vigorously oppose this provision of S-3. We will take the position that any premium sharing of health benefit costs must be subject to the collective bargaining process, because all health benefits were acquired in the give and take of the collective bargaining process, in which members customarily gave back on salary and language in order to obtain their existing benefits.

Premium sharing for retirees

NJEA members have also inquired about a section of S-3 pertaining to premium sharing for retirees. Let me be perfectly clear on this issue: this portion of S-3 would only apply to people not currently in the pension system.

While all current NJEA members have a promise of premium-free post-retirement medical benefits after 25 years of service (or on a disability retirement), S-3 would remove that promise of premium-free coverage for all future members of the pension system.

Imposition of benefits consistent with state workers

A provision of S-3 mandates that any changes in health benefits negotiated between the state and its respective state unions that are implemented in the State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) would be automatically and unilaterally imposed on the SEHBP.

NJEA is strenuously opposed to this proposal. In 2007, the SEHBP was signed into law. It put school employees into a separate program, in part to protect them from changes made to the SHBP during state negotiations.

Coordination of benefits

Another provision of S-3 would eliminate duplicate coverage and the opportunity for coordination of benefits for those members who are entitled to coverage under more than one state plan.

This is a benefit our members have always been entitled to, and NJEA will fight to retain it.

Limit on sick leave buyouts

S-4 seeks to limit sick leave buyouts to $15,000 for all new employees. It would not impact current NJEA members, some of whom have negotiated higher limits on their sick leave buyouts.

NJEA will oppose this provision of S-4, because we believe it is an unwarranted intrusion into the collective bargaining process.

Termination of disability retirements

S-4 also seeks to terminate accidental and ordinary disability retirements for new enrollees in the pension system. While these members will be eligible for disability insurance coverage, S-4 would not provide them with the same level of protection should they become permanently disabled from their school employee position.

NJEA is unwilling to agree to this provision, which diminishes protection for members.

Stay tuned for further updates on this legislation, and NJEA’s plans for addressing it.

Frequently asked questions on all bills

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:27:39 -0400

NJEA Takes to the Airwaves!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:26:55 -0400

This 60-second radio spot, now airing on stations across New Jersey, takes Governor Christie and the Legislature to task for cutting school spending and failing to fund the state's pension systems.

'Stop the deception’

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:26:30 -0400

Feb 19, 2010

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian today demanded that Governor Christie and members of the Legislature tell New Jerseyans the truth about why the state’s pension funds are underfunded.

“It’s time to stop intentionally misleading the public,” said Keshishian. “Governor Christie and legislators are misleading the public in order to cover up the ugly truth: that the state is responsible for this mess, by refusing to comply with its legal obligation to fund the pension system.

“Every year, teachers and school employees contribute hundreds of millions of dollars into their pension funds, but in 11 out of the last 15 years, the state has put in absolutely nothing,” said Keshishian.

She produced a chart showing that since 1996, the state has contributed only $1.46 billion into the Teacher Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) – while teachers have put in $6.33 billion. The state should have put in billions more than it did.

“If the state had put in what it was legally required to put in every year like teachers and school employees do, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” said Keshishian. “Now, legislators are openly misleading the public about the source of the problem, blaming it on the level of benefits that teachers and school employees receive.

“The pensions of teachers and school employees are not exorbitant,” Keshishian said, “and NJEA members resent the outrageous exaggeration of Christie's anecdote last week claiming that teachers are becoming millionaires after retirement.

“And then he brazenly said he would contribute nothing to the system this year – thereby continuing the practice that brought us to the situation we now face,” she said.

“The average teacher pension in New Jersey is just over $36,000, and that’s after an average career of 35 years, during which we contribute 5.5 percent of our annual salary into the system. The money we contribute multiplies over the years because it is invested in the system, but Gov. Christie never talked about that fact,” Keshishian said.

“We’re ready to have an honest discussion about how to ensure the future health of the pension system. But honesty is a two-way street, and right now, the governor and the legislature are more intent on misleading the public than solving this problem.”

36 Senators vote to reduce members' pensions and benefits

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:26:10 -0400

Tell the Assembly to vote ‘NO’
On Feb. 22, the New Jersey State Senate voted unanimously on a package of three bills aimed at reducing public employees’ pensions and benefits.

S-2, S-3, and S-4 each passed by a 36-0 vote (Sens. Baroni, Rice, and Turner did not vote; Sen. Allen was not present). For more information on these bills, click here.

There was almost no serious deliberation or discussion of the impact these bills – introduced only 14 days ago – would have on public employees, or on the state budget.

At its hearing last week, the Senate State Government Committee did not ask one question of any of the dozens of individuals who testified, including NJEA President Barbara Keshishian.

The battle now moves to the State Assembly. NJEA is directing members to immediately reach out to their Assembly members and tell them to oppose these bills.

Voucher bill on the move! Immediate action required

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:24:02 -0400

New Jersey legislators are being pressured to push the voucher bill (S-1872) on a fast track.

This legislation would strip $360 million from our public schools to send students to private and religious schools, and allows corporations to receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits for contributions to “scholarship funds” to funnel the money to students.

Governor Christie has already cut $1.3 billion from New Jersey’s public schools. The last thing we need to do is drain another $360 million from them, yet S-1872 would do just that.

And, the cost of the voucher would come directly out of the state aid of any district losing a student to a voucher school, making it even harder to educate the students who remain.

It is unconscionable for the Legislature to consider taking even more money from our public schools – already under heavy accountability demands from the state and federal governments – and give that money to unaccountable private and religious schools that do not have to hire certified teachers, do not have to administer state testing, do not have to offer special education services, and do not have to admit all students.

We must take action today! We need you to do three things:

1. Call and e-mail Senator Paul Sarlo, Chairman of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, and ask him NOT to hear S-1872. Click here for talking points on the legislation, and call Senator Sarlo at 201-804-8118.

2. Call and e-mail your Assembly members and voice your opposition to A-2810, the Assembly version of the bill. Click here to contact your Assembly members.

3. Please forward this link to at least five friends who share your commitment to public education, and urge them to call and e-mail Sen. Sarlo and their Assembly members.

We must move quickly to prevent even more damage to New Jersey’s high quality public schools. Click here for data on how New Jersey’s public schools outperform private schools.

Members: Speak out at NJEA Lobby Days

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:23:30 -0400

Now that the State Senate has passed S-2, S-3, and S-4, the battle moves to the Assembly.

The Senate approved the legislation with no serious discussion of the impact these bills would have on public employees or on the state budget, but Assembly leadership has shared with NJEA that it is committed to a more deliberative process.

That process will include public discussion about the stability of the pension funds and an opportunity for serious input from the public employees who will be directly affected by these bills.

NJEA has planned a lobby day for March 22 and asks members to consider coming to Trenton on one or more of those days to meet with Assembly members about this legislation.

Members interested in attending should contact Iris Star at 609-599-4561, ext. 2249.

Whether you can attend a Lobby Day or not, call or write your Assembly members and tell them to oppose these bills.

NJDOE launches new website, offers workshops on core standards

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:22:22 -0400

The N.J. Department of Education (DOE) has launched a new website -- http://njcccs.org -- to assist with the implementation of the newly revised Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS).

Tools on the interactive site will assist districts with curriculum development and mapping, instruction, assessment, and professional development. It provides valuable information for educators and education stakeholders about the 2009 revised preschool through grade 12 content standards for: visual and performing arts; comprehensive health and physical education; science; social studies; world languages; technology; and 21st century life and careers.

The tools available to educators on the new website include:

A search engine that provides by multiple means (e.g., grade level, content area, strand, keyword) access to the standards and indicators.
Document management tools that enable users to view, print or download on demand the standards and a host of accompanying support materials. Support materials include classroom application documents (CADs) and unit plan models.
An interactive professional development platform that offers the use of Web 2.0 tools to support ongoing professional dialogue. Site enhancement plans include enabling teachers to post lessons, activities and resources.

Free professional development sessions that focus on how to use the DOE site and the wealth of materials to support instruction embedded in each content area are being offered throughout the winter and spring. Additional information about the Module A sessions can be accessed at www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/21cnjs/phase2/pd/.

Draft standards for mathematics and language arts literacy created by the Common Core Standards Project -- an initiative of the National Governors Association, the Council for Chief State School Officers and other organizations -- are available at www.corestandards.org/. Pending adoption by the State Board of Education, resources to support the two standards will be developed and posted on http://njcccs.org.

ESP CONFERENCE CANCELLED

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:21:44 -0400

The NJEA ESP Conference scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled due to the weather.

Resources for future educators

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:09:31 -0400

The Center for Future Educators (CFE) seeks future educators interested in teaching in high poverty and hard-to-staff schools and/or high shortage subject areas such as math, science, special education, world languages, technology, bilingual, and ESL.

The CFE web site showcases information about state-wide initiatives and programs that recruit high school and middle school students who are considering teaching as a future career. This site also contains important information about the newly formed New Jersey Future Educators Association.

Vote YES on April 20

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:51 -0400

Governor Chris Christie has targeted our schools, members and students, but that won’t stop us from speaking up to support them. We know these school budgets are not perfect, but they attempt to make the best of a bad situation.

Be heard! Come to Trenton for the May 22 Rally!

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:03 -0400

The day is Saturday, May 22. The time is noon. The place is West State Street in Trenton. Join your fellow NJEA members and thousands of other New Jerseyans for the Rally to Protect NJ’s Families and Communities. Log in for more information. For rally updates follow @NJKidsFamilies and @NJEA on Twitter. You can also check NJEA’s Fan and Group pages on Facebook. Visit njea.org later today for rally coverage.

Barbara takes on Christie in new NJEA TV ad

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:58:23 -0400

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian takes Gov. Chris Christie to task for his education cuts in a new, hard-hitting TV ad.

Test mania: Schundler unveils Christie’s merit pay proposal

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:57:50 -0400

In a 90-minute late-afternoon press conference on May 7, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler unveiled the Christie Administration’s legislative manifesto for improving public education.

To an overwhelming degree, it will be based on how well teachers can improve their students’ standardized test scores.

“Anyone concerned about the existing over-reliance on standardized testing that plagues public education should be alarmed at this proposal,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “This proposal will call for more and more testing, in all subject areas, in all grades, and teachers’ very careers will be riding on the scores.”

Using it as the linchpin for New Jersey’s June 1 application for federal “Race to the Top” (RTTT) funding, Schundler introduced “New Jersey’s Plan for Race To The Top.” It seeks to enact legislation by June 1 – the Phase II deadline for RTTT applications – by pushing through a wide-ranging series of “reforms” that will vastly expand standardized testing.

The day before, Keshishian and NJEA Executive Director Vincent Giordano met with Schundler, at NJEA’s request, to share creative approaches for the Phase II application. (See this Star-Ledger web story.) The meeting was described by both sides as “cordial,” but Schundler resorted to misleading reporters on Friday by telling them that Keshishian and Giordano had said there was “no way to measure student learning.”

‘Outright falsehood’

“That was an outright falsehood,” said Keshishian. “We told the commissioner that there are multiple measures of student learning, and that student test scores, while part of the equation, cannot ever be the sole or principal factor in determining student learning. We also pointed out that there are significant variables that need to be taken into account when talking about measuring student progress data – something that all educators fully understand, but something Commissioner Schundler chooses to ignore.”

In brief, the Schundler/Christie plan would enact a Master Teacher program, a merit pay system, the elimination of seniority, the “reform” of tenure, weakening of certification, and the vast expansion of standardized testing.

Their Race To The Top Plan details the Christie strategy to get up to $400 million in federal RTTT funding for New Jersey. And, while NJEA was vilified for weeks by Christie when the poorly conceived and hastily written Phase I RTTT application was rejected by the Obama Administration, Schundler told reporters he didn’t think NJEA’s support was central to approval in Phase II.

Some highlights:

The administration promises a “comprehensive approach to assessment” to match up with New Jersey’s high quality academic standards. To make key decisions based on student achievement data, the state will have a “high quality” Longitudinal Data Tracking System (yet to be designed).
As their Outline Document indicates, student test scores will be the be-all and end-all of most of their legislation’s objectives. They will require quarterly statewide assessments, presumably in every grade, in every subject. They also promise to “establish a system that includes end-of-year, periodic, and day-to-day formative assessments.”
According to the administration’s plans, student learning “must represent at least 51% of teacher and school leader evaluations,” even though the RTTT application process does not require such a percentage, and there is no research to back up such a percentage.
The proposal calls for bonuses for “highly effective teachers willing to teach in schools and classrooms with a high proportion of students at risk,” and to provide “tenure ‘retreat rights’ to teachers who answer the call,” which they say would enable teachers to take their tenure and seniority with them to work in challenging districts.
Under the proposal, seniority as we know it would be essentially abolished. On page 5 of the plan document, there is this: “And to the extent that economic conditions require reductions in our workforce, we should use these evaluations, not seniority, as the basis for personnel decisions.”
As for tenure, the proposal wants to “extend the tenure timeline to five years, and require three years of ‘effective’ or better evaluations [translation: raising test scores] for a teacher to be granted tenure.”
Of course, this entire presentation was billed through the media as a “merit pay” proposal, and it certainly is that. It calls for a “state bonus pool to reward teachers for student learning outcomes [higher test scores].” It would “[d]istribute 50% directly to teachers or teacher teams, with the remaining 50% apportioned among school staff and programs.” It would then “[b]ase the amount of bonus awards on both student achievement and student growth, with a special emphasis on growth by our most disadvantaged children.”

$200 per teacher

While Gov. Christie has said he does not favor “one-time” federal stimulus funding, the RTTT grant would yield, at most, $400 million over four years – or $100 million per year. The RTTT legislation stipulates that half of the money would go to districts, and half to the state DOE. So, we would have to assume that $50 million would be available for the “state bonus pool.” Of that, 50 percent – or $25 million – would go to “teachers or teacher teams.” Based on 125,000 classroom teachers in New Jersey, that’s $200 per teacher (assuming every teacher is “meritorious”).

“This proposal already has two key attributes that characterize every failed merit pay plan,” said Keshishian. “It does not have enough funding, and that funding is not guaranteed over the long run.”

“NJEA leadership and staff will be working to analyze this proposal carefully,” she said, “since the administration is looking for our response by May 25.”

"A devastating day for children and public education."

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:28:01 -0400

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued this statement following the Assembly’s passage of a 2.0 percent cap on property taxes:

“This is a devastating day for children and public education in New Jersey. On the heels of more than $1.3 billion in cuts to public education, the Legislature and the governor have put an ill-conceived and shortsighted policy in place that will prevent our public schools from ever climbing out of the hole that has been dug for them by the state.

This two percent cap has no basis in reality. It is lower than the historic rate of inflation, which means that in terms of real dollars, local school funding will decrease each year.

It contains no exception for many rising costs faced by districts, including the cost of special education. There is no exception for rising energy costs, which can be very volatile. There is no exception for shortfalls in state aid, as districts are experiencing this year. As costs outside of districts’ control continue to increase, funding will not follow. Services will decline even as local property taxes continue to increase.

In September, parents and students will begin to see the consequences of this governor’s slash-and-burn approach to school funding. Class sizes will be larger, courses will be eliminated and programs will disappear.

The cap bill passed today ensures that this year’s devastation is just beginning. From this point forward, every new school year will bring deeper and more harmful cuts. Our children will pay the price for the shortsighted decision that our elected leaders have made.”

New Jersey ranks high in Kids Count survey for children’s health, education

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:19:44 -0400

According to the latest Kids Count nationwide survey of child health, wealth and well-being, New Jersey is an expensive place to live, but it is also a good place to raise and educate children, with its competitive school system and access to health programs for working poor families.

Read article

NJ application is a finalist for “Race to the Top” grant

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:15:25 -0400

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced that New Jersey is one of 19 finalists for a Phase II federal “Race to the Top” grant.

If New Jersey wins a grant – and there could be funding for up to 12 winners – it would bring an estimated $400 million in funding to the state over the next four years.

New Jersey was not among the 16 Phase I finalists, which produced two winners – Delaware and Tennessee.

Gov. Chris Christie immediately issued the following statement: “President Obama and Secretary Duncan today recognized our administration's plan for bold reform of our state's education system. This announcement affirms our decision to stick with real reform and not capitulate to the watered-down, failed status quo approach advocated by the NJEA. Now is the time for New Jersey's leaders to join me to begin enactment of the pillars of real education reform contained within our Race to the Top application - more charter school opportunities for students, more choice for parents and fidelity to placing student success ahead of union self interest.”

“This is yet another slap in the face from the governor,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian, “but we’ve come to expect that. He traffics in bumper stickers, but real education policy is more complicated than that. His obsession with attacking NJEA and its members is a tired act, and it really needs to end. His $1.4 billion in cuts are doing real damage to children and education, and yet he again tries to divert people’s attention from those cuts by attacking NJEA.”

Throughout April and May, a team of NJEA staff from several divisions worked closely with state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler in an effort to develop a winning application in Phase II. They combed through mountains of research, and on May 28, reached agreement with Schundler on an application that NJEA felt was research-based, educationally sound, and highly creative in areas like merit pay.

On June 1 – the deadline for the application – Gov. Chris Christie rejected the NJEA/Schundler application, and submitted his own. More than 400 NJEA local affiliates, who had signed onto that original application, withdrew their support.

If New Jersey does end up winning a grant, the infusion of resources may help in some small way to offset the deep cuts in school aid enacted by Governor Christie and the Legislature. Those cuts, however, now total over $1.4 billion – or 14 times the amount of annual funding that the grant would bring.

NJ application is a finalist for Race to the Top grant

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:37:37 -0400

NJ application is a finalist for Race to the Top grant

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Barbara takes on Christie in new NJEA TV ad

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"A devastating day for children and public education."

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NJ application is a finalist for “Race to the Top” grant

NJ application is a finalist for Race to the Top grant