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This week New Jersey is again making national headlines over Governor Christie's run-ins with the education establishment in the state. On Monday, Christie publically criticized a raise in salary approved for a local superintendent. Christie called Parsippany-Troy Hills Superintendent LeRoy Seitz "the new poster boy for all that is wrong with the public school system that's being dictated by greed."
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The debate over teacher pay continues as education reformers and policy makers share ideas about performance pay and value-added compensation scales. One aspect that has remained largely constant is pay increases for teachers who earn additional course credits or hold advanced degrees. Sometimes known as "lane" increases or the "master's degree bump", these increases are some of the costliest to schools systems and are raising questions on whether or not these degrees are in fact helping student learning.
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For years, rigid union contracts have put teachers on very structured pay schedules that are predetermined based on years in service and level of education. On the heels of the recent trends in education reform, several districts around the country are experimenting with different methods of restructuring teacher pay.
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New Jersey has been the talk of the education reform world for the past few months. From the tough talking, union-fighting Governor Christie's town hall meetings to Race to the Top application controversy, and the recent news of a $100 million donation to the Newark city schools by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, New Jersey has frequently made education news headlines.
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Teachers Boycott Back-to-School Night, Infuriating Parents
posted by: Colin | September 20, 2010, 04:50 pm Parents, you took time out of your busy day to come to your child's school, to get involved, to learn about what they are learning, and to meet their teacher. But what if the teachers don't even bother to show up?That was the situation at one Pennsylvania school district when 150 parents arrived on back-to-school night only to find that the teachers, battling the district over a three-year contract dispute, decided to skip out on the annual tradition. Continue Reading... This week President Obama signed a $26 billion jobs bill designed to supplement struggling state education budgets, touting that the extra funding will save the jobs of teachers that would otherwise be laid off. Sarah Lee, of The Daily Caller, and others have criticized the bill as being a bailout to the teachers unions. In her argument, Lee notes that not all teacher associations are proponents of the union model, specifically noting (emphasis added): Continue Reading...
Update: Massachusetts Legislature Passes Measure to Save Retired Marine's Teaching Position
posted by: Colin | June 16, 2010, 09:11 am Earlier this week the Massachusetts legislature approved an amendment to save retired USMC Maj. Stephen Godin's job. The measure, which had been defeated by Democrats the week before, exempts public school JROTC teachers, like Maj. Godin, from having to pay union dues. Continue Reading...
Retired Marine Under Attack for not Joining Teachers Union
posted by: Colin | June 14, 2010, 09:38 am After logging 2,000 hours flying F-4 Phantoms and serving in five overseas deployments, retired USMC Maj. Stephen Godin decided to take on an equally demanding challenge–teaching public high school. For the past fourteen years, Maj. Godin has been teaching in the distinguished JROTC program at North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. The principal of North High praises Maj. Godin as an "excellent" instructor. Maj. Godin also coaches the regional champion drill team and he's never missed a day of work. Continue Reading... Politico reports that Republican and some Democratic politicians have turned on public workers and their labor unions—particularly teachers unions, including the NEA and the AFT. According to Politico, "public employee unions [are] emerging as an intransigent public enemy number one in cities and state capitals across the country." Continue Reading... New Jersey high school students are learning about political activism firsthand this week as they staged walkouts to protest Gov. Chris Christie's proposed education budget cuts. Nearly 18,000 students signed up to participate in a Facebook event titled, "Protest NJ Education Cuts - State Wide School Walk Out." Michelle Ryan Lauto, an 18-year old college student, started the Facebook page in protest to Gov. Christie's proposed reduction of direct aid to over 600 school districts by as much as 5 percent of each district's operating budget. Continue Reading...
With 58% of school district voters defeating their local budget, some are declaring at least a partial victory for Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.), including the governor himself who called the election a "watershed moment." Victory or not, New Jersey voters usually approve 70% of school district budgets and this year marks the most budgets defeated since 1976. Continue Reading...
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is sponsoring a bill that would spend $23 billion of federal taxpayer money to help schools prevent impending layoffs. This $23 billion would be on top of the $100 billion provided to states as part of the 2009 economic stimulus. The bill follows warnings from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that budget cuts could lead to 100,000 to 300,000 layoffs across the country. Continue Reading... Actually, it is closer to high noon in New Jersey, where newly-elected governor Chris Christie is in a showdown with the teachers union. In order to balance the budget, Gov. Christie has asked for teachers to accept a one-year pay freeze and contribute 1.5% of their salary towards health care costs Continue Reading... Florida Education Association president Andy Ford published an open letter to Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith voicing his opposition to the way the Education Department's Race to the Top program is being operated. "The Race to the Top dollars will not have the desired impact," Ford claims, and, according to Education Week, the FEA and other state unions are threatening withholding their endorsement of state applications, "jeopardize the states' chances of winning the coveted federal dollars." Why would the unions do this? Continue Reading... |
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