Roxbury Board of Ed Gives Thumbs Up to State Transgender Policy
December 21, 2023
NJ’s Teacher Evaluation Law Is Not Dead Yet (Cue Monty Python)
December 21, 2023CIATTARELLI: This Is Why NJ Needs Education Reform
Jack Ciattarelli, the 2021 Republican nominee for New Jersey governor and a likely 2025 gubernatorial candidate, first published this in the NJ Herald.
A new New Jersey Legislature will soon be sworn in. What should be the 2024 legislative agenda?
NJ needs education reform
For starters, we desperately need education reform. That starts with refraining from saying our K-12 system is ‘one of the very best in the country.’ Are there pockets of exceptional success? Unequivocally, yes. But on the whole, the system is failing our students and taxpayers.
Too many students — more than 50% in many school districts — are not on grade level for reading, writing, and math. As many as 50% of the students attending our county colleges require remedial courses (i.e., classes students must take to build skills before they are allowed to take regular college courses). One out of every two high school graduates can’t name the three branches of government, nor can they name our fundamental rights under the First Amendment.
Plainly and painfully, our K-12 system is ‘graduating’ students who lack basic skills and knowledge.
The 2024 legislative agenda should begin with a package of education reforms, including a high impact curricula and longer school year for students not on grade level for basic skills; more robust civics instruction; more vocational training opportunities; an age appropriate curriculum; school choice for students whose district is not a good fit; vouchers for those who attend non-public schools; a more equitable school funding formula; transparency and accountability from districts that receive the greatest amount of state school aid; and a parents’ and teachers’ bill of rights that ensures respect for both the parent and the educator.
NJ needs meaningful property tax reform
When we talk about making New Jersey more affordable, we need to address permanent and meaningful property tax reform and the critical need for more affordable housing. We can lower property taxes by capping homeowners’ property tax bills, as do other states, at a set percentage of home value. We can also make New Jersey a better place to retire by freezing property taxes for life once any homeowner is 70 years old. These are examples of fair, meaningful and permanent reforms.
Property tax/renter programs like ANCHOR and StayNJ do absolutely nothing to permanently lower taxes. Like every other rebate gimmick handed out by politicians, these programs will run out of funding and taxes will continue to rise. We need real reform.
Addressing the affordable housing shortage also requires a legislative solution, so long as it’s done smartly. Otherwise, there will soon be no garden left in the Garden State. To end suburban sprawl and an ever-increasing carbon footprint, we need to incentivize the creation of compelling urban affordable housing and, in so doing, direct population growth toward our cities. Dynamic urban revitalization would benefit the state in myriad ways.
Health care is another area in desperate need of the legislature’s attention. First, we need a new and improved Patient Bill of Rights. Second, individuals and small businesses need an easier way to aggregate their purchasing power to lower health insurance costs. Third, we need teenage suicide prevention measures and more mental health clinics, which county government could effectively address if properly funded by the state. The same goes for addressing homelessness.
2 Comments
You make valid points, Mr. Ciattarelli, but words alone will not fix the ongoing problems in the NJ educational system and the state on the whole. Put something behind your pleas and claims! Political grandstanding will only go so far. In fact, it never goes far enough. Many of us have reached out to your office with concerns. They have all fallen on deaf ears.
I have no issue with accountability as long as the accountability is spread equally throughout the educational system. There needs to be STUDENT accountability for their behavior (which includes lack of academic performance when students sit and purposefully do NOTHING and still expect to be given a passing grade – yes, this happens), PARENTAL accountabiliy (which will freeze a politician’s coat-tails because parents vote) when they do NOTHING to hold their children accountable both behaviorally and academically, ADMINISTRATIVE accountability when most superintendents are focused on what makes them look good on the state reports (god forbid we take action to discipline a little darling who behaves in such a manner that causes potential physical harm to a student, staff/faculty member), COLLEGIATE accountability for not properly preparing the next generation of teachers for the REALITY of what they are about to get themselves into and quit within the first five years of their career, and POLITICIANS accountability when they come up with grandiose ideas to score political points with their base (and BOTH “parties” are guilty of this) at the expense of what is actually best for the kids. TEACHERS are the only ones held accountable for the actions and behavior of ALL OF THE ABOVE, and you wonder why there is a shortage in NJ (and throughout the country) that no amount of money will fix.
Mr. Ciattarelli, you talk a good game. Back it up with actions that are good for EVERYONE. Don’t be Steve Sweeney who only helps those who he cares about at the expense of all other groups.