There’s fewer vendors in the Exhibitor’s Lounge and more spaces in the parking lot. There’s grumblings about from Race To The Top priorities, reduced state aid, and threatened consolidations. There’s also creative curricular innovations in local districts and renewed interest in solar energy. There’s an open bar at Caesar’s Palace and a dance party at Harrah’s. Yes, it’s NJSBA time, with school board members, administrators, and functionaries racing around the Atlantic City Conference Center, which seems slightly more cavernous this year.

One particularly interesting session: the annual State Legislative Update, which this afternoon featured a panel comprising Senator Jim Whalen, Assemblyman David Wolfe, Michael Resnick from National School Boards Association, and honored guest Charles Rose, Arne Duncan’s General Counsel. (Sheila Oliver of Essex County was waylaid by a conference call with Governor Corzine.)

Highlights from the session included

• Charlie Rose’s reiteration of President Obama’s educational goal: by 2020, 60% of adults will be college graduates. Right now we’re at 40%. Interesting reality check from the political pipe dream NCLB, which trumpeted that by 2014 all our children would be “college ready.”
• A discussion of the shift of the federal government’s role in education from a “compliance mentality” to a “partnership mentality.”
• NJSBA Resnick’s joust that the Feds new focus on performance and outcome is just “a little bit too much direction” and a suggestion that RTTT is “moving too fast.”
• Whalen and Wolfe’s reminder that the Federal financial contribution to N.J.’s schools is a paltry 4%, and the stimulus cash won’t provide “long-term permanent financing.”
• Confirmation from Rose that we won’t see this kind of financial boost again.
• Concern about the “cliff effect,” i.e., districts will ratchet up spending and then have no way to sustain the augmented services.
• Wolfe: “The money is not coming to the State of New Jersey. It’s coming to certain parts of the State of New Jersey.” (Translation: it’s going to those poor urban districts.)

Party on.