Happy Holidays!
December 24, 2013New Jersey Super PAC Tied to Teacher Union’s Role in Boston Mayoral Race
January 2, 2014New WHYY Post: Sneak Peek at NJ Statehouse Education Agenda
Welcome back and a happy new year to all my wonderful readers. Here’s the beginning of my column today at WHYY’s Newsworks
As 2013 rolled to a close this week, the New Jersey State Legislature was busy with a grab bag of last-minute education bills. Call them stocking stuffers: sweet treats for constituents and lobbyists alike.
Who can say “nay” to a requirement that all districts provide full-day kindergarten or another that mandates daily recess for kindergarteners through 5th graders? Can any legislator turn tightwad over a bill that increases community participation by moving school board candidate deadlines from June to July? Any Scrooges ready to oppose a law that encourages joint purchasing agreements among local districts?
While most of these bills are no more contentious than froth on your eggnog, others provide tidings of 2014’s legislative fixation: oversight of special education services for children with disabilities and, particularly, services provided by N.J.’s robust cadre of private special education schools.
Read the rest here.
1 Comment
“Who can say “nay” to a requirement that all districts provide full-day kindergarten or another that mandates daily recess for kindergarteners through 5th graders?”
Probably nobody if they impose them as unfunded mandates for local districts.