NJEA, the NJ teachers’ union, held its annual convention on Thursday and Friday in Atlantic City. Here’s coverage, mainly of Acting Ed. Comm. Cerf’s speech to about 300 conventioneers, from the Star-Ledger, Press of Atlantic City, the Asbury Park Press, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Philly Inquirer piece includes a side by side comparison of NJEA’s tenure reform proposal and Gov. Christie’s.

Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger notes that “Cerf did achieve his larger goal — to open the door to a new dialogue with the teachers that was both respectful and challenging, saying both sides need to basically knock off the hyperbole that pollutes the discussion.” Moran also comments on the star-studded appearance of Dr. Diane Ravitch, who gave a “red-meat polemic” in which she urged union members to “stand tought against Cerf’s reforms on tenure, merit pay, and charter schools.” In another editorial, the Asbury Park Press criticizes NJEA’s proposals, which include smaller class size, more preschool and full-day kindergartens, state grants for parental involvement.

In other union news, a “grassroots democratic group of NJ educators united in efforts to both save and transform public education” has set up shop. NJ TAG (NJ Teacher Activist Group) is a branch of a national coalition, TAG, which includes on its agenda “measures that ensure every student access to a fully funded, equitable public education that is not threatened by market-based reforms such as vouchers, charter schools, or turnarounds by entities that divert public funds to private enterprise.”

Gov. Chris Christie signed Bill S 1858, which allows private schools to convert to charters as long as they eliminate any religious instructions or paraphernalia. (Star-Ledger)

Comm. Cerf has voided a four-year contract between the Ramsey Board of Education and the teacher union there because of a state law that limits contract length to three years. Ramsey was attempting to avoid the scenario of signing a contract and immediately heading back to the bargaining table, a not uncommon scenario with about half of NJ’s school districts in the purgatory of contract mediation. The president of the Board told the Record, “Teachers are furiously angry. It’s an illogical decision, and I’m confident it is going to be overturned.”

NJ’s waiver application to the Feds for No Child Left Behind is due tomorrow, and the DOE is garnering criticism for not allowing proper time for public input. Here’s NJ Spotlight on the issue. The Education Law Center is urging the Department to wait until the second deadline in mid-February.

From the Record: “Paterson officials are trying to fire a disabled teacher accused of making his young students carry a plastic bottle of his urine to the bathroom to flush it away.” Yuck.