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2-27-14 Education Issues in the News
Star Ledger - Schools would be required to set social media guidelines... 'Every public school district in New Jersey would be required to set guidelines on how its employees communicate with students online under legislation set for a vote in both houses of the Legislature today.The bill (S441) would require that the policy be written, and include “provisions designed to prevent improper communications between school employees and students made via e-mail, cellular phones, social networking websites, and other Internet-based social media.” If it passes both houses and is signed by Gov. Chris Christie, school districts would have four months to adopt the policy.

Star Ledger - A winning NJ charter school awaits word on its fate: Editorial

Star Ledger - Cami Anderson, Newark schools superintendent, at loggerheads with school board

Star Ledger  - Schools would be required to set social media guidelines

By Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger  Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on February 27, 2014 at 7:30 AM, updated February 27, 2014 at 8:24 AM

 
 
 

TRENTON— Every public school district in New Jersey would be required to set guidelines on how its employees communicate with students online under legislation set for a vote in both houses of the Legislature today.

The bill (S441) would require that the policy be written, and include “provisions designed to prevent improper communications between school employees and students made via e-mail, cellular phones, social networking websites, and other Internet-based social media.” If it passes both houses and is signed by Gov. Chris Christie, school districts would have four months to adopt the policy.

“The number of school personnel having inappropriate contact with students has been just exploding all across the country,” said state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington), a sponsor. “And probably the main reason – at least from information that I’ve read – indicates it’s social media that’s really to blame. There’s just so many ways school personnel can contact and have relationships with students.”

Another sponsor, state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), said the bill would ensure staff and students "have a template, policy or something to point to for what is responsible communication and what is not.”

The bill was initially introduced in 2012, but this is the first time it’s getting a vote in the full state Senate. It has also been approved by an Assembly committee, though it’s not yet scheduled for a vote in the lower house.

Allen said some school districts “wisely” have already enacted policies.

“But not all have,” she said. “We want to make it mandatory.”

The bill is scheduled to be taken up during the 11am sessions of both the state Senate and Assembly.

Correction: This story originally stated the bill would be voted on by the state Senate. It's scheduled to be taken up by both the state Senate and Assembly.

 

Star Ledger - A winning NJ charter school awaits word on its fate: Editorial

 

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board NJ.com
on February 26, 2014 at 7:00 PM, updated February 26, 2014 at 7:10 PM

 

 
 

A charter school in Hoboken, “Hola,” is doing a terrific job educating kids with an innovative dual-language program, and parents are lining up to compete for scarce seats.

Hola’s innovation is to immerse kids in both Spanish and English instruction when they are young and their brains are wired to absorb new languages. In kindergarten, 90 percent of the instruction is in Spanish. By fourth and fifth grade, the split is about even. So kids become fluent in both languages, a big leg up in a country that is increasingly bilingual.

Now Hola officials want to expand to the eighth grade, and the local superintendent, Mark Toback, is trying to stop them.

The root of the demographic problem is the failure of Hoboken’s traditional schools to attract a healthy cross-section of the city.

“The demographic differences are large, and that’s not how it’s supposed to work,” he says.

The numbers are striking. Only 11 percent of Hola students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, compared with 72 percent in the city’s traditional public schools, according to state data. Given that poverty remains the most reliable predictor of student performance, Hola has a big head start over district schools.

But Toback’s response to that is dead wrong. The answer is not to slam the brakes on a successful school. The answer is to lure more poor students to Hola, something Hola is eager to do. “I myself have knocked on doors in public housing asking people if they want information on charters,” says Barbara Martinez, one of the founders.

One way to draw more poor students is to give them an advantage in the admission lotteries at charter schools, to put a thumb on the scale. But the state’s charter law requires that all applicants be treated equally.

That law should be changed. It was intended to prevent schools from favoring more advantaged students. And it’s had the perverse effect of blocking charters such as Hola from enrolling more poor kids.

“We would do that if we could, absolutely,” Martinez says.

Remember, too, that the root problem is the failure of Hoboken’s traditional schools to attract a healthy cross-section of the city. Hola’s student body matches the demographics of the city pretty closely. It is the district that’s out of whack, thanks to the flight of affluent families.

The state is expected to make its ruling on this within the next few days. It shouldn’t be a close call. Success stories in urban education are too rare and precious to snuff out. A survey of parents at Hola showed that most would respond by leaving Hoboken, finding another charter, or sending their kids to private school. Attending district schools was the last choice.

So these kids would lose out, and so would the city. What sense would that make?

 

Star Ledger - Cami Anderson, Newark schools superintendent, at loggerheads with school board

The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on February 27, 2014 at 6:30 AM, updated February 27, 2014 at 7:29 AM

 

The relationship between Newark Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson and the School Advisory Board has become so contentious that they now communicate by press release and video.

Anderson and board President Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson exchanged letters earlier this week in which Anderson said she would no longer attend the advisory board’s monthly meetings because they "are no longer focused on achieving educational outcomes for children."

The letter arose out of the board’s January meeting, during which Anderson was heckled from the audience and castigated by speakers until she walked off the stage with her staff. Hundreds of disaffected Newarkers who claim Anderson’s One Newark plan of closing dozens of schools and laying off hundreds of teachers has been undemocratic and heavy-handed, blew whistles and chanted, "Cami go home!" for minutes at a time.

Some of that anger continued Tuesday, when 400 people turned out to oppose planned teacher layoffs based on classroom effectiveness rather than seniority.

Anderson’s absence did not go unnoticed.

Marques-Aquil Lewis, the board’s vice chairman, called on the board to publicly counter the superintendent’s refusal to attend future meetings.

"I think we need to respond to that letter as soon as possible, have a press conference," Lewis said. "We could have the press conference in her office. ... I’m tired of the disrespect. I am tired of her continuing to disrespect us."

He also called for a federal investigation into the One Newark plan.

Wednesday, in response to the fractious meetings, Valerie Wilson, business administrator for the Newark Public Schools, released a statement in which she called for a return to productive discussions.

"In my judgment, we have now reached a serious threshold of disorganization," the statement said. "We simply cannot continue to have dysfunctional meetings. It is vital to remember that the true purpose of this meeting is to both inform and provide an opportunity for community input. In this environment we have lost the ability to advise the public, and we must look for ways to keep them informed."

Matthew Frankel, a spokesman for Anderson, said the superintendent’s letter stated she would return to the monthly public meetings when the advisory board can ensure "a space conducive to open dialogue with the community."

But Baskerville-Richardson’s letter put the onus for the fractious meetings on Anderson.

"State Superintendent Anderson, you own this situation," she wrote.

Without a venue to present their plan, Anderson and her staff released a 40-minute video yesterday called "One Newark Update: Overview of the Equivalency Request," in which Assistant Superintendent Peter Turmanian explained the problems and progress made in the past month.

"Over the past several administrations not one K-8 school in the South Ward has had more than 30 percent of their students, on average, achieving proficiency in language arts," Turmanian said. "Overall enrollment has declined the past 10, 15 years from more than 50,000 to less than 30,000. As enrollment declines, revenue goes down. That’s the significant reality Newark One intends to address."

By implementing the One Newark Plan, he said, the city could "better compete and attract families back to those communities" suffering the most declines in school enrollment, such as the South Ward.

He also said progress has been made in several areas, including universal enrollment.

Star-Ledger staff writer Naomi Nix contributed to this report.