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NJ Spotlight--The List: Where Do Foreign Students Studying in New Jersey Call Home?
From Brazil to Vietnam, China to Turkey, some 26,000 men and women were in the Garden State on active student visas last year
Many have complained about the possible effects of the Trump administration’s latest travel ban and announced end of protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children by their parents, but so far there has been no efforts to curb the issuance of student visas.
Still, there are some who say the new policies and attitudes toward immigrants in effect since the beginning of this year are deterring some students from considering a study abroad option in the United States.
Colleen O'Dea | October 2, 2017
NJ Spotlight--Budget Basics: Employee Retirement Benefits — the Problem Is Large
A series that details the fundamentals of New Jersey's budget, as well as its current budget woes
Background
Most state employees are enrolled in state-sponsored defined-benefit pension systems. Unlike defined contributions plans —like 401(k)s — in these systems employees and employers make annual contributions and the employees are promised a specific pension amount based on years of service and salary level.
Richard F. Keevey | October 2, 2017
NY Times--A Game to Help Students Pay the Right Price for College
In the last big economic downturn, back when Tim Ranzetta was in the student loan analysis and consulting business and working with colleges, borrowers often found their way to him, too.
There would be tears. And he would get off the phone with the same frustration each time over how little the people who actually use them know about student loans.
Starting this week, he has a new tool in what has become a yearslong campaign to fill that gap: a free, interactive, web-based game called Payback. In playing, students see running totals of their debt but can also track academic focus, the connections they’re making that could be useful later and their overall happiness — crucial factors in actually finishing college and graduating with a job that can help them repay their debt.
RON LIEBER SEPT. 29, 2017
Education Week--A Primer on the Supreme Court Case That Teachers' Unions Have Been Fearing
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court officially agreed to review a case on public-employee union fees that could potentially deliver a harsh blow to the nation's teachers' unions.
You may find yourself asking: Wait, haven't we been through this? Wasn't someone named Friedrichs involved? And why is this coming up again?
All good questions. Let's take a look at what's at stake, and how we got here.
Why is this coming up again? I thought we were done with this.
You're right, the Supreme Court did recently hear another case on union fees: Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
In that case, lead plaintiff Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers who were not members of the teachers' union argued they shouldn't be forced to pay fees to the union.
About half of states allow unions to charge fees, known as "agency" or "shop" fees, to people who don't join the union. (This came out of a 1977 Supreme Court case called Abood v. Detroit Board of Education). These fees make up for the cost of collective bargaining. In K-12 education, teachers' unions collectively bargain to negotiate things like salaries and benefits and class-size caps, which benefit all workers.
The plaintiffs objected to paying the fees, arguing that collective bargaining is "quintessentially political," and that the unions express views that not all employees agree with.
Liana Loewus on September 28, 2017 1:10 PM
