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'N.J. panel OKs private-school aid for low-income students' Philadelphia Inquirer
"In an unusual, and at times raucous, outdoor hearing attended by hundreds of school-choice advocates, a New Jersey Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would create scholarships for some low-income children to attend private or out-of-district public schools.The Opportunity Scholarships, designed to aid students in failing schools, would be funded by contributions from companies in exchange for dollar-for-dollar tax credits..."
'Teachers across state get pink slips as schools' deadline looms' THE RECORD
School voucher bill sponsors push back against NJEA tactics
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
N.J. panel OKs private-school aid for low-income students
By Rita Giordano
Inquirer Staff Writer
In an unusual, and at times raucous, outdoor hearing attended by hundreds of school-choice advocates, a New Jersey Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would create scholarships for some low-income children to attend private or out-of-district public schools.
The Opportunity Scholarships, designed to aid students in failing schools, would be funded by contributions from companies in exchange for dollar-for-dollar tax credits. The measure received fervent support and sharp criticism at the Economic Growth Committee hearing in Trenton.
The bill, which calls for a five-year pilot program, stipulates that the district from which a scholarship recipient departs would see its per-pupil aid diminish. That money would be put into an Educational Innovation Fund from which grants could be made to improve the state's struggling schools.
"The governor and the Department of Education strongly support the Opportunity Scholarship Act," Education Commissioner Bret Schundler testified at the hearing.
He said the measure would increase opportunities for students, reduce the burden on taxpayers, and encourage failing schools to pursue innovation. Representatives from Jewish and Catholics schools, which could see increased enrollment and whose families would get support, spoke in favor of the bill.
Increasing school choice through scholarships, charter schools, and other measures is a priority of Gov. Christie's education agenda. However, some criticized the bill, which they said would result in a loss of tax revenue that could be put to other uses.
The state's major organizations for principals, supervisors, administrators, school boards, and teachers all came out against the bill. Among the objections are that it would take money from struggling schools at a time when aid already has been cut.
Some were critical that up to 25 percent of the scholarship funds could go to children already enrolled in private schools. They questioned the students' level of need. Advocates for the private schools said their children often came from families of modest means.
The bill does not require enough accountability from private schools and "is designed to undermine public education," said Marie Blistan, an official with the New Jersey Education Association, which represents most of the state's teachers.
To qualify, a student from a family of four must have a household income of no more than $55,000, according to information provided by Senate Democrats. The scholarships would be about $6,000 for elementary and middle school students and about $9,000 for high schoolers. The schools could not charge tuition beyond the scholarships.
In the first year, the program would provide 5,000 to 7,600 scholarships worth $24 million. That would increase each year to 19,000 scholarships worth $120 million in the final year.
Of the state's 2,580 schools, 205 fit the bill's definition of failing, according to the information. They include more than 20 Camden city schools, as well as a smattering of Camden charters and schools in Burlington and Gloucester Counties.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D., Union), a sponsor of the measure, said the bill was intended for students at failing schools, not all students in a district.
Before the start of the hearing, hundreds of demonstrators, including many charter and private school students, rallied outside the Statehouse Annex in support of the bill.
The committee room was packed with NJEA representatives who were asked to provide half of their seats to the bill's supporters, according to Lesniak. When they refused, he decided to have the hearing outdoors, calling it "a civics lesson" for the students.
Steve Baker, a NJEA spokesman, called it "a circus," saying that there was seating and standing room available inside.
Christie, who recently criticized students who walked out of class to protest school aid cuts, was "oddly silent" about the children who took the morning to attend the rally, Baker said. The union and the governor have been engaged in a bitter battle for months.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate Education Committee approved a bill that would expand and make permanent the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program that allows students to attend cooperating out-of-district public schools. Largely seen as a successful program mostly devoid of controversy, it started as a five-year pilot in 2000 and last school year served about 900 students in 15 districts.
Both bills must move through the Budget and Appropriations Committee before going to a full Senate vote. Then they must be approved by the Assembly.
Contact staff writer Rita Giordano at 856-779-3841 or rgiordano@phillynews.com.
Teachers across state get pink slips as schools' deadline looms
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
BY LESLIE BRODY
The Record
STAFF WRITER
School districts across the state are in the thick of the painful process of handing out pink slips to thousands of teachers to meet a Saturday deadline for telling them about hiring plans for the next school year.
Big districts and small are enduring this ordeal. In Paterson, for example, school leaders began handing out 858 layoff notices on Wednesday, including 421 to tenured staff. Paramus gave out 19 on Wednesday, and Englewood handed out 88 earlier in the week. Bergenfield will give out 25 in coming days. The City of Passaic will send out about 130.
In past years, many teachers who were given “reduction in force” notices in May got rehired within months, as soon as colleagues retired and positions were juggled to accommodate seniority and “bumping” rights. But in this year’s fiscal crisis, school leaders were handing out far more pink slips than usual and saying they were especially leery of estimating how many teachers would get their jobs back.
“I hate to be negative but you can’t predict anything,” Bergenfield Schools Superintendent Michael Kuchar said. “We’re all right now being very, very cautious.”
At John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson, teachers said many people broke down in tears as scores were called to the principal’s office after lunch to hear the bad news.
One was Candy Enste of Lyndhurst, a 48-year-old special education teacher.
“You don’t know when they might call you back, and the bill collectors don’t wait,” said Enste, whose unemployed husband has not been able to find work in the computer field. “I’m going home, getting on the Internet, updating my resume and looking for a job, but there’s not much out there.”
DeLane James, a 32-year-old English teacher at JFK, got a layoff notice the same day as his wife, an English teacher at Eastside High School. They have a 2-year-old daughter.
“What can you do? Cry, kick and scream?” he asked. “The fact is, I don’t know how this school will function” with such steep cuts in staff.
One English teacher with 10 years of experience — two in the district — was not so sanguine. She would not give her name for fear it would hurt her chances of getting rehired.
“I’ll look for a job out of state,” she said. “I don’t want to work in New Jersey. It’s disgusting what the governor has said about teachers. He should be ashamed of himself. I’m not raping taxpayers. I have two advanced degrees and make $50,000. I’m a single mom losing health benefits and that’s very scary.”
Gov. Chris Christie, a vocal critic of the teachers union, has said drastic cuts were necessary to save the state from going broke after years of mismanagement. He withheld $475 million in state aid to schools this year and cut nearly $820 million in aid for fiscal 2011. Many of the cuts were necessary because the state ran out of federal stimulus funds, he said. Schools in Connecticut, New York and other states are also facing major layoffs.
Christie continues to urge teachers to take one-year wage-freezes or retire if they have already been considering quitting. So far, teachers in 35 districts out of roughly 600 have frozen wages for a year or taken reductions.
“We believe more layoffs can be averted if more teachers accept wage freezes,” said education department spokesman Alan Guenther. He stressed that the number of teachers getting layoff notices is much larger than the number who will actually lose their jobs. Districts typically give layoff notices to more people than necessary and bring many back, instead of making job promises they can’t fulfill.
“Notifying everybody who could possibly affected is a much different number than anybody who might be laid off,” he said.
Union leaders and other critics questioned how the Christie administration could talk about its mission to raise test scores and boost achievement while decimating school staffs.
“People are extremely angry,” said Peter Tirri, head of the teachers union in Paterson, which is losing staff in art, music, foreign language, child study teams, guidance and library programs. “The positions being reduced are going to create havoc in this system.”
Daniel Fishbein, superintendent in Ridgewood, said he had to sign 72 layoff notices last week.
“They’re all teachers we wanted to keep,” he said. “I’m hearing from parents that it’s frustrating for them we’re going to lose some very talented teachers.”
Richard Segall, superintendent in Englewood, said he had to give a layoff notice to every non-tenured staff member, but he hopes to bring most back. Because the school budget failed and city officials may cut it further, he doesn’t know how many jobs can be restored. The failed budget called for 24 teaching job eliminations.
“The reality finally sunk in when the notices went around,” he said. “Everyone is in shock.”
Joe Tierney, a school social worker in Paterson, said he’s still worried because more layoff notices are coming this week.
“People went to their mailboxes all day to see do I have my pink slip today?,” he said. “I’ve never had that feeling of dread and foreboding before.”
E-mail: brody@northjersey.com
Teachers across state get pink slips as schools' deadline looms
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
BY LESLIE BRODY
The Record
School districts across the state are in the thick of the painful process of handing out pink slips to thousands of teachers to meet a Saturday deadline for telling them about hiring plans for the next school year.
Big districts and small are enduring this ordeal. In Paterson, for example, school leaders began handing out 858 layoff notices on Wednesday, including 421 to tenured staff. Paramus gave out 19 on Wednesday, and Englewood handed out 88 earlier in the week. Bergenfield will give out 25 in coming days. The City of Passaic will send out about 130.
In past years, many teachers who were given “reduction in force” notices in May got rehired within months, as soon as colleagues retired and positions were juggled to accommodate seniority and “bumping” rights. But in this year’s fiscal crisis, school leaders were handing out far more pink slips than usual and saying they were especially leery of estimating how many teachers would get their jobs back.
“I hate to be negative but you can’t predict anything,” Bergenfield Schools Superintendent Michael Kuchar said. “We’re all right now being very, very cautious.”
At John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson, teachers said many people broke down in tears as scores were called to the principal’s office after lunch to hear the bad news..
One was Candy Enste of Lyndhurst, a 48-year-old special education teacher.
“You don’t know when they might call you back, and the bill collectors don’t wait,” said Enste, whose unemployed husband has not been able to find work in the computer field. “I’m going home, getting on the Internet, updating my resume and looking for a job, but there’s not much out there.”
DeLane James, a 32-year-old English teacher at JFK, got a layoff notice the same day as his wife, an English teacher at Eastside High School. They have a 2-year-old daughter.
“What can you do? Cry, kick and scream?” he asked. “The fact is, I don’t know how this school will function” with such steep cuts in staff.
One English teacher with 10 years of experience — two in the district — was not so sanguine. She would not give her name for fear it would hurt her chances of getting rehired.
“I’ll look for a job out of state,” she said. “I don’t want to work in New Jersey. It’s disgusting what the governor has said about teachers. He should be ashamed of himself. I’m not raping taxpayers. I have two advanced degrees and make $50,000. I’m a single mom losing health benefits and that’s very scary.”
Gov. Chris Christie, a vocal critic of the teachers union, has said drastic cuts were necessary to save the state from going broke after years of mismanagement. He withheld $475 million in state aid to schools this year and cut nearly $820 million in aid for fiscal 2011. Many of the cuts were necessary because the state ran out of federal stimulus funds, he said. Schools in Connecticut, New York and other states are also facing major layoffs.
Christie continues to urge teachers to take one-year wage-freezes or retire if they have already been considering quitting. So far, teachers in 35 districts out of roughly 600 have frozen wages for a year or taken reductions.
“We believe more layoffs can be averted if more teachers accept wage freezes,” said education department spokesman Alan Guenther. He stressed that the number of teachers getting layoff notices is much larger than the number who will actually lose their jobs. Districts typically give layoff notices to more people than necessary and bring many back, instead of making job promises they can’t fulfill.
“Notifying everybody who could possibly affected is a much different number than anybody who might be laid off,” he said.
Union leaders and other critics questioned how the Christie administration could talk about its mission to raise test scores and boost achievement while decimating school staffs.
“People are extremely angry,” said Peter Tirri, head of the teachers union in Paterson, which is losing staff in art, music, foreign language, child study teams, guidance and library programs. “The positions being reduced are going to create havoc in this system.”
Daniel Fishbein, superintendent in Ridgewood, said he had to sign 72 layoff notices last week.
“They’re all teachers we wanted to keep,” he said. “I’m hearing from parents that it’s frustrating for them we’re going to lose some very talented teachers.”
Richard Segall, superintendent in Englewood, said he had to give a layoff notice to every non-tenured staff member, but he hopes to bring most back. Because the school budget failed and city officials may cut it further, he doesn’t know how many jobs can be restored. The failed budget called for 24 teaching job eliminations.
School voucher bill sponsors push back against NJEA tactics
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
May 14, 2010, 5:45AM
Students, parents, and teachers arrive at the State House in Trenton for a rally demanding state lawmakers provide disadvantaged families with the opportunity to have access to school vouchers. The bill to establish a school voucher program in New Jersey got off the ground yesterday with a unanimous vote in committee, but not until Sen. Ray Lesniak confronted the bullies who run the state teachers union.
The scene was telling. Outside, children in Catholic school uniforms chanted in favor of the vouchers. Many of their sister schools have closed recently, and their own parents often strain to pay tuition. The voucher bill would address both problems.
But the demonstrators don’t know Trenton like the New Jersey Education Association does. So while they were outside, the NJEA took virtually every seat in Committee Room No. 6, where the bill was to be heard. When Lesniak asked them to yield half the seats for the kids, the union refused.
"We have every right to be here," said NJEA spokesman Steve Baker.
Granted. But the rest of us have every right to think it’s creepy to close out the kids.
Lesniak wouldn’t have it. So he moved the meeting outside, under the sun. The committee heard testimony and voted unanimously in favor of the bill. And so it was launched, in front of the kids.
The bill, co-sponsored by Lesniak, a Democrat, and Sen. Tom Kean, a Republican, would establish a pilot program to deliver vouchers to as many as 20,000 kids within five years. One-quarter of the vouchers are set aside for kids who attend private school today, with the bulk reserved for students at chronically underperforming public schools. Only low-income families are eligible.
The bill has flaws that should be repaired. It drains too much state aid from public schools that lose students, and should instead follow the model of financing charter schools. It also lacks a mechanism to exclude private schools that are performing poorly.
But there is time to refine the bill. The real question is whether the state should take this leap, to at least see if vouchers could work. Low-income families whose children are trapped in dangerous and ineffective schools deserve at least that attempt.
The bill faces an uphill fight, mainly because the NJEA, while diminished, still carries weight. Senate President Steve Sweeney said yesterday he may not allow a floor vote in the Senate if it appears the Assembly won’t pass the bill as well. And Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver was noncommittal, saying she’d follow the lead of her caucus.
Stay tuned. For 20,000 low-income families, the stakes are high.
