President Barack Obama signed the newest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)— December 10. The new law seeks to halt heavy federal involvement in public schools […]
Senate Moves Forward With Pension Constitutional Amendment, As Assembly Begins Process of Review
The Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee approved a resolution, SCR-184, December 10, that would seeks to amend New Jersey’s Constitution to require quarterly pension payments, and get the Legislature back on track to paying […]
Senate Ed Hears Bevy of Bills In Lame Duck Push
The Senate Education Committee moved a host of bills at its December 14 meeting, in the continued lame duck push. Among the measures, legislation to raise the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to […]
Assembly Ed Committee Moves PARCC Reporting, Chronic Absenteeism, & RTI Bills Forward
The Assembly Education Committee December 14 moved several measures forward including a bill, A-4562 / S-2844 (Diegnan / Gill / Turner), that would require schools to report PARCC refusal, a measure A-4328 (Diegnan), that […]
Senate Passes Bill Establishing Special Education Ombudsman
The state Senate on Monday approved a bill, S451 (Ruiz/Allen) establishing the Office of the Special Education Ombudsman in the Department of Education. The measure passed, 33-0. The ombudsman would provide parents, students and […]
Redshirting Bill Clears Senate
Legislation, S-3221 (Codey/Barnes), aimed at discouraging student athletes from repeating a grade in middle school for the sole purpose of gaining an athletic advantage in high school — a practice known as “redshirting” — […]
Senate Approves Bill Allowing School Board Candidates To Run As A Slate
The state Senate approved legislation, A-4386 / S-3042 (Coughlin / Pinkin / Vitale / Singer), that would allow a school board candidate to run as a slate. The measure, approved, 34-1, now heads to […]
Retiree 2016 Social Security and Medicare Part B (and D) Cost Info
The 2016 Medicare costs have been published by Social Security. Retirees on Medicare should have received a letter from Social Security indicating what you will be paying for Medicare in 2016 based on your […]
Special Ed Taskforce Releases Final Report
The Taskforce On Improving Special Education for Public School Students released its final report late last week. The Report The report identified 7 themes that the subcommittees indicated recurred continually across all work. These […]
State Board Learns NJ Scored Well In Comparative to Other PARCC States
The New Jersey State Board of Education received a report from the Acting Performance Officer Jeff Hauger on New Jersey student performance on the recent PARCC assessment at the December State Board Meeting. The […]