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State still competing with 18 others for share of $3.4 billion
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
UPDATED
New Jersey has been named one of 19 governments to make the final round of the federal government "Race to the Top'' competition for a share of $3.4 billion in education aid.
Gov. Chris Christie welcomed the news Tuesday but also took the opportunity to again criticize the New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers union.
"President Obama and (U.S.) Secretary (of Education) Duncan today recognized our administration's plan for bold reform of our state's education system,'' Christie said.
"This announcement affirms our decision to stick with real reform and not capitulate to the watered-down, failed status quo approach advocated by the NJEA Now is the time for New Jersey's leaders to join me to begin enactment of the pillars of real education reform contained within our Race to the Top application — more charter school opportunities for students, more choice for parents and fidelity to placing student success ahead of union self interest."
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement today:"Gov. Chris Christie has used what should be good news — New Jersey's selection as a finalist for $400 million in federal 'Race to the Top' funding — to once again attack NJEA and its members.
"It's a tired act, and it needs to end. This governor — who has cut $1.4 billion from public education, resulting in the layoff of thousands of teachers and deep program cuts that will hurt students badly — now wants to make people believe he's the champion of public education."
The NJEA didn't join in support of the funding application. It opposed the failed 2009 bid.
The Wall Street Journal Tuesday reported that while New Jersey is a finalist, it does not appear to be as strongly positioned as New York, another finalist, going into the last round.
The Journal stated that while New Jersey's application makes promises about teacher evaluations and other areas, the assurances are not backed up by any legislative moves nor agreements from the teachers' unions.
"One could argue that New Jersey has a lot of work to do before they could carry on a state-wide reform effort," Charles Barone, federal policy director of Democrats for Education Reform, told the newspaper.
Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied for part of the $3.4 billion. Besides New Jersey and New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina made the final round.
She explains more.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/27/888021/-If-you-care-about-public-schools,-does-this-concern-you
There are those like Governor Christie who pretend to support public education, all the while acting on what seems to be some personal vendetta against teachers and public schools. Those people are dangerous and they do pose a threat to the public school system. Christie is starving and strangling New Jersey schools-- and then when the students whose program has been dismembered show a decline in success, he will say, "See? Our schools are failing."
Perhaps even more dangerous, however, are those philanthropists who -- for whatever reasons -- are supporting the ideas of Arne Duncan and company. Added to the Race to the Top money, the Gates money, the Buffett money, the Walton money, and the money from their other billionaire colleagues have the potential to derail public education for enough time to hurt a lot of kids. I am not suggesting evil intent here -- these guys are simply not educators, they're businessmen. Education and business are in most ways two very different worlds.
Diane Ravitch, once a strong proponent of charter schools, high-stakes testing and evaluation of teachers according to students' test scores, has seen the truth about that approach: It doesn't work. (It takes a lot of courage for anyone to say "I was wrong about that" -- even more so for such a well-respected scholar with such a high profile.) She, too, fears for the health and safety of America's tradition of free public education.
I wish that New Jerseyans would take a stand against what Christie is doing. New Jersey's public schools are among the finest in the country. It has taken a long time and a lot of hard work to build a good public school system. The governor can join in that effort by supporting public school communities across the state; or, like the bully at the beach, he can kick over the sandcastle that was built by others with care and with thoughtfulness.