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Article IndexDemocrats complain he is underfunding schools
As part of what has become a back-to-school period push of his proposals to improve public education Gov. Chris Christie, joined by state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, on Tuesday met with the teachers at Sharp Elementary School in Cherry Hill who are implementing new math standards for grades K-2.
The meeting is part of Christie’s move to improve academic standards and ensure students receive the skills they need to be ready for college and a career. Under the supervision of the Department of Education, school districts are implementing the first round of what are called the new Common Core State Standards.
Setting standards that center around college and career readiness is one of Christie’s so-called four Building Blocks for Success in New Jersey’s Schools - accountability and performance, academics, talent, and innovation.“While New Jersey has one of the highest graduation rates in the country, we must ensure that all students, including our high school graduates, are fully ready for college and a career,” Christie said. “The demands our young people face today in entering the 21st century global workforce and economy make our obligation to deliver a strong and relevant education to every one of our students more important now than ever.
“The Common Core State Standards are a building block in our state’s education system meant to ensure that teachers and districts can innovate within a framework of high expectations and accountability,” the governor added. “They are based on the fundamental belief that every child in every classroom deserves an education that will properly equip them with the skills they need for college and a career. Our aggressive implementation of these standards in partnership with districts will ensure that our children have an education that will serve them well in the next stages of their lives.”The DOE is working with districts to implement the full Common Core State Standards over the course of three years. To help districts implement them, the DOE held over 300 presentations within the past year for teachers and administrators to provide an overview of the new standards. Additionally, DOE content specialists in math and English language arts (ELA) have worked with districts in developing new curricula aligned to the standards.
This year, districts will implement the standards in K-2 math. In 2012-13, districts will implement them in K-12 ELA and 3-5 and 9-12 math. In 2013-14, districts will implement 6-8 math. As implementation moves forward, the DOE will continue with training sessions for districts, developing webinars and other web resources to provide resources and support for the development of curricula in the remaining grades, and serving as a resource to ensure that districts are on track at every step of the process.
Beginning in October, regular regional training will be held to provide professional development in an attempt to refine classroom practices to meet the new standards. The DOE also will seek feedback from teachers, principals and supervisors, and will work with school leaders on the development of lesson plans, instructional materials, and instructional strategies within the classroom.
“The Common Core State Standards are designed to allow districts to rethink curriculum and instruction, and allow colleges to rethink how they train teachers,” Cerf said. “Because these standards are ‘common,’ they will allow teachers, principals, parents and students to have access to knowledge, lesson plans, new content and virtual learning opportunities not only throughout the state, but across the country. We think this type of content innovation, mobility and collaboration is a game changer in education – increasing the chances that anywhere learning takes place, it will be in the format that works for each child at each relevant stage of the learning progress.”
On Wednesday Christie and Cerf will travel to Bergenfield, where they will visit students at Roy W. Brown Middle School and continue to discuss their Four Building Blocks for Success program and focus on teacher performance and accountability.
Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) took the occasion of Christie’s visit to the Cherry Hill school to chide the governor for what the senator described as underfunding public education and not focusing on job creation, an issue currently being pushed by Democrats.
"It is great that the governor is going around visiting all the classrooms and students that he decided to grossly underfund for the last two years,” Sweeney said. ”Maybe next he will pay a visit to each of the 16,000 millionaires in New Jersey he enriched at the expense of our children's education and future.
"There is no denying the importance of education,” the senator said. “But at this time, the governor also needs to simultaneously focus on our state's economy. There is simply no reason the governor can't do both. After all, if he can be on "Meet the Press," visit the Koch Brothers, and, we assume, watch a Mets' game, all in the same day, he can focus on two important issues at once. The hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans who are unemployed need this governor's attention.
“The governor should be working with us to create jobs and fuel economic growth,” Sweeney said. “To date, his only action on the economy in 18 months as governor has been vetoing job creation measures. And since his vetoes, things have only gotten worse. Really, the only economic stimulus this governor has created is for the state's 16,000 millionaires...and he has done it twice for them.
"Right now, our unemployment rate is above the national average, businesses are continuing to layoff workers and too many men and women can’t find jobs. In my world, when something needs to get done, we roll up our sleeves and make it happen. Let’s go governor.”
