Montclair Public Schools: Under Siege
Montclair, New Jersey, has long been proud of its fine public schools. But these days, not even good schools and good districts are exempt from...
Category : Chris
Chris Cerf Is Certain….and Wrong
New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education Chris Cerf has the good fortune to be leader of a state with some of the best schools and school...
How Bad Is New Jersey’s New Teacher Evaluation System?
Jersey Jazzman studied the teacher evaluation system devised by State Commissioner Chris Cerf and concludes it is an unmitigated disaster. Like it or not, teachers...
Could Mark Zuckerberg Please Fix This Newark Problem?
Mark Zuckerberg paid out $100 million to fix Newark’s schools. Millions have been spent on consultants. Probably lots more charters too, free to push out...
The Ongoing Charter School Fiasco in New Jersey
How could it happen that New Jersey officials cut the ribbon at the opening of a new charter school facility in September, but the school...
Pedro Noguera Explains the Demise of Newark’s Global Village
Pedro Noguera, an urban sociologist at New York University, took the lead in crafting a comprehensive plan for education reform in a group of public...
Big Out-of-State $$$ Floods Local Race in New Jersey: Why?
Big political contributions have poured into a local school board race in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Donors in California andColorado are supporting a slate of...
Jersey Jazzman Dissects Meaning of Newark Contract
New Jersey is unquestionably one of the two or three highest performing states in the nation on NAEP. Given its extremes of wealth and pockets...
About That Newark Teachers Union Deal
I don’t understand all the details of the deal reached by the Newark Teachers Union and the Christie administration. The final details were hammered out...
Jersey Jazzman Hits It Out of the Park
New Jersey blogger Jersey Jazzman has written a brilliant and funny essay on “America’s Most Invasive Species: The Wonk.” This is the kind of article...