New Jersey begins to venture beyond No Child Left Behind
A decade into the federal law that changed the debate on public schools, the federal No Child Left Behind Act looks like it will be gone well short of its goal that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014.
President Obama’s education secretary Arne Duncan yesterday announced that his department will be granting regulatory waivers to states to get around the 100 percent proficiency goal and other rigid provisions of the NCLB.
In New Jersey, more than half of the public schools don’t meet the federal standards now, according to the state. Some predicted a failure rate as high as 80 percent nationwide in the next few years. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Sweeney demands ELEC investigation of Elizabeth Board of Education
State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) today urged the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission to investigate the Elizabeth Board of Education to demonstrate, in Sweeney’s words, that the state will not condone any political activity that threatens the delivery or education or the integrity of teachers.
“I would like to bring to your attention a matter of concern involving the unlawful solicitation of campaign contributions from employees of the Elizabeth Board of Education (‘Board of Education’),” wrote to Executive Director Jeffrey Brindle. “I believe the seriousness of this allegation requires an immediate investigation and, if warranted, sanctions to punish all misconduct.” (Pizarrom PolitickerNJ)
NJEA refuses to endorse Sweeney and Oliver for re-election
The politically powerful New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest ’s teachers union has decided not to endorse state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) for re-election, the second time the legislative leaders have been stung by public employee unions in the past four days.
The NJEA, the Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal workers, which represent the majority of state and local government employees are enraged at 22 Democratic senators and Assembly members who joined with Gov. Chris Christie and Republicans to approve an overhaul of pension and health benefits. (Hester, New Jersey Newsroom)
>Severe Solar Storms Could Disrupt Earth This Decade: NOAA
By IB Times Staff Reporter | August 8, 2011 7:08 AM EDT
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal agency that focuses on the condition of the oceans and atmosphere, said a severe solar storm could cause global disruptions in GPS systems, power grids, satellite communications, and airline communications.
With solar activity expected to peak around 2013, the Sun is entering a particularly active time and big flares like the recent one will likely be common during the next few years.
Most solar flares will only cause minor problems with satellites and power grids, but a major flare in the mid-19th century blocked the nascent telegraph system, and some scientists believe that another such event is now overdue.
In a huge solar storm back in 1859, telegraph offices worldwide were hit, some telegraph operators reported electric shocks, the telegraph systems malfunctioned and even paper caught fire. It is the strongest solar storm on record and is called the “Carrington Event,” which is named after Richard Carrington, who viewed and reported on the solar flare of Sept. 1, 1859. In 1989, six million people in Quebec, Canada were left without power for several hours when a solar storm took down a power grid.
>Obama Administration Exempting Schools From Federal Law’s Testing Mandate
Monday, August 08, 2011
By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, Associated Press
(AP) – State and local education officials have been begging the federal government for relief from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law, but school starts soon and Congress still hasn’t answered the call.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says he will announce a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break.
The plan to offer waivers to all 50 states, as long as they meet other school reform requirements, comes at the request of President Barack Obama, Duncan said. More details on the waivers will come in September, he said.
>Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood Offers Kindergarten Enrichment Program
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood is now accepting registration for its Kindergarten Enrichment program for the 2011-2012 school year. The school has both morning and afternoon sessions.
The program supports all the major district initiatives including: Handwriting Without Tears, Envision Math and Words Their Way. Classes will meet twice per week. There is no co-op requirement for parents who enroll in the kindergarten enrichment class. Students are also invited to participate in extended day programs.
A nonsectarian school, The Co-op offers morning and afternoon classes for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, as well as Mommy & Me classes and a new Kindergarten Enrichment class. The school’s seasoned professional teaching staff members guide students toward social, emotional and physical well-being. Children learn and play in an environment ideally suited to their needs as developing individuals. The program encourages independence, self-discipline and a love for school.
The Co-op is organized and run by the parents, which enables the parents to actively participate in their child’s early learning experience. Music, physical education, field trips, indoor and outdoor play time and an in-house library are just a few of the experiences to which the children are exposed as supplements to the daily education plans.
Please call the school at (201) 447-6232 or ridgewoodcoop@gmail.com for more information or to schedule a visit to the school. The school is located at 100 Dayton Street in the center of Ridgewood.
On Friday evening, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+. As we and other conservatives warned, the spending reductions in the deal negotiated by President Obama to raise the debt ceiling were inadequate, and S&P reacted as we predicted but sooner. Neither Moody’s nor Fitch, two other rating agencies, have downgraded federal debt yet, but they are not providing much rosier outlooks.
Decades of over-spending and over-borrowing by the federal government have damaged America’s creditworthiness. Congress after Congress, President after President, the federal government spent every penny it took in—and borrowed over $14 trillion on top of that—to try to keep happy the voters to whom the government made promises it could not afford. The government kept shifting the burden of paying the bills forward onto future generations.
Well, the future has arrived, and it is bleak. Our economy is weak, millions of Americans are out of work, and America is so deep in debt that we have lost our good credit rating. Our nation needs to drive federal spending, including our ever-growing entitlement programs, down toward a balanced budget while maintaining our ability to protect America and without raising taxes. That is the sound path forward to a stronger economy with smaller government and more real jobs.
The White House’s first reaction to this news was to blame S&P itself, claiming that their math was wrong as spokesmen pointed out S&P’s past rating failures. Correcting the math didn’t correct the problem, however, and so S&P went ahead with its downgrade. Debating S&P’s credibility misses the more important point, which is there for all to see: Projected deficit spending properly raises questions about U.S. credit quality.
We cannot waste time shooting the messenger when the message itself is impossible to ignore: It’s the spending.
Unsustainable entitlement programs have been built up over many Congresses and Presidents. Elected officials from both parties over many decades helped push us closer to this point. But the last chance to start correcting the problem before damage to America’s credit occurred was during the recent debate over the debt limit.
Regrettably, President Obama and the Senate liberals refused to allow reforms to any entitlement programs and refused to make significant cuts in other federal spending unless they could raise taxes on America. Conservatives rightly resisted increasing taxes, which is a recipe for economic disaster during an economic slowdown. The resulting deal on the Budget Control Act brought little in the way of spending cuts and lots in the way of increased borrowing, and it was the last straw that cost America its top credit rating. President Obama and his liberal allies on Capitol Hill brought America’s credit down
The White House claims that its tax-hike centered “grand bargain” would have prevented a downgrade, yet they still have not told us what was in that “bargain.” Even as Senate Democrats are nearing three years without a budget, President Obama has offered to the American people rhetoric and class warfare, rather than solutions and responsible leadership.
PSE&G increases investment in transmission and distribution lines 15 percent
Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) is once again ramping up its capital spending on new transmission and distribution lines, boosting its investment by 15 percent to $5.2 billion over the next three years.
In its quarterly earnings call Wednesday, the state’s largest utility indicated that more than half of its increased spending will involve transmission line projects, saying recent state and federal regulatory approvals laid the foundation for the investments. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
New Jersey has been proud of its commitment to renewable energy, and legislative policies have encouraged the installation of photovoltaic solar arrays to the point that the state is second only to California in solar power production, according to the Board of Public Utilities.
But in June, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration announced that it was withdrawing New Jersey from a 10-state regional energy plan, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
This was followed a few days later with the introduction of the proposed new Energy Management Plan, a blueprint for energy planning for the next decade. (MacKenzie, Gannett)
U.S. judge gives N.J. legislators more time to make wine laws
A U.S. District Court judge has given New Jersey lawmakers a shot at salvaging profits for the state’s wine industry.
In December, a federal court of appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional to allow in-state wineries to sell directly to retailers and in tasting rooms while requiring wineries from other states to go through wholesalers.
Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney backed a bill that would allow state wineries to keep their tasting rooms open and ship their products directly to consumers’ homes. The bill was not passed by the time lawmakers departed for their summer recess. (Bittner, Gloucester County Times)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011
BY BRIAN FARRELL
SPORTS EDITOR
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — Sports in high school go way beyond the playing lines when it comes to internal support, because if one takes the right attitude and approach, then the team one is playing for or coaching becomes family.
The Ridgewood High School football community has a very nice, exemplary family. Just ask Bill Grundy
Grundy, the epitome of what a good football coach should be, with all of the attributes of a Vince Lombardi — toughness but fairness, demanding but rewarding — is steadily recovering from the stroke he suffered in April of 2008. The former Ridgewood junior football head coach and assistant coach at Ridgewood High School has gone through extensive rehabilitation and therapy since he was felled at his teaching job at Demarest Middle School. With that have come extensive medical bills. Even though insurance has pulled a considerable weight in helping, the Grundy family is still left with much to pay out of its pocket.
>Proposed energy project in Ridgewood may help bring some green back
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011
BY KELLY EBBELS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood may implement a comprehensive sustainable energy project that will see its Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) upgraded with ultraviolet lights and a methane-powered generator, and five village properties adorned with solar panels.
The village opened proposals for the project from five firms last week, and Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser said that two were thorough enough to be considered.
New Jersey proposed a sweeping overhaul last week to its regulations for the personal injury protection component of auto insurance, hoping to curb rising premiums. The changes affect how and what doctors can bill for treatments and restructure the process for appealing a denied claim.
Though New Jersey consistently ranks among the most expensive states to purchase auto insurance, rates did decline after former Gov. James E. McGreevey enacted changes in 2003 that spurred competition. (Lederman, The Associated Press)
New Jersey is overhauling its energy policy for the second time in three years as states make rewrites to keep up with technology changes and ideological shifts.
Northeastern states have been responding lately to the abundance of natural gas drawn from the Pennsylvania section of the Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation in the Appalachian basin. It has dropped gas prices to a third of 2008 peaks. (Jordan, Gannett)
Why the Port Authority wants $1 billion in toll and fare hikes
For decades, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been one of the region’s key economic drivers, pulling in ever-increasing revenues from its airports, cargo ports and bridge and tunnel tollbooths and pumping that money back into the economy in massive job-creating infrastructure projects.
Now it’s the Port Authority that’s overextended and strapped for revenue, as its unprecedented request for a $1 billion-a-year toll and fare hike shows. The plan would raise bridge and tunnel tolls, which were just increased from $6 to $8 three years ago, to $12 next month and to $14 in 2014, and would hike PATH fares next month from $1.75 to $2.75. (Magyar, NJ Spotlight)
