Libertarian, Liberal Lawmakers Share Concerns About Police Tactics in Ferguson
As many Americans turned to Twitter TWTR +2.67% to follow the chaos unfolding in Ferguson, Mo., some members of Congress — currently on August recess — tiptoed onto social media to weigh in as well.
The reactions came from across the political spectrum, with many calling for peaceful protests but also expressing serious concerns over the tactics used by police. The confrontations between police and protesters came after the weekend shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
Rep. Justin Amash (R., Mich.), a conservative with libertarian leanings, was one of the first to tweet, calling the reports from Ferguson “frightening” and asking “Is this a war zone or a US city?” He said the government was escalating tensions with use of military equipment and tactics.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) tweeted: “This is America, not a war zone. The people of #Ferguson just want answers. We all want answers.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.), an avid user of social media, tweeted a photo of people holding a sign that read, “Peaceful protest is a right.”
Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt (R.) and Claire McCaskill (D.) also used Twitter to assure constituents they were working to resolve the situation. Mr. Blunt said he was “staying in contact w/ local, state & federal officials & urge everyone to please be safe in #Ferguson,” while Ms. McCaskill saying she was “continuing to work the phones to de escalate the tense and unacceptable situation in Ferguson.”
Maybe Johnny Can’t Read Because These Workers Crowd Out Teachers
Kelsey Harkness / @kelseyjharkness / August 13, 2014
Teachers and other staff hold a ‘back to school’ meeting at K.W. Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, Va. (Photo: K.W. Barrett/Creative Commons)
Half of America’s public school employees aren’t classroom teachers, according to a new study. Instead, they’re non-teaching personnel such as instructional aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, secretaries, and librarians.
It hasn’t always been this way.
The study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit think tank specializing in education policy, found that the number of non-teaching staff grew by 130 percent from 1970 to 2010. Their salaries and benefits account for one-quarter of current education spending.
To show where each state is on the spectrum between least and most non-teaching personnel per 1,000 students, Fordham created this map:
Chart: Thomas B. Fordham Institute
So why are non-teachers on the rise? The Fordham Institute left that up to school district and state education officials to explain.
By using national, state, and local data, though, “The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don’t Teach” attempts to draw attention to what some education experts consider an alarming trend.
By a wide margin, Nevada and South Carolina public schools had the fewest non-teaching workers per 1,000 students, at 26 and 28 respectively, the study found. Virginia, Vermont, and Wyoming had the most at 104, as the chart below shows.
Lindsey Burke, the Will Skillman Fellow in education policy at The Heritage Foundation, argues for reducing the number of non-instructional and administrative positions in public schools:
States should consider cutting costs in areas that are long overdue for reform and pursue systemic reform to improve student achievement. Specifically, states should refrain from continuing to increase the number of non-teaching staff in public schools.
Michael Petrilli, president of the Fordham Institute, told The Daily Signal that the results of the study should encourage policymakers to “raise tough questions about whether these trends are helping or hurting children.”
Among the most significant findings of “The Hidden Half’,” the authors say in a release on the study:
Since 1950, school staffing has increased nearly 400 percent, and non-teaching personnel played a major part in that growth. Passage of several pieces of federal legislation — Section 504, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, and Title IX (Equal Opportunity in Education Act) — likely were instrumental in changing the makeup of schools.
America spends far more on non-teaching staff (as a percentage of education spending) than do most of the nation’s economic peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S. spends more than double what Korea, Mexico, Finland, Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, Austria, and Spain do. Only Denmark spends more.
States vary in staffing their schools, but much of the variation is because of differences within their borders. States with a large proportion of the population living in cities tend to have fewer workers per student. (See chart below.) The category of teacher aides has been the largest gainer over the past 40 years. From 1970 to 2010, aides went from nearly non-existent to the largest group of workers other than teachers.
School districts vary greatly in number of employees, but the differences likely stem from staffing decisions made by leaders. Although factors such as location (rural, suburban, urban) and number of students in special education matter, they don’t explain most of the variation across school districts.
How Would You React To A Neighbor Flying The ISIS Flag, Because It Just Happened Here In The U.S.
Aresident in Garwood, New Jersey is generating a firestorm of controversy for flying the flag of terror group – ISIS.
A photo of the flag was posted on social media by Twitter user, Marc Leibowitz:
According to our friends at the Washington Free Beacon, police reported the residents who were displaying the flag “voluntarily” took it down.
Here’s the thing: the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. However, the oath of allegiance which is taken by all immigrants who become U.S. citizens says that they will protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies “foreign and domestic.” And ISIS even threatened to bring jihad to the White House.
In addition, an ISIS sympathizer in the United States who pledged allegiance to the terrorist group was recently detained at JFK without bail. Clearly, ISIS supporters and possibly even members of the group itself are here in the United States. As this is a national security issue, we can only hope that the proper steps are taken to prevent any threats from ISIS carrying out their plans.
Too many regulations are overloading New Jersey’s schools: Opinion
By Patrick J. Fletcher and Daniel Fishbein
It’s an unsettling question, but we’re obliged to ask it. Has the rapidly accelerating pace of public education-related government mandates now become utterly unsustainable?
In just the past few years, New Jersey legislators have chosen to burden local school districts with the umbrella of AchieveNJ, which includes the recent TeachNJ tenure reform act that imposes upon us a new teacher and administrator evaluation system, with student achievement data included as part of the process.
And as if that weren’t enough, there’s also the new computer-based student evaluation system known as PARCC, as well as updated curriculum programs and textbooks related to the implementation of the Common Core Standards.
Reader says Maple Park was not “renovated.” It was strip-mined and destroyed
Maple Park was not “renovated.” It was strip-mined and destroyed. Nobody walking into it for the first time would describe it as a “park” any more. It is no longer available or of interest to most taxpayers. Therefore, we should not have to pay one cent for it. In fact, the turf there was undoubtedly partly responsible for the recent flooding (again) of the community garden, making all that lovely produce, just becoming perfectly ripe, too dangerous to eat.
Reader says “sports groups” already have more “skin in the game” than any other organization or group of organizations in town
The “sports groups” already have more “skin in the game” than any other organization or group of organizations in town. They privately raised the funds and paid for the renovation of Maple Park, (A million bucks, the Council didn’t spend a dime and until recently they haven’t spent a dime on maintenance either.) they annually pay for upgrades and renovations to both BOE and Village owned facilities including baseball fields, gymnasiums, and other fields. They have paid for installation of sprinkler systems, drainage, seeding, backstops, backboards, padding, bleachers, scoreboards, lights, and the list goes on and on. The problem with the support is that the BOE and the Village have become dependant on the funds. The HS athletic teams are supported by the sports groups by over $200,000 per year in private funding at least. Sports groups purchase uniforms, pay for coaches, pay for buses, etc…. In return for that support you better believe they are going to demand the best playing surfaces available for their teams.
In regards to paying for the maintance and repairs, the sports groups would probably make that trade in a heart beat. Pay for maintenance and repairs on the turf fields in return for the BOE and Village fulfilling their responsibilities for all of the other items would be a major win for the sports groups and net loss for both the BOE and Village Council.
Readers Question residential to commercial Zone change for Goffel Road
Two immediate concerns come to mind – (1) Boscarino, a realtor is putting this forward and he is indicating neighbors have no compaints, I’d like to be very sure to get input from the neighbors and surrounding neighbors (2) Boscarino stated in the linked article “Developers would come in and build whatever the community needs, office buildings, mixed-use …” I am concerned about that “mixed-use” development. Boscarino in full article is quoted as “The heavily traveled county road noise, freight train in the rear, [and] no sidewalks, contribute to low values,” Boscarino wrote. “It is not favorable for children. You cannot carry on a conversation in front of your home during peak travel periods. The Goffle Road thoroughfare is a major provider of services traveled by buses, all-sized trucks and vehicles of all kinds, and a massive amount of passenger vehicles at 40 [miles per hour].” Why develop NEW (partial residential) mixed-use properties if it is such a negative place to live, and you are making it even more commercial? I would be more favorably disposed to new commercial use as opposed to mixed-use zoning.
Ridgewood is not the only municipality cracking down on bad sidewalks
N.J. town to residents: Replace your sidewalk, or meet us in court By Seth Augenstein | The Star-Ledger Email the author | Follow on Twitter on August 13, 2014 at 7:43 AM, updated August 13, 2014 at 2:06 PM
HIGHLAND PARK — Two years ago, a local ordinance was passed allowing the borough to compel homeowners to fix the sidewalks in front of their houses.
Hundreds of residents complied with the borough’s request, but dozens more resisted. And it’s taken two years to reach a climax: this month the borough began taking dozens of homeowners to municipal court, following up on summonses.
Some of the homeowners have decided they can fight borough hall. In a lawsuit filed Monday, they charge the venture is a town-wide system of “intimidation” to do needless repairs.
“In the past two years, Highland Park has intimidated many residents into inappropriately spending their own money for inappropriate sidewalk replacements,” said Mark Oshinskie, an attorney leading the legal opposition. “But causing even more people to unnecessarily spend considerable sums for more such dubious, damaging work is unfair and destructive.”
Experts said responsibility and liability for sidewalks is a legal gray area in New Jersey. While the town says it’s acting in the interest of public safety, opponents have steadfastly refused to repair what they see as a needless financial burden.
Obama prepares schools for enrollment of migrant children
By Mario Trujillo
The Obama administration is preparing the nation’s schools to accept thousands of new students who illegally crossed the Southwest border and are now awaiting trials on their possible deportations.
A fact sheet from the Department of Education tweeted out on Tuesday highlights the children’s right to attend public school.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says the clock is ticking for hundreds of thousands of people who have unresolved issues affecting their coverage under the new health law.
A startling new political science study concludes that corporate interests and mega wealthy individuals control U.S. policy to such a degree that “the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
The startling study, titled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” is slated to appear in an upcoming issue of Perspectives on Politics and was authored by Princeton University Professor Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Professor Benjamin Page. An early draft can be found here.
Noted American University Historian Allan J. Lichtman, who highlighted the piece in a Tuesday article published in The Hill, calls Gilens and Page’s research “shattering” and says their scholarship “should be a loud wake-up call to the vast majority of Americans who are bypassed by their government.”
The statistical research looked at public attitudes on nearly 1,800 policy issues and determined that government almost always ignores the opinions of average citizens and adopts the policy preferences of monied business interests when shaping the contours of U.S. laws.
The study’s findings align with recent trends, where corporate elites have aggressively pursued pro-amnesty policies despite the fact that, according to the most recent Reuters poll, 70% of Americans believe illegal immigrants “threaten traditional U.S. beliefs and customs,” and 63% believe “immigrants place a burden on the economy.”
The solution, say the scholars, is a reinvigorated and engaged electorate.
Governor Christie comes to Parsippany for announcement on pension reform
AUGUST 13, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2014, 12:31 AM PARSIPPANY LIFE
On Friday, Aug. 1, Governor Chris Christie came to Parsippany to sign Executive Order 161, creating a non-partisan “New Jersey Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission” at Town Hall in Parsippany. No explanation was given for his choosing the mainly Republican-run Parsippany as the location for this event.
According to a release from Christie’s office, a panel of experts is tasked with thinking big and being bold when it comes to developing recommendations for how New Jersey can create a sustainable retirement and health benefits system. The Commission’s charge is to think long term and outside of the box when it comes combating these ever-growing entitlement costs.
The Study Commission will review:
The history of the state’s pension and health benefit systems to understand what has led to the current crisis
The soon-to-be-completed Department of the Treasury’s Division of Pensions and Benefits’ exhaustive review of potential public employee entitlement reform proposals
Reforms proposed and enacted by other states or government entities
Pension and health benefits provided in the private sector
Other factors it deems relevant to develop recommendations regarding reform that will lead to the systems being in better financial shape with less cost to the taxpayers while providing public employees and retirees with an appropriate level of benefits
The Commission will report its initial findings and recommendations to the governor within 30 days.
Report: Many Americans’ Paychecks Have Shrunk Since Recession
Philip Wegmann / @PhilipWegmann / August 12, 2014
Today many Americans are taking home a smaller paycheck than they used to, according to a study released Monday by the United States Conference of Mayors.
According to the report, people who worked in job sectors particularly hard hit by the recession had an average salary of $61,637 before the recession. But when it comes to jobs gained after the downturn, the average wage was $47,171 dollars.
“The wage gap has nearly doubled from one recession to the next.” – United States Conference of Mayors.
Conditions have become worse since the last recession, when the internet bubble burst. At that time, the Conference of Mayors measured the wage gap at 12 percent, about half of today’s 23 percent.
“While the economy is picking up steam,” said Conference president and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, “wage gaps are an alarming trend that must be addressed.”
Heavy rain drenches parts of New Jersey but sun to return according to forecast
AUGUST 13, 2014, 7:48 AM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2014, 7:49 AM BY STAFF AND WIRE REPORT NORTHJERSEY.COM
Heavy rain that has soaked parts of New Jersey is starting to move away from the state, leaving behind street flooding and power outages.
Today will be cloudy with a chance of showers and highs near 86. Sunny skies with highs in the eighties can be expected throughout the rest of the week and into the weekend.
There are no reported delays on New Jersey Transit trains and buses or at the local airports.
Unofficial National Weather Service observations show nearly 9 inches of rain fell at Millville Airport in Cumberland County between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. There was more than 7 inches in Stafford, more than 5 inches at Atlantic City airport and in Manasquan, and more than 4 inches in Tabernacle.
There are 7,734 homes and businesses without electricity Wednesday. Most are in Monmouth and Morris counties.
