Full professors at New Jersey’s college and universities made $127,696 on average in 2015-16, according to new data released by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Full professors are a minority of the teaching staff at many colleges, and the database also includes average wages for associate professors, assistant professors, instructors, lecturers and unranked faculty, who all make substantially less money.
The average salary figures were compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education for a database of more than 4,500 institutions. The data, released Wednesday, comes from information schools submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.
Check out the list below to see the 15 N.J. colleges that paid full professors the highest average salary.
A New York man serving 15 years for selling weapons he believed would be sent to terrorists overseas will not have his New Jersey teaching certificates waiting for him when he is released.
Theophilis “Mike” Burroughs, of Newark, was sentenced in 2015 after being convicted of first-degree criminal sale of a firearm, money laundering and tax fraud.
Robert Johnson, the Bronx district attorney at the time, said Burroughs had agreed to sell 13 weapons including assault rifles and hand guns, and had also bought 27,000 cartons of what he believed were untaxed cigarettes during exchanges with undercover officers. In addition to the weapons, he also had offered to sell explosives, night-vision goggles and illegal drugs.
Bronx District Attorney’s Office
Johnson said Burroughs believed the officers he was dealing with were connected to the terrorist organization Hamas, and had expressed support for them and other terror groups.
“It is particularly disturbing when someone who is tasked with educating our young commits crimes,” Johnson said at the time. “It is more disturbing that he did so complicit in the belief he was promoting terrorism
The NJ Board of Education’s choice of PARCC as a HS graduation requirement is an overreach by the executive branch that the Legislature must correct
Sarah Blaine
On March 16, the New Jersey Assembly overwhelmingly passed ACR-215, which is a resolution declaring that the state Board of Education’s new regulations requiring students to pass the PARCC Algebra 1 and the 10th grade PARCC English Language Arts tests to graduate from high school are “inconsistent with legislative intent.”
The existing law requires a comprehensive 11th grade test (which these two PARCC tests, neither of which is generally administered in 11th grade, are not). The resolution will not stop New Jersey’s schools from having to offer PARCC each year, but if adopted by the state Senate as well, it is a step toward ensuring that students will not have to pass PARCC to graduate from high school.
With this resolution, the Assembly took the first step in one process by which our New Jersey legislators can check the authority of our governor and his appointees (in this case, the state Board of Education): invalidating regulations that our Legislature determines are “inconsistent with legislative intent.” In English, that means that if the Legislature passes a law, and the executive branch decides to ignore the law and do something different, the Legislature can tell the executive branch: “No, you’re wrong, please go back to the drawing board.” Because this is a check on the executive branch’s authority, the governor’s signature is not required.
As at least 180,000 New Jersey students demonstrated by refusing to take PARCC tests in 2015 and 2016, opposition to PARCC testing is widespread. But leaving the substantive issues surrounding the PARCC test aside, important as they are, ACR-215 and its senate companion resolution, SCR-132, are about governance. That is, in considering these resolutions, the key question our legislators must decide is whether they are willing to allow Gov. Chris Christie and the Christie-appointed Board of Education to openly ignore New Jersey law.
Location Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ
The public is invited to attend the meeting, or watch it live on Fios channel 33, Optimum channel 77, or on the “Link in Live” tab of the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Revised Budget Resolution
Approval: Revised Resolution for Adoption of the 2017-2018 Preliminary Proposed Budget for Submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools
It is recommended that the Board approve the following revised resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Ridgewood Board of Education, to approve the 2017-2018 school district preliminary proposed budget, as follows, for submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools:
Dr. Fishbein Budget Tax Levy General Fund $ 100,503,229 $91,519,173 Special Revenue Fund $ 1,378,767 $ 0 Debt Service Fund $ 3,683,597 From: $ 3,265,784 To: $ 3,265,783 Total Budget $ 105,565,593 From: $ 94,784,957 To: $94,784,956 The district has proposed programs and services in addition to the Core Curriculum Content Standards adopted by the State Board of Education.
Information on this budget and the programs and services it provides is available from the school district. There should be raised for the General Fund Tax Levy $91,519,173 for the ensuing School Year: (2017-2018).
By Rebecca Everett | For NJ.com
on March 18, 2017 at 8:35 AM, updated March 18, 2017 at 8:37 AM
On Tuesday, the day that Jason “Jay” Eitner ceased to be the Waterford Township school superintendent via a separation agreement, his Twitter and LinkedIn profiles said that he already had a new job.
“Superintendent-in-Residence, U.S. Department of Education,” they read. Both featured the Department of Education’s official seal.
But on that same day a spokesman for the Department of Education said Eitner does not work anywhere in the department.
“There’s not a shred of truth to anything this guy is peddling,” he said.
Eitner, who is active on social media and also maintains a blog on educational topics that he encourages the public to subscribe to, also wrote a post in January about a two-hour meeting he had with Education Secretary Betsy Devos.
“He’s never met with the secretary,” the spokesman said. “I’ve never heard of him and neither has [DeVos’] chief of staff.”
Ridgewood NJ, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, has invited all 214 parishes of the Archdiocese to ring their bells on the morning of Sunday, March 19 in opposition to the incredible fear that is being generated worldwide toward immigrants and refugees.
The Archdiocese is participating in the international Joy of Bells initiative, an effort by people of faith throughout the world to protest against anti-immigrant sentiment. Cardinal Tobin learned about the effort recently from former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, one of its organizers.
In writing to pastors in the Archdiocese about Newark’s participation, Cardinal Tobin stated: “It actually is fitting that March 19 is chosen as the day for this event, since traditionally the Catholic Church observes the Feast of St. Joseph on that day. As we all know, St. Joseph, in whom was entrusted the care of Jesus and his mother, Mary, understood first-hand the trials and terrors of being a refugee and emigrant, forced from his own land by people wishing to do the Holy Family harm.”
Many have also noted that the Joy of Bells also occurs during the weekend of the celebration of the Feast of St. Patrick, who was an immigrant to Ireland, first as a slave, and then as a missionary.
Parishes are free to choose at what time they will join in the demonstration of solidarity with people of faith throughout the world in the Joy of Bells, so long as the ringing occurs during the morning of March 19. The bells of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the mother Church of the Archdiocese, will peal at 10:15 a.m.
The Cardinal ended his letter to pastors with this entreaty: “Let your bells join those in England and Ireland, the Vatican and Canada, Thailand and countless other countries, cities, towns and villages to help people overcome isolation and hatred throughout the world.”
Reported and written by David Matthau and Adam Hochron
A new report by Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center calls for comprehensive action on testing and remediating lead-contaminated drinking water in schools and communities across the Garden State.
The report, which gives New Jersey a grade of C-, also documents the health effects of exposure to lead, especially in children.
“We can’t sit on our hands and we can’t point to a Poland Springs strategy of thou shalt only drink bottled water,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey.
After a growing number of New Jersey districts last year began revealing that some of their drinking water was contaminated with lead, the state Department of Education began requiring regular testing and reporting of those results to the state.
Since then, at least 30 districts have reported high levels of lead in 88 school buildings, according to records obtained by New Jersey 101.5. This number includes both public and private schools.
The high levels were found in water fountains, kitchen sinks used for cooking as well as bathroom sinks and wash basins.
But the exact number of schools with lead contamination is even higher.
March 20, 2017 Education Center Regular Public Meeting 7:30 p.m.
AGENDA * * * * * MEETING REGULATIONS
Ridgewood NJ, At all regular meetings, two opportunities are provided for citizens to make comments. The public comment periods will be scheduled after presentations and approximately 9:00 p.m. or just prior to the end of the meeting, whichever occurs first. The first opportunity may be limited by the presiding officer to conclude at about 8:00 p.m. in order for the Board to continue with its scheduled agenda. The second opportunity will occur at about 9:00 p.m. at the discretion of the presiding officer taking into consideration a break point in the agenda. At every opportunity for public comment, citizens are invited to comment on subjects on the agenda or general topics. At the discretion of the presiding officer, public comments may be permitted at other times. Persons wishing to speak must, upon being recognized, rise, sign in, and state their names and addresses. Each speaker shall be limited to four minutes. The Board Recorder will note the time. A speaker who has not finished in the allotted time will be directed by the presiding officer to summarize quickly and relinquish the floor within 30 seconds. Comments shall be limited to issues. If personal remarks or discourteous statements are made, the presiding officer shall require the speaker to stop. No person will be recognized for a second time until all others asking to speak have been heard.
Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ
DescriptionThe public is invited to attend the meeting, or watch it live on Fios channel 33, Optimum channel 77, or on the “Link in Live” tab of the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Assembly (ACR215) overwhelmingly passes. The bill is a major step in overturning the requirement to pass the PARCC test to graduate high school in New Jersey.
In a 67-3 vote,(67 Yeas; 3 Nays;2 Abstain; 8 Not Voting) the Assembly yesterday approved a joint resolution that would stop the state from requiring students to pass the PARCC tests for Algebra I and for 10th grade language arts to graduate. The requirement is in effect for the Class of 2021.
Local Assembly members Robert Auth (R-39) and Holly Schepisi (R-39) who voted YES along with 65 others!
Voting “No”: Asm. Anthony Bucco-R-25); Erik Peterson (R-23); and Jay Webber (R-26). Abstaining: Jon Bramnick (R-21); Gregory McGuckin (R-10).
Not Voting Michael Carroll (R-25); Joseph Egan (D-17); Reed Gusciora (D-15); Declan O’Scanlon (R-13); Eliana Pintor-Marin (D-29); Kevin Rooney (R-40); David Russo (R-40); David Wolfe (R-10.)
The Assembly has long been the center of PARCC dissent, the Senate has not taken any action President Steve Sweeney has yet to even post the companion resolution ( SCR132) in committee. Sweeney has said he is not opposed to PARCC and raised the question about what would replace it.
Ridgewood NJ, The Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein will host residents for coffee and casual conversation on Tuesday, March 28. The casual meeting will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. All residents are invited to drop in to share their thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns.
The final 2016-2017 Coffee and Conversation is planned for Wednesday, May 17.
Superintendent’s Monthly Column: What’s Your Story? Click here to read Dr. Fishbein’s monthly column for The Ridgewood News, March 10 edition.
Preliminary 2017-2018 School Budget
At the March 6 Board of Education meeting, Business Administrator Dr. Alfredo Aguilar presented the preliminary 2017-2018 budget, which is based on a .97% local tax levy increase. The total preliminary budget is $105,565,593, which would mean a $184.39 annual tax increase on the average assessed Ridgewood home of $696,093.
Click here to view the preliminary budget presentation as a PDF.
Following discussion, the Board approved the following resolution for Adoption of the 2017-2018 Preliminary Proposed Budget for Submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools:
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Ridgewood Board of Education, to approve the 2017-2018 school district preliminary proposed budget, as follows, for submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools:
There should be raised for the General Fund Tax Levy $91,519,173 for the ensuing School Year: (2017-2018).
Full-day Kindergarten update from the BOE 2.27.17 meeting
Elementary school principals are getting ready for full-day Kindergarten this fall. The goal is to expand the day so that the children can have better time to apply what they are learning rather add more to the curriculum. There will be continuing professional development on May 12 for all teachers, including the newly hired, and six teachers will go to the Paramus Parkway School to observe the program there. Furnishings and libraries are also being carefully researched. Click here for the presentation.
A letter from Dr. Fishbein on inclusiveness in the Ridgewood Public Schools Click here to read a letter from Dr. Fishbein sent on February 2, 2017.
A letter from Dr. Fishbein, Dr. Gorman, Mr. Orsini and Dr. Kashmanian
The superintendent and principals of RHS, BFMS and GWMS wrote a letter to middle school and high school parents and guardians regarding the uptick in abuse of prescription drugs by students. Click here to read the letter, which was sent on January 30.
Superintendent’s January Column: New Year, New Website and New Ideas for Beating the Winter Blues Click here to read Dr. Fishbein’s January column for The Ridgewood News.
HIB District and School Grade Reports
Please click here to view the Ridgewood District and School Grade Report for 2015-16, a self-assessment required under the Anti-bullying Bill of Rights.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Public Schools will have a DELAYED OPENING on Wednesday, March 15. A Delayed Opening means that schools will start two hours later than usual and school bus schedules will operate two hours later. Morning Kindergarten is cancelled; afternoon Kindergarten will follow the regular hours. Children in grades 1 – 5 who have not ordered lunches must bring a bag lunch to school as there is not sufficient time for children to go home for lunch. Please be careful as you are out and about today
Ridgewood NJ, All high school students would receive instruction on available State and federal student loans, as well as student loan debt under legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Singer (R-Monmouth, Ocean) and advanced by the Senate Budget Committee.
Sen. Robert Singer’s bill would add instruction on student loans, including how to pay them back, as a high school graduation requirement. (SenateNJ.com)
“No one should rush into signing a contract that could cost them tens of thousands of dollars without fully understanding the repercussions of making such an enormous decision,” Senator Singer said. “High school students statewide are already required to take a financial literacy course in order to graduate. Without a doubt, learning how to get a student loan and more importantly, how to pay it back, is essential to understanding how to manage money in today’s world.”
Sen. Singer’s bill, S-990, would require the State Board of Education to add this instruction as a graduation requirement, beginning with the 2017-2018 graduating class. The instruction, which will fall under the current financial literacy course requirement, must also incorporate issues associated with student loan debt, the requirements for repayment of that debt, and the consequences of the failure to repay it in a timely manner.
Students would also be required to meet with a guidance counselor during their sophomore or junior year to discuss State and federal tuition assistance programs, including grants, scholarships and loans they may be eligible for. The guidance counselor would also cover ways to reduce the cost of higher education, such as options for earning college credit while still in high school.
“We know that the process of applying for a loan is far too complex and that many graduates aren’t getting an education that matches what they paid just to get through the classroom door,” Senator Singer added. “This doesn’t change the fact that it is extremely difficult to become financially independent without a college degree. As we work to achieve greater reform, we must do everything we can to ensure future graduates are prepared to handle this responsibility.”
Without last-in first-out our schools (and village services) would be totally run by friends and family.
Look at the schools. There are lots of family trees in the RPS system. Some schools only hire on the friends and family plan. Who hires in the middle schools? Without regulation only unaffiliated staff would be let go and family members would be moved into safe positions. We have union rules to keep the politics out of the layoff process.
It is not about effective and ineffective teachers. It is about the “Friends and Family” plan that exists in this town and many others.
Those who obstruct choice are more interested in protecting their special interests than in protecting the interests of all children to access a quality education
Ruthven Haneef Auguste
Earlier this week I was in Trenton with other public charter school parents to meet with legislators, advocate for the opportunity to choose a school that best fits the needs of our children, and commit to a year of action supporting education equality for all. Whether you’re a charter, district, or private school parent, we can all agree we want the best for our kids no matter where you choose to send them to school.
The opposition to school choice has regularly used certain words for parents in New Jersey’s worst-performing school districts when they have the audacity to choose to send their kids to public charter schools — “pawn” and “parasite” come to mind. However, in no area of life is less choice good, and it is upsetting that these adults, many who presumably have children of their own, seem determined to take away opportunity and choice from parents like me. I don’t presume to think I have enough information to form an opinion of how schools should be run in their towns and would guess things are vastly different in Newark where I work and live. We have amazing schools, terrible schools, and everything in the middle, which is why I wanted to be able to make the choice of where my children go to school.
Newark, NJ—A short video that explains New Jersey’s “last in, first out” (LIFO) teacher layoff law was released on social media today by Partnership for Educational Justice (PEJ), the nonprofit supporting six Newark parents and their pro bono legal team in a legal challenge to the constitutionality of this statute. In the lawsuit filed on November 1, 2016, the parents assert that New Jersey’s LIFO law violates students’ right to an education by unjustly requiring school districts to ignore teacher quality and retain ineffective teachers while laying off effective teachers, despite substantial research establishing that teacher quality is the most important in-school factor affecting student learning.
The video supports the plaintiff parents in their fight to end an illogical law that puts their children at risk of losing the thorough and efficient education guaranteed to them by the state constitution. By explaining the LIFO policy mandated by this law, the video also informs other New Jersey parents about the negative impact of LIFO and encourages them to follow the progress of the lawsuit. The video appears on PEJ’s website and will also be promoted on PEJ’s social media channels – Youtube and Facebook – as well as select local news platforms. The full script of the video is included at the end of this press release.
State funding for local school districts in the 2017-18 school year remains somewhat uncertain after Governor Christie’s budget address last week. But, in the 2017-18 state aid summary budget released by the State Education Department last Thursday, district allocations are projected to be flat with current funding rates. In Newark, this will result in a $60 million deficit for the public schools. Under the LIFO law, this financial situation forces the district to make a difficult decision: either lay off dozens or hundreds of teachers, many of whom are effective; or, retain ineffective teachers and make cuts to other educational expenditures. Newark Public Schools employ more than half of the state’s ineffective teachers, according to the most recent data released by the state education department. Other school districts around New Jersey are also facing significant funding deficits.
“Most parents I know have no idea about this law and how it hurts our kids,” said Wendy Soto, mother of two Newark Public School students and plaintiff in HG v. Harrington, the parent-led lawsuit challenging the state’s teacher layoff statute. “As a mother, I’m outraged that our children will be forced into classrooms with ineffective teachers while effective teachers are let go. I hope parents pay attention and join the fight to keep our best teachers in schools, especially with budget cuts on the horizon.”
“Especially as districts face significant funding deficits, it’s important that public school parents understand how the current teacher layoff law violates students’ right to a quality education,” said Ralia Polechronis, Executive Director of Partnership for Educational Justice. “Research is clear that teachers are the most critical in-school factor affecting student learning. Because of New Jersey’s LIFO law, districts like Newark, with a significant number of ineffective teachers, are forced to retain these ineffective teachers, and either lay off their more qualified colleagues or cut important educational programming. In the current funding climate, it’s more important than ever that New Jersey’s unconstitutional teacher layoff law is repealed.”
The video released by PEJ today highlights academic research showing that students with high-quality, effective teachers are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, have higher paying jobs, and higher lifetime earnings than their peers who have ineffective teachers, even for just one year.
Newark ranked in the bottom third of twenty-five urban school districts investigated in a report released last year by the Fordham Institute looking into how difficult it is for ineffective veteran teachers to be removed. Newark Public Schools received only three out of a possible ten points awarded for degree of difficulty removing a veteran teacher who has been identified as ineffective, with ten indicating that it is easy to remove an ineffective teacher and zero indicating that it is very difficult.
To better understand the effect that LIFO layoffs would have on Newark’s overall teacher quality, Newark Public Schools ran the numbers in 2014 on a hypothetical teacher layoff scenario. Under the quality-blind LIFO layoff mandate, 85 percent of the teachers laid off would have been rated effective or highly effective, and only 4 percent of the teachers laid off would have been rated ineffective. Under a performance-based system, only 35 percent of teachers laid off would have been rated effective and no teachers rated highly effective would lose their jobs.
Since at least 2012, the Newark Public School district has avoided laying off effective teachers by paying millions of dollars per year to cover the salaries of ineffective – but more senior – teachers even when no school would agree to their placement in the school. This costly work-around, which cost the district $10 million dollars in 2016-17, has diverted valuable resources from educational programming and other expenses that could improve the education of Newark students.
