Posted on

New Jersey Senate Passes Prop up Unions, anti-business ,anti-Icahn casino shutdown bill

Sweeney & Prieto

Updated: OCTOBER 20, 2016 — 3:39 PM EDT

by WAYNE PARRY, The Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – The New Jersey Senate approved a measure Thursday that would punish billionaire Carl Icahn for shutting down the Trump Taj Mahal casino by prohibiting him from holding a casino license for it for five years.

The bill would only apply to Icahn at this time, even though four other Atlantic City casinos have shut down since 2014.

Icahn’s Atlantic City management team says the bill is unfair and unconstitutional, making it virtually impossible to reopen the Taj Mahal should they decide to do so.

The bill has not yet been voted on in the state Assembly. If passed by the full Legislature, it is likely to be vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who has made criticism of some labor unions a key part of his political agenda.

https://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20161020_ap_4b48d237d706470896109604aea28bc5.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics

Posted on

New Jersey Senate to vote on slowing Common Core implementation

Children_of_the_Common_Core

New Jersey Senate to vote on slowing Common Core implementation
July 8, 2014
ALISSA MACK 

TRENTON, N.J. – Another state could put a crimp in the Common Core takeover by the end of this week.

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill on June 16 with a 72-4 vote with two abstentions to delay the use of new student assessments linked to Common Core by at least two years, according to Capitol Quickies.

The bill (A3081) would create a task force to review the standards and give school districts the option of administering PARCC tests in the upcoming two school years.

Capitol Quickies reports:

The state Senate has scheduled a vote for Thursday afternoon on legislation (A3081) that establishes an Education Review Task Force to analyze the Common Core standards, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments and the use of students’ test results in evaluating teachers…

The bill says that for at least two years, or longer if the task force’s final report isn’t completed within the year it’s supposed to take, PARCC assessments can’t be used as a high school graduation requirement or for other school or students accountability purposes. It also says that growth in students’ test scores can’t be used for at least two years for a teacher’s or principal’s evaluation…

The task force would have 15 members, including acting Education Commissioner David Hespe or his designee and eight members recommended by the following organizations: the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the New Jersey Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the New Jersey Council of County Vocational Schools, the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, the New Jersey School Boards Association and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network.

Three public members would also be appointed to the task force.

The new site did not seem confident that Gov. Christie would sign the bill should it reach his desk this week.