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Bergen County Technical School District Recipient of NJ Department of Education Securing Our Children’s Future Grant

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the the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hackensack NJ, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco announced that the Bergen County Technical School District was recently the recipient of a MAJOR NJ Department of Education Securing Our Children’s Future Grant. The grant will provide 75% of total funding for the construction of a new Career and Technical Education (CTE) School here in Bergen County which will bridge the gap between high school and postsecondary plans, providing a versatile curriculum that prepares students for their next step, whether it is a trade apprenticeship program, a two-year college, or four-year college.

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New Jersey Department of Health Releases COVID-19 Recommendations for Schools

rhs 2020 schools out

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) released COVID-19 Public Health Recommendations for Local Health Departments for schools.

“The Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Education, has developed guidance to help local health departments assist schools in providing a safe environment for students and staff,” said Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.  “Understanding that COVID-19 may impact certain areas of the state differently, the Department will provide data by 6 regions of the state to inform local decisions.”

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NJ Department of Education Issues Guidance Allowing Parents to Choose All-Remote Learning for Their Children

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  The New Jersey Department of Education today issued clarifying guidance to allow parents to select fulltime remote learning for their children in the 2020-2021 school year. 

Released last month, the Department’s guidance document, “The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education,” emphasized that schools should prepared plans to open in some capacity for in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year. Since its release, the Department received feedback from many parents who wanted a greater voice in the decision-making process of whether their child should return to in-person learning. In addition, officials in some school districts called on the Department to release guidance to specifically allow for all-remote learning for those students.   

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NJ Department of Education Issues Guidance for School Districts on COVID-19

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

 

Ridgewood NJ,  The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) this week announced that it has issued guidance to school districts related to the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

While the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in New Jersey remains low, the NJDOE has issued guidance to increase flexibility for districts to provide home instruction in the event of mandated public health school closures related to COVID-19. Home instruction may include online instruction or through a contract with a neighboring school district.

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NJGOP Chairman Calls On Office of Public Integrity and Accountability To Investigate Hiring of Convicted Felon into the Department of Education

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ,  week Governor Murphy defended hiring former Passaic councilman, Marcellus Jackson, who, as a Passaic City councilman, was convicted of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents. Murphy called his decision to hire the convicted felon into the Department of Education his administration’s “new norm.”

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Senate President Sweeney and Senator Ruiz Call reducing the PARCC assessment to only five percent of teacher evaluation a victory for special interests and a huge step backward towards a better public education

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Senate President Sweeney and Senator Ruiz Joint Statement on NJ Department of Education Announcement to Reduce PARCC Evaluation Weights

“As we approach the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year, we are deeply disappointed that the administration is walking away from New Jersey’s students by reducing the PARCC assessment to count for only five percent of a teacher’s evaluation. These tests are about education, not politics.

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Ridgewood Teachers Make the Department of Education $100,000 Club

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August 4,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, The Department of Education has just released its annual list of teachers and their salaries for 2017. And the list of educators making $100,000 or more ie the $100,000 club.  This list barely had any teachers on it more than a decade ago has grown to more than 5,000.

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In 2016-2017, the average salary for teachers, librarians, guidance counselors and other non-administrative staff totaled $70,637, according to an NJ Spotlight analysis of salary data for public school districts and charter schools. The increase is about 1.5 percent higher than the previous year.

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NJ Department of Education Unit “Q” Double-Dippers collected roughly $5.9 million last year

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NJ Department of Education Unit “Q” Double-Dippers collected roughly $5.9 million last year
March 2,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Speaking of salaries, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on an investigation from New Jersey Watchdog that found that an obscure unit of the NJ Department of Education called Unit “Q” employs 40 “double-dipping” staff members, who collect pensions as well as paychecks.  For example, Cathy Coyle, who collects an annual pension of $73,765 from the State, also takes home $151,862 for her DOE job as a “special services” employee in Unit Q.

From the Inquirer:

•    Two-thirds of NJDOE’S top 60 Unit Q special services workers collect state pensions.
•    Those 40 employees collected roughly $5.9 million last year – nearly $2.9 million in state pay plus almost $3 million from retirement checks.
•    Thirty-eight of the double-dippers have six-figure incomes. Five receive more than $200,000 a year.

Most of them seem to work as either County Superintendents (irony alert: they control merit bonuses for district superintendents; see post below this) or Regional Achievement Center Executive Directors, who oversee NJ’s most troubled districts.

Data collected by https://watchdog.org/category/new-jersey/ and the https://www.philly.com/inquirer/