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A punch? Maybe not. But here are 10 reasons why teachers’ unions deserve to lose.

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Posted by Matt Rooney On August 03, 2015 11 Comments

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Governor Chris Christie’s CNN interview continues to elicit strong reactions, Save Jerseyans, and the problem with this controversy, as with similar incidents, is that most folks are focusing on the style points. It’s among the regrettable byproducts of our presidential politics, cultural decline, and hyper-politicization of the education industry. But those are topics for another post…

What about the substance?

Let’s revisit, briefly, what these teachers’ unions are all about and objectively decide whether they deserve to exist (I’m not pulling any punches):

10) The union establishment’s demands are as unrealistic as they’ve been fiscally ruinous. NJEA members will donate $126,000 to pension and health benefits over 30 years but stand to collect $2.4 million in return. Who thought this was a good idea??? Are all of the calculators broken in Trenton? Of course not. It’s all part of an elaborate, decades-old double-whammy of vote buying and problem avoidance. Instead of hating Chris Christie, teachers should direct their ire to the politicians on their own union’s campaign season payroll. They did it.

9)  Their chosen tactics are disgusting. Wisconsin’s recent experienceswere horrific, and the physical/verbal violence perpetrated by Big Labor’s storm troopers was 100% one-sided.

8) The system these unions ferociously protect is failing our country’s most vulnerable children, especially those students living in poorer, minority-concentrated school districts. Click here to check out my lengthy run-down of Camden High School’s plight (catalyzed by a give-and-take with my liberal friend of Inky fame Kevin Riordan) for the uncomfortable truth.

7) American Teachers’ unions = Democrat Party affiliates. After self-preservation, the teacher union establishment is primarily concerned with protecting the Democrats whose policies protect their power. A good faith union would avoid colluding with one political party or the other, pursuing and prioritizing the best interests of its membership and their children. Not the teacher’s unions; in this state and most others, and certainly nationally as Chris Christie pointed out, they function as a Democrat Super PAC. The American Federation of Teachers has already endorsed Hillary Clinton before either party held its first debate!

6) Dues tied up in waste and hypocrisy… so teachers lose, too: The NJEA collects a 9-figure annual sum in teachers’ taxpayer paycheck-derived dues; its regular and political arms spend many millions more in lobbying and both direct and indirect campaigning activity to influence public police. What do its members have to show for it???

5) Therefore, these unions have a financial incentive to protect bad dues-paying teachers at the expense of the education system. Much has been written on this topic but John Stossel did a particularly good job of illustrating how difficult it is to purge the suck; it’s a crisis that’s turned even hardened union veterans against the tenure-centric system.

https://savejersey.com/2015/08/chris-christie-teacher-union-punch-video-facts/

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N.J. structural deficit nearly same as when Christie took office

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New Jersey is more than $10 billion short on what it would cost to fully fund schools, pensions, transportation projects, Medicaid and other programs, according to an estimate prepared by the state’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services and obtained by NJ Advance Media. (Samantha Marcus, NJ.com)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/nj_structural_deficit_at_102b_nearly_same_as_when.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

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Dropping Common Core may alter little in N.J.

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MAY 29, 2015, 7:05 PM    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015, 11:40 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Governor Christie’s declaration that he will drop Common Core education standards to create ones that are more suited to New Jersey left open the possibility of change. But if other states are a predictor, that change may not be so sweeping.

Several states have moved to replace Common Core and have ended up with standards that look mostly the same, according to education groups. And educators and administrators in New Jersey say the state has made such a huge investment to roll out standards that a total reversal is unlikely.

“It’s in the materials. It’s in the tests. It’s in the teacher training. It’s taught in professional development,” said Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, an education non-profit that helped develop Common Core. “If standards change dramatically, you’d have to make those investments all over again.”

In 2010, New Jersey adopted Common Core along with more than 40 other states. The states repealing Common Core have done so largely in response to political backlash in the conservative GOP, which believes it infringes on states’ rights. Common Core was developed by state officials, with input from private education groups, but the federal government gives financial incentives for states to use the standards.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/dropping-common-core-may-alter-little-in-n-j-1.1345403

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Altered acceptance rates: Ramapo among 3 N.J. colleges boosting prestige with inflated applicant pool

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MAY 16, 2015, 11:10 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2015, 11:07 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Some of New Jersey’s public colleges and universities are making themselves appear more selective — and more attractive to prospective students — by skirting national standards when reporting data to the federal government and ratings organizations, The Record has found.

Ramapo College and Kean and Rowan universities include both complete and incomplete applications in the numbers they report, bloating the stated applicant pool by hundreds. Inflating the numbers to include students who leave out essential items like test scores or grades allows these schools to appear to be rejecting a substantially higher percentage of students.

A lower acceptance rate provides a reputation boost in the prestige-fueled world of college admissions.

In New Jersey, officials from the three schools acknowledge that incomplete applications are included in the totals they report to the federal government, U.S. News and World Report and other rating organizations and publications. This practice violates state and federal requirements that only completed applications be included, and makes it difficult to compare schools where some play by the rules and others do not.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/altered-acceptance-rates-ramapo-among-3-n-j-colleges-boosting-prestige-with-inflated-applicant-pool-1.1336310

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State Education Funding Flat for Fourth Year in a Row

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Education Commissioner David Hespe acknowledged this is a difficult time for school districts.

For the fourth year in a row the budget contains essentially flat funding.

Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly is recreation coordinator for the Paterson schools. (Aron/NJTV)

https://www.njtvonline.org/news/video/state-education-funding-flat-for-fourth-year-in-a-row/

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Middle School Reading Lists 100 Years Ago vs. Today Show How Far American Educational Standards Have Declined

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BY JASON W. STEVENS

There’s a delightful and true saying, often attributed to Joseph Sobran, that in a hundred years, we’ve gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching remedial English in college.

Now comes even more evidence of the steady decline of American educational standards.

Last year, Annie Holmquist, a blogger for better-ed.org, discovered a 1908 curriculum manual in the Minnesota Historical Society archives that included detailed reading lists for various grade levels.

According to her research, the recommended literature list for 7th and 8th graders in Minnesota in 1908included the following:

https://www.thefederalistpapers.org/education-2/middle-school-reading-lists-100-years-ago-vs-today-show-how-far-american-educational-standards-have-declined

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Fixing school funding ‘single most frustrating arc’ of tenure, Christie says

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Fixing school funding ‘single most frustrating arc’ of tenure, Christie says

FREEHOLD — At his 131st town hall here today, Gov. Chris Christie said his administration’s repeated failures to overturn the state’s school funding formula has been the “single most frustrating arc during my time as governor.” (Brush/PolitickerNJ)

Fixing school funding ‘single most frustrating arc’ of tenure, Christie says | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis

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Christie touts program to bring math, science teachers to New Jersey’s neediest schools

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Christie touts program to bring math, science teachers to New Jersey’s neediest schools

TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie today championed “a new pipeline” to bring qualified teachers into New Jersey’s neediest schools. (Johnson/The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/christie_touts_fellowship_program_to_bring_teachers_to_njs_at-need_schools.html#incart_river

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Fate Uncertain for Bills Aimed at Slowing Down Switch to New State Testing

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Fate Uncertain for Bills Aimed at Slowing Down Switch to New State Testing

It’s a big question in New Jersey education circles these days: What is happening with legislation and other efforts to slow down the full implementation of new online testing and the attendant educator evaluations.

And the short answer at this point appears to be — stay tuned.

The chief sponsor of the bill in the Assembly said yesterday that she is still hopeful it will be posted for a full vote in the lower chamber, even after it was passed over for the last voting session.

“I would hope to have it posted,” said state Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex) yesterday. “I think there are a lot of people who would like to see it happen.”

And the likely sponsor of a companion bill in the Senate said he, too, had high hopes — but also wasn’t sure next steps. And the likely sp

“I’d like to see at least a discussion about it,” said state Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May).

But there does not seem to be much wavering from the Christie administration, at least for the time being, raising doubts as to whether a bill, if ever passed, would have a chance of being signed by Gov. Chris Christie. (Mooney/NJSpotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/14/05/28/fate-uncertain-for-bills-aimed-at-slowing-down-switch-to-new-state-testing/

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N.J. bill making evaluations key to teacher tenure may soon be introduced

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N.J. bill making evaluations key to teacher tenure may soon be introduced

More than a year after state Sen. Teresa Ruiz began gathering evidence on how to overhaul the state’s century-old teacher tenure law, a bill that would link the job protection to regular evaluations may soon be fast-tracked in Trenton.

Ruiz (D-Essex) said during an editorial board meeting late last week that she has meetings scheduled Monday to hammer out the bill’s contents and expects to introduce an updated draft of the legislation as early as this week.

“I’ve wanted to focus on tenure reform since I came into office,” she said. “This month, I intend to post a bill that will be passed and a bill that will be signed.”  (Calefati, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/nj_bill_making_evaluations_key.html