Governor Chris Christie Promises New PARCC Approach Jul. 01 Chris Christie, Common Core, Education no comments By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Both sides of the aisle have big problems with Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing, Save Jerseyans, so during an under-reported exchange at last week’s town hall meeting in Haddon Heights, Governor Chris Christie told a teacher participant that he’d pitch a fresh proposal to address those concerns in 7-10 days.
The stakes are growing as the landscape darkens. New Jersey is facing extreme fiscal pressure as another budget fails to meet basic obligations without borrowing, and the Republican 2016 prospect is hoping to roll out a new pension and benefits reform package soon, too, all while presidential speculation and Bridgegate rumors keep Trenton on edge and his Administration off-balance.
What would a new approach to PARCC/Common Core even look like? Here’s what he had to say…
Obama racking up judicial losses as Supreme Court rules on Obamacare, union dues
President Obama suffered two final defeats in the Supreme Court on Monday, capping a 2013-2014 term in which the justices delivered several judicial hits to the White House while taking a firm stand against the unchecked power of the state.
The administration’s losses on Obamacare rules and compulsory union dues served as a rebuke on the Supreme Court’s final day after months of judicial decisions to rein in big government on issues such as snooping without a warrant, campaign finance restrictions and Mr. Obama’s recess appointment powers.
Just as damning was the way the court ruled in some of those cases. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. corralled unanimous votes on privacy and recess appointments — cases that dealt stinging defeats to Mr. Obama, himself a lawyer and former lecturer on constitutional law.
In the more than five years that Mr. Obama has been in office, the court has rejected the government’s argument with a 9-0 decision 20 times.
During the eight years each in the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the government lost on unanimous votes 15 times and 23 times, respectively. That puts the Obama administration on pace to greatly exceed recent predecessors in terms of judicial losses.
U.S. Supreme Court decisions: Booker v. Bell
TRENTON – In two separate but similarly controversial decisions released earlier today, the U.S. Supreme voted definitively on issues of religious rights for corporations and union dues requirements for part-time state workers. Both rulings, unsurprisingly, have legislators and political onlookers in New Jersey and across the country riled. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Supreme Court rules against Obama in contraception case
Some corporations have religious rights, a deeply divided Supreme Court decided Monday in ruling that certain for-profit companies cannot be required to pay for specific types of contraceptives for their employees. The 5-4 decision on ideological lines ended the high court’s term with a legal and political setback for a controversial part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law. (Mears, Cohen/CNN)
Confusion over doctor lists is costly for Obamacare enrollees in state
Fustration and legal challenges over the network of doctors and hospitals for Obamacare patients have marred an otherwise successful rollout of the federal healthcare law in California.
Limiting the number of medical providers was part of an effort by insurers to hold down premiums. But confusion over the new plans has led to unforeseen medical bills for some patients and prompted a state investigation.
More complaints are surfacing as patients start to use their new coverage bought through Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange.
“I thought I had done everything right, and it’s been awful,” said Jean Buchanan, 56. The Fullerton resident found herself stuck with an $8,000 bill for cancer treatment after receiving conflicting information on whether it was covered.
A surge of children crossing the southern border and entering the United States illegally has become a political crisis. House Republicans hammered the White House on the issue in recent days while the administration countered by highlighting how it has responded.
But what’s really going on?
1. How big is the surge?
52,193 unaccompanied children, defined as those under the age of 18, were apprehended crossing the southern border of the United States from Oct. 1, 2013 to June 15, 2014. That’s about double the 26,206 who were caught in the same timeframe the previous year.
In addition, 39,000 adults with children have been apprehended during that time period, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
2. Where are the children coming from?
About three-quarters of the children come from just three countries: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The increase in unaccompanied children from those nations began in the 2012 fiscal year and has accelerated since then, according to DHS data. There are about ten times as many children from those countries crossing the border as there were in fiscal year 2011. Meanwhile, the numbers from other Central American countries have remained steady. The number of children arriving illegally from Mexico actually declined in the most recent fiscal year.
3. What are the root causes?
There are several, but strife in those three countries, together with untrue rumors of “permisos” allowing children to stay in the United States, play a key part.
Oops: Got the Sign Wrong Trying to Explain Away the Global Warming “Pause” JUNE 26, 2014 12:16PM By PATRICK J. MICHAELS and PAUL C. “CHIP” KNAPPENBERGER SHARE
Global Science Report is a feature from the Center for the Study of Science, where we highlight one or two important new items in the scientific literature or the popular media. For broader and more technical perspectives, consult our monthly “Current Wisdom.”
A couple of years ago, when it was starting to become obvious that the average global surface temperature was not rising at anywhere near the rate that climate models projected, and in fact seemed to be leveling off rather than speeding up, explanations for the slowdown sprouted like mushrooms in compost.
We humbly suggested a combination of natural variability and a lower “sensitivity” of surface temperature to rising carbon dioxide.
Now, several years later, the “pause” continues. Natural variability is now widely accepted as making a significant contribution and our argument for a lowered climate sensitivity—which would indicate that existing climate models are not reliable tools for projecting future climate trends—is buoyed by accumulating evidence and is gaining support in the broader climate research community. Yet is largely rejected by federal regulators and their scientific supporters. These folks prefer rather more exotic explanations that seek to deflect the blame away from the climate models and thus preserve their over-heated projections of future global warming.
The problem with exotic explanations is that they tend to unravel like exotic dancers.
Such is the case for the explanation—popular with the press when it was first proposed—that an increase in aerosol emissions, particularly from China, was acting to help offset the warming influence of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
The suggestion was made back in 2011 by a team of researchers led by Boston University’s Robert Kaufmann and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Shortly after it appeared, we were critical of it in these pages, pointing out how the explanation was inconsistent with several lines of data.
Now, a new paper appearing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature takes a deeper view of aerosol emissions during the past 15 years and finds that, in net, changes in aerosol emissions over the period 1996-2010 contributed a net warming pressure to the earth’s climate.
Kühn et al. (2014) write:
Increases in Asian aerosol emissions have been suggested as one possible reason for the hiatus in global temperature increase during the past 15 years. We study the effect of sulphur and black carbon (BC) emission changes between 1996-2010 on the global energy balance. We find that the increased Asian emissions have had very little regional or global effects, while the emission reductions in Europe and the U.S. have caused a positive radiative forcing. In our simulations, the global-mean aerosol direct radiative effect changes 0.06 W/m2 during 1996–2010, while the effective radiative forcing (ERF) is 0.42 W/m2.
So in other words, rather than acting to slow global warming during the past decade and a half as proposed by Kaufmann et al. (2011), changes in anthropogenic aerosol emissions (including declining emissions trends in North America and Europe) have acted to enhance global warming (described as contributing to a positive increase in the radiative forcing in the above quote).
This means that the “pause,” or whatever you want to call it, in the rise of global surface temperatures is even more significant than it is generally taken to be, because whatever is the reason behind it, it is not only acting to slow the rise from greenhouse gas emissions but also the added rise from changes in aerosol emissions.
Until we understand what this sizeable mechanism is and how it works, our ability to reliably look into the future and foresee what climate lies ahead is a mirage. Yet, somehow, the Obama Administration is progressing full speed ahead with regulations about the kinds of cars and trucks we can drive, the appliances we use, and the types of energy available, etc., all in the name of mitigating future climate change.
As we repeatedly point out, not only will the Obama Administration’s actions have no meaningful impact on the amount of future climate change, but it is far from clear that the rate of future change will even be enough to mitigate—or even to worry about.
References
Kaufmann, R. K., et al., 2011. Reconciling anthropogenic climate change with observed temperature 1998–2008. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1102467108
Kühn, T., et al., 2014. Climate impacts of changing aersol emission since 1996. Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/2014GL060349
After years of Squandering Billions Identity crisis for NJ sports authority
JUNE 28, 2014, 11:48 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014, 11:51 PM BY JOHN BRENNAN STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
With its finances in the red and its role sharply curtailed, questions are being raised about the long-term future of the agency that put New Jersey on the map of big-time sports.
But no matter what its fate, the hard truth is that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which once netted tens of millions of dollars annually from The Meadowlands Racetrack and Giants Stadium, will likely be a lingering financial liability for state taxpayers.
A series of decisions by officials over time have left it marooned, with significant structural costs and little means to pay for them other than dipping into the state treasury. The agency continues along, its prime attractions now in private hands, sagging under obligations undertaken during more flush times and with a payroll that — while pared significantly — still includes executives with some of the highest salaries in state government.
“There are certain obligations entered into by prior administrations that we’re going to be living with for the next 25 years,” said Wayne Hasenbalg, who makes $225,000 as president of the authority. “Some of these costs we inherited — even if the authority went away today — are still going to be somebody’s obligations.”
Among those obligations are long-term pension costs for retired workers, more than $6 million in annual payments due to East Rutherford as the host town of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and $4 million per year toward operating costs of the state Racing Commission.
What Is (and Isn’t) at Stake for Obamacare in the Hobby Lobby Case
The contraception mandate will not be axed completely; the Supreme Court has the power to narrow the rule’s reach.
The Supreme Court won’t strike down Obamacare’s contraception mandate, but a ruling for the law’s challengers could still render the policy toothless for millions of women.
The justices are set to rule any day now in a challenge to the birth-control mandate, and any decision against the policy would have ripple effects far beyond the two companies that filed this lawsuit. Just how far, however, depends on how broadly the Court rules—and it has plenty of options.
No matter what happens, the Court won’t strike down the entire mandate. The two companies that brought their challenge to the Supreme Court—Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties—haven’t asked the justices to ax the entire policy.
The most sweeping option is a broad First Amendment proclamation that all corporations have a fundamental right to exercise religion, in this case by refusing to cover birth control in their employees’ health care plans. This outcome would be almost a sequel to the Citizens United case on campaign finance laws and free speech. It would probably open the door for any company to challenge a slew of state or federal regulations, and would allow any corporation to avoid the contraception mandate—potentially affecting millions of women.
Your purchase supports All Volunteer July 4th Events
Evening Activities and Fireworks Tickets – List of local stores to purchase – www.RidgewoodJuly4th.org
Parade and Fireworks are scheduled for Friday, July 4th, 2014 Alternate date is Saturday, July 5th …FIREWORKS are viewed from Veteran’s Field, Ridgewood, New Jersey Entrance gates open at 6:00 PM and close at 9:00 PM While the Parade is free, Fireworks Tickets are required for entrance to Vet’s Field.
Donations for Fireworks Tickets is one of the Celebration’s largest sources of income. Tickets will be available for advance purchase at stores for $8 and online for $9. Tickets will be on sale at the gates for $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 6-12. Buy your tickets in advance for big savings! Children 5 and under are admitted for free.
Ridgewood Police Issue Traffic Alert for Monday June 30th.
Weather permitting, Monday, June 30th from 7:30am to 11:00am, the Village Streets Department will be patching the road at Garber Square. For safety, one lane will be closed during this work. The Police will be monitoring traffic to ensure that the flow in both directions moves. This work is in preparation for the July 4th Parade and holiday festivities. The Complete Streets paving project will not take place until after the July 4th holiday.
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM BY SALVATORE TRIFILIO CORRESPONDENT
Ten years ago teachers were armed with little more than a textbook and their enthusiasm to tackle the task of inspiring America’s youth to become doctors, scientists, authors or even teachers themselves.But today, educators like Willard School’s John Altieri have a slew of technologies at their disposal that allow their students experiences that were once just science fiction.
On Thursday, June 12, about 60 students at Willard School took a trip more than 1,400 miles south and nine miles off the coast of Florida, to the world’s only underwater marine habitat and laboratory, all without leaving the comfort of room 122.
“There is only so much an individual teacher can offer, and when we have other people sharing information with these kids, that enhances their education and their experience,” Altieri said.
Altieri’s second-grade class, in collaboration with first- and fifth-grade classes, became the first and only New Jersey classes to join Fabien Cousteau and his crew’s Mission-31 during a half-hour Skype session.
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.”
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM Print
Valley needs a new mission statement Richie Herink
To the Editor:
Hopefully the rejection by the Planning Board of Valley’s current expansion plan zoning change request brings to an end the war for patients between Valley and Hackensack not-for-profit hospitals.
As a non-profit hospital, Valley uses the language of business to rationalize the need for a zoning law revision. For example: Valley needs to stay competitive, or Valley needs to keep up or it will go under, and if you don’t progress in this business you will die.
Does anyone doubt that Hackensack would buy Valley in a minute, even with Valley’s zoning restrictions and if Valley were about to “go under”?
In my opinion, Valley does not have an expansion problem. It has a management problem.
JUNE 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014, 12:31 AM BY DANIEL FISHBEIN Print
Each June I reflect on the many great opportunities the Ridgewood Public Schools and the Village of Ridgewood provide our youngest citizens, culminating in the Ridgewood High School graduation at the close of the school year.
While the many school-related activities are too numerous to list, here are some representative highlights from the district this past school year:
The Remedial Early Development (R.E.D.) graduation at the Glen School. This event is more than an important milestone for the students, parents and staff; it is a personal career highlight for me. Friday Friends is a fabulous program where students with special needs meet, learn and play along with their peers.
The Orchard Museum of Art (OMA). Held at Orchard Elementary School each year, the museum is a celebration of the creative process in the fine and performing arts, culminating with a performance — this year Romeo and Juliet — in the school’s unique outdoor amphitheater.
The Ridge Restaurant and 18th century encampment. Ridge Elementary School’s fifth graders open a restaurant every fall to raise money for their June promotion activities. During the school year they also participate in an 18th century encampment, spending 36 hours as recruits in the Continental Army where they sew, cook, drill, set up camp and are spectators at a musket shooting demonstration by Ridgewood Board of Education Facility Manager Steve Tichenor, who is also a military re-enactor.
Hawes ducks. Perhaps you saw the 100-plus Hawes Elementary School ducks running in the Ridgewood Memorial Day Run this year. Their inspiration comes from real-life mother duck Henrietta, who nests each spring in the school’s inner courtyard and, once the ducklings are hatched and ready to swim, marches her brood through the halls of the school, out the door and into the brook beyond.
Up mountains and under the sea at Willard. Willard Elementary School students were treated to an author visit this year by everyone’s sweetheart, “The Sound of Music’s” Julie Andrews. Students also had a Skype session with Jacque Cousteau’s grandson from his underwater lab.
Acting at Somerville. Somerville Elementary School students in kindergarten through fifth grade took action for a cause, participating in a walk for autism and raising nearly $1,000. In addition, fourth and fifth graders put on a lively production of “Shrek the Musical.”
Travel at Travell. Travell Elementary School students traveled the world at their International Expo heritage celebration featuring their community’s cultural foods, artifacts and performances. Fifth graders went to circus school for a week and put on a show highlighting the importance of teamwork and cooperation. The school readied for summer recess with a children’s book swap to encourage reading while away.
Celebrating history at GWMS. George Washington Middle School eighth graders just returned from their annual overnight trip to our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. The school’s sixth graders worked with Civil War re-enactors to gain a better understanding of what life was like in the nineteenth century.
Music and more at BFMS. Benjamin Franklin Middle School had a fantastic concert season, as orchestras, concert bands and choirs all performed to full-house crowds of parents and grandparents. The school community also donated more than 120 turkeys to needy families as a result of their annual Thanksgiving “turkey trot.”
RHS graduated the Class of 2014. Finally, I hope you had an opportunity to see the Ridgewood High School graduation. It is a beautiful community celebration! The real accomplishments of the Class of 2014 happen in the classroom, on stage, on the field of competition or in a studio. Ninety-one percent of the Class of 2014 will attend a four-year college or university this fall. Five percent are headed to two-year colleges. The balance is headed to work, the armed forces or taking a “gap” year.
Reader says Congratulations Vaed Eagle service projects are everywhere in our community
Congratulations Vaed. Scouting is a great program and Mr. Prasad and his parents, leaders, sponsors and mentors should all be very proud. There’s a reason only 4% of boys who start scouting make it to Eagle . . . . the Trail to Eagle is not easy.
If anyone wants to truly understand the contributions of Eagles to society, they should read “Four Percent: The Story of Uncommon Youth in a Century of American Life.” It’s a fascinating read.
The sheer number of service hours contributed by these boys is amazing. The Eagle service projects are everywhere in our community – painting classrooms and churches, seating areas at RHS, improving Dunham Trail, Grove Park, Habernickel Park, streambank restoration along the Saddle River, Ampitheater at Orchard School, building blue screens for BFMS, planting at Somerville, outdoor seating at West Side Presbyterian, vegetable boxes to allow a food bank to grow fresh food. Too many to remember!
Sincere thanks to Darius Amos for doing such a great job covering BSA in Ridgewood.
