DiMaso proposes school safety legislation

Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso

Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (R-Monmouth), along with her colleagues Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz (R-Union) and Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen), today called on the legislature to take action on a 10 bill package they introduced last week to address school safety in light of the recent shooting in Parkland, Florida and other tragic incidents.

The proposed legislation is based on recommendations from two panels of experts that were set-up in the wake of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn, DiMaso and Munoz said in a joint statement.   The groups included government officials, education leaders, law enforcement, community members, school officials, teachers and parents. Read the rest of this entry »

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Marlboro Schools Get Armed and Uniformed Cops

Marlboro Township’s K-8 schools now have armed and uniformed police officers present at all times during school hours under an agreement between the Township and Board of Education that was approved by the Board last night, Mayor Jonathan Hornik announced.

“I am pleased that the Board of Education has supported our initiative to station Marlboro police officers in each of our schools. While it is not a solution to the gun debate, it will keep our children and educators safe. As Mayor, I have no more fundamental responsibility than keeping our children and educators safe,” Mayor Hornik said,  “Recently in Maryland, a School Resource Officer (SRO), a trained and armed Police Officer, engaged and pursued the shooter and, by all accounts, prevented this incident from being a far greater tragedy. While it would be nice to pretend that that we did not live in a society that requires armed police officers in our schools it is not the reality.”

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Inmates Get Their High School Diplomas

Stuart Veeder, GED teacher, Loren Basselini, Director of Education, Monmouth Ocean Educational Services, inmates from MCCI & Lt. Richard Vilacoba.

Four inmates at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution got their high school diplomas today through an online program administered by the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission, according to a press release from Sheriff Shaun Golden.

“I am gratified by the commitment made by today’s graduates to use their time at MCCI in a constructive manner that will benefit them for the rest of their lives,” said Sheriff Golden. “The wrong choices that brought the graduates to MCCI have provided these individuals the opportunity to make right choices about furthering their education and changing their lives.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Middletown Superintendent Thanks O’Scanlon for Restoration of School Funding

Dr. William George and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

Dr. William George III, Ed. D., the Middletown Township Superintendent of Schools, today thanked Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon for his successful efforts in getting all of the $1,179,200 in state funding to Middletown schools that had been cut from the budget proposed by the Democrat majority in the legislature last spring.

George sent O’Scanlon the following email earlier today: Read the rest of this entry »

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OpEd: Asbury Park’s New Charter School and Religious Funding

By Tommy DeSeno

“College Achieve” charter school is trying to open in Asbury Park. It’s operated by Mike Piscal, who is known in the education field for making charter schools in California go broke, for having lax policy on sexual harassment and choosing spokespeople the likes of Bill Cosby. After California he spent two years in Las Vegas, then recently had a failed attempt to open a charter school in Brooklyn.

Having come back home to New Jersey, he incorporated “College Achieve” charter school with no assets other than the $75.00 filing fee, with an address at his father’s house in Toms River.

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Watch Christie’s Announcement at 1PM

Governor Chris Christie will be making an announcement this afternoon at 1pm, according to a statement from his office.

Insiders expect that the governor will announce a school funding deal for the next fiscal year negotiated between himself, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto.

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Interactive Map: Charting the Ups and Downs of Dems’ School-Aid Plan

You can toggle between districts by type — elementary, regional HS and K-12 — by clicking in the Visible layers box (K-12 are shown by default). To find a district, zoom in and move the map, or use the search box (with the magnifying glass). Hover over or click on a district for information. A day… Read the rest of this entry »

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NJ Lawmakers reach $171M deal on school funding

TRENTON — Top Democratic lawmakers who have been pushing competing plans to repair education funding in New Jersey said Wednesday they have agreed to a deal that would increase state funding by $125 million. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) said their plan that would add $100 million in new K-12… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J. teachers layoffs must be based on seniority, not performance, judge rules

TRENTON — A group of Newark parents has lost a legal battle to overhaul the way public school teachers in the state are laid-off — dealing another blow to education reform groups that have tried to dismantle similar protections across the country. In New Jersey, school districts must lay off teachers based on seniority, regardless of… Read the rest of this entry »

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Ex-N.J. congressman: Why I support Betsy DeVos and school choice | Opinion

Credit: Amanda Brown

 Dick Zimmer Shortly after Betsy DeVos was sworn into office as U.S. Secretary of Education, I was invited, as a trustee of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), to meet with her at the Department of Education. I accepted the invitation with pleasure. When I posted a picture of myself with DeVos on Facebook,…… Read the rest of this entry »

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