The education debate in New Jersey is increasingly becoming a debate about local control of schools. Governor Christie and ACTING Education Commissioner Cerf's emphasis on standardized testing, charter schools, and tenure reform are top-down policy edicts that take more and more authority away from local districts and put it into the hands of Trenton.
What's emerged over the last year in response is a true grassroots resistance to the imposition of corporate "reform." Boards of education, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens are coming together in an effort to stop the destruction of New Jersey's outstanding public school system through state-wide fiat. Some examples:
Anderson attempted to bring her blueprint for school reform to parents and community leaders at Rutgers-Newark's Paul Robseson Center, but she left the stage when the crowd noise became too loud to speak over.
"I look forward to smaller meetings. I look forward to your input. I look forward to coming together on behalf of our kids," Anderson said as she exited he stage before finishing her presentation.
Anderson's move further enraged some in the volatile crowd and left others in disbelief. Some community members angry over the proposal to close some failing schools began clapping and chanting "Not our schools!"
[...]
Parent Lakeisha Jones said she left work early to attend the meeting because her son, a third grader attends Miller Street school, one of the schools scheduled for closure and said she "couldn't believe" Anderson walked away.
"I'm a parent of a child affected by these decisions and I don't have a full understanding of what will take place," Jones said. "I'm not sure what will happen to my son. I'm going to have to move out of Newark."
As Rutgers professor of education Bruce Baker points out, the schools targeted for closing have high concentrations of poverty and, therefore, perform as well on standardized tests as you would expect. There's no evidence Newark's charters are doing any better when taking student characteristics into account.
But ACTING Commissioner Cerf doesn't point this out; nor is he interested in giving up state control of the district. Expect more resistance from parents and teachers in the months ahead.
To be clear: I am all for strong state oversight of school districts, with clear reporting and reasonable accountability. But Christie's high-handed approach to "reform" has shifted too much power to Trenton and away from the people whom actually teach, raise, and pay to educate our kids.
If Christie expects to run again, he'd best understand that his continual interference in our schools is not going over well with a large part of the electorate. The fight for local control is not even close to being over.
If you watch only one Blue Jersey video on the marriage equality debate, this is the one to watch. This video presents the testimony of three generations of the Galluccio Family. Adolph, the grandfather, has four children. Three of them are straight and one is gay. Adolph's son Michael and Michael's husband Jon have been in a long term relationship and are one of the first set of gay parents in New Jersey permitted to adopt children. Two of their children, Madison and Adam testified along with their parents. The video ends with a powerful statement by Adolph.
Even if you feel you don't have the time to view a 12 minute video, you must view Madison's testimony at 5:35. Look how proud Jon is of his daughter. After seeing this, if you're not a supporter of equal rights, then you just don't have a heart.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora is one of the sponsors of A1, the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption bill. Here is his testimony from yesterday's hearing at the Assembly Judiciary Committee. His remarks completely negate the arguments of the opponents of marriage equality.
The first person giving testimony at yesterday's Assembly Judiciary Committee hearings on marriage equality was Speaker Sheila Oliver. If the results of the last civil rights referendum in New Jersey were allowed to stand, she would not today have the right to vote, let alone run the lower house of the legislature.
Newark West Ward councilman Ron C. Rice makes it official with the release of the video below on his website, issuing a primary challenge to Rep. Donald Payne - first African-American ever elected to Congress from New Jersey - for the seat that's been his since 1989. Payne is 77.
Our Congress is broken. We need new ideas and new leadership to finally tackle age-old problems that have persisted in our nation for far too long. I'm asking for your support. Ron C. Rice (video)
Unlike the northland's other congressional primary contest, Rothman v. Pascrell, this is not the clash of resentful equals and titans that race has apparently gelled into. This is different, the challenge of a young man making waves across generations to an older man in a 22-year incumbency. Donald Payne has a progressive voting record, Ron Rice is a progressive man. That, among other things, will make this an interesting race. Note: Rice's website still lists his as an Exploratory Committee.
Only Blue Jersey has gavel-to-gavel video coverage of yesterday's marriage equality hearings at the Assembly Judiciary Committee. I'll be editing and uploading the more relevant material over the next few days. Some will be frontpaged, some will appear on the sidebar, so be sure to check there, too.
I felt like a witness to history, and someday I'll be able to tell my grandson that Grampa was there when New Jersey worked to end yet another chapter in institutional discrimination.
Below are post-hearing comments from Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, and Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein.
Gusciora is a gentleman. His comments about freshman Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi are generous and conciliatory. I would have been less kind. Schepisi's first vote in her political career was one to perpetuate discrimination. I'll post Schepisi's remarks later, but suffice it to say that although she appeared torn in her decision, she based it partly on the fact that the e-mails she received were 50-3 in favor of marriage discrimination. She touted the all-to-familiar themes of "separate but equal" arrangements for marriage and the old "some of my best friends are gay" line.
Weinberg and Goldstein were in maximum kvell mode after the vote - deservedly so. Unlike the recent Senate hearings, at yesterday's session everyone who desired to testify was given that opportunity.
Videos are below the fold.
Technical note: One legislator I spoke with had trouble viewing prior videos on his iPad, probably because iPads do not support Flash. I've uploaded these videos in QuickTime format. The files are larger and take more time to upload. If anyone has problems with videos, please send direct email to deciminyan@gmail.com
