News
All ELC news stories are archived here in reverse chronological order. They are also categorized by state in the menu on the left, with New Jersey further broken out into separate subject areas.
NJ DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S NEW SCHOOL PERFORMANCE REPORTS "SIGNIFICANTLY LAGGING"
Published on: April 21, 2013
The NJDOE recently released their new School Performance Reports. Unlike the School Report Cards, which they replace, the new reports are dense, confusing and needlessly complex. NJ school administrators have already raised serious concerns about inaccurate data and the convoluted and controversial school “peer rankings.”
CHRISTIE’S FAILURE TO FUND THE FORMULA FOUR YEARS RUNNING
Published on: April 18, 2013
Governor Christie’s proposed FY14 school aid budget ignores the essential provisions of the school funding formula and underfunds schools by approximately $1.2 billion.
CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION’S STEALTH TAX WIPES OUT SCHOOL AID INCREASES
Published on: April 11, 2013
Governor Christie’s proposed FY14 State Budget contains a special “assessment” or tax on 493 school districts that wipes out the small aid increases many of those districts were initially notified they would receive.
STATE-OPERATED NEWARK SCHOOLS FACE STAGGERING $57 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT
Published on: April 4, 2013
The State-operated Newark school district is facing a projected $57 million budget shortfall for the 2013-14 school year. Given the size of the deficit, and the lack of detail from State Superintendent Anderson on how to address it, the Newark Advisory Board took the unprecedented action of unanimously voting to reject the State’s proposed budget for the district.
NJ DISTRICTS STILL REELING FROM GOVERNOR CHRISTIE'S $1 BILLION FUNDING CUT IN FY11
Published on: April 3, 2013
The vast majority of NJ school districts have yet to recover from Governor Christie’s $1.1 billion cut in state aid in his FY11 budget. An ELC analysis shows that in FY14 477 districts will remain below the level of state aid they received the year before the Governor took office.
COURT REJECTS COMMISSIONER’S DECISION TO ALLOW CHARTERS TO CARRY EXCESS SURPLUS FUNDS
Published on: April 3, 2013
A NJ Appeals Court has ordered Commissioner Cerf to reconsider the claim of the Piscataway Township school district that charter schools receiving tuition from the district should not retain excess surplus in their budgets, but should return those monies to the district and its students.
GOVERNOR'S VOUCHER PROPOSAL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL LOGROLLING
Published on: March 27, 2013
Governor Christie's attempt to enact a program to use public funds for private school vouchers in the FY14 State Budget constitutes an egregious form of "logrolling," which is prohibited by the NJ Constitution.
SPECIAL EDUCATION IN NEWARK: SOME PROGRESS BUT A LONG WAY TO GO
Published on: March 24, 2013
One year after Newark Public Schools signed a historic Settlement Agreement to improve the delivery of special education services, the latest compliance report filed by the district shows little progress in meeting deadlines in federal law for putting in place Individual Education Programs for students with disabilities.