State of New Jersey Archives: on Education

Barbara Buono: Provide equitable K-12 funding across New Jersey

She has stood up to Christie when he's attempted to scapegoat our teachers rather than give them the tools they need. And Barbara knows that we need rigorous standards as well as expanded early-learning programs so that we ensure every child can meet those standards.

When it comes to higher education, too many New Jersey families are finding college out of reach because of spiraling tuition costs that are rising far faster than inflation. Barbara will work to hold down tuition costs while partnering businesses with New Jersey's colleges; so students get the skills they need for good jobs.

Chris Christie: Build up colleges to support business, & avoid "brain drain"

The result of that is what the former U.S. Attorney calls the "brain drain"--referring to trends that show fewer high school graduates stay in New Jersey for college, and those who do end up leaving after earning a diploma.

Lagging colleges also lead business leaders to see the state differently. Companies seek to have long-term, "intellectual relationships" with educational institutions but might not be able to if schools aren't built up enough to attract students, he said. Businesses need access to practical and research support from colleges, as well as a trained workforce, he said.

Chris Christie: Expand 73 charter schools to replace 200 failing schools

Over 100,000 students are trapped in nearly 200 failing schools. We need to tell those children, and those families, trapped in poor schools that we are coming--and that before this Legislature goes home we will give them more help toward improvement, more hope, and more choice. We must expand the charter school program beyond the six we approved this year and the 73 operating in New Jersey. That is a top priority. I am ready to work with the Legislature to attract the best charter school operators in America to New Jersey; to increase our authorizing capacity so they can start charter schools here; & to implement the interdistrict school choice law we passed last year.

Chris Christie: Replace Abbott District funds with tenure reform & charters

1. reform tenure--by taking it away from those whose ratings are unacceptably weak.
2. if layoffs are necessary remove the least effective teachers instead of just the most junior ones.
3. pay teachers more when they are assigned to a failing school or to teach a difficult subject.
4. end forced placements--teachers should not be assigned to schools without the mutual consent of the teacher and the principal.
5. reform our process for authorizing charter schools to focus on our failing school districts

Chris Christie: Combine $8.9B in more funding with needed reform

• Ensuring accountability by passing the first major reform of tenure in 100 years;
• Establishing performance-based pay in Newark through hard-nosed collective bargaining;
• Implementing inter-district school choice, which has tripled its enrollment in the last 3 years and will grow to 6,000 students next year;
• Growing the number of charter schools to a record 86 in NJ;
• Signing the Urban Hope Act to turn failing schools into Renaissance Schools in Newark, Trenton, and Camden;

Chris Daggett: Names educator, Prof. Frank Esposito, as running-mate

Cory Booker: $120 million for "Teachers Village" where educators live

Cory Booker: Supports school voucher proposal, like other Democrats

When Booker responded that he, too, believes in public schools and that he helped bring $100 million in philanthropic funds into the city's school system, Booker said both Pallone and Holt had voted in favor of the Washington DC Opportunity Scholarship Program--a voucher-like program that gives scholarships to low-income children. "While they're criticizing me I'd like them both to explain why they voted for the same position I have," Booker said. The vote Booker referenced was actually a much larger appropriations bill that included the program.

Jeff Bell: Expand school choice via Education Savings Accounts

A: The opportunity for a quality education should not depend on where a child lives. That's why programs to expand school choice, through vouchers and tax credits, have been worthwhile for those states that have done it. However, I believe Education Savings Accounts as pioneered by the Goldwater Institute in Arizona make the most sense as the appropriate vehicle for school choice. These provide parents with a pre-funded account (for Arizona, it's 90% of average student spending) to can be used to not only purchase tuition, but also textbooks, education therapies, and tutoring. This provides for a holistic funding mechanism for education where we fund children rather than institutions and spending decisions are in the hands of parents, not bureaucracies.

Jeff Bell: I support prayer in schools

A: I support prayer in schools and public displays of religion.

Murray Sabrin: Federal tax credits to enroll children in successful school

1. secure our country from both foreign terror and illegal immigration
2. secure our economic future by getting government off our backs and out of our wallets, and
3. securing our education for our children by introducing competition into the failed educational bureaucracy.

Phil Murphy: High stakes, high stress standardized tests must end

The State Board of Education made passage of the nationalized PARCC tests a requirement for graduation. PARCC tests are considered by many educational experts to be outdated, expensive, and not helpful to students. New Jersey is an outlier in its reliance on PARCC: only a handful of states still use the test, and only one other state is using it as a graduation requirement.

Phil Murphy is committed to ending New Jersey's reliance on PARCC tests and eliminating standardized testing as a requirement for graduation. If elected, he would direct the state Department of Education to work with educators to create an assessment that would meet the federal reporting requirements of ESSA.

Phil Murphy: Our public schools are part of what makes this state great

Phil believes that our public schools are a critical part of what makes this state great. People move here and businesses invest here because of the world-class public schools in New Jersey. But for too long, we've had leaders who would rather spend money on tax breaks for large corporations than invest in our children's future.

Rather than blaming educators, Phil will work with them to develop an education system that prepares every child to succeed in a 21st century economy by:
• Restoring and funding the only school funding formula that has been upheld by the Supreme Court;
• Working to expand free pre-K to all families in NJ;
• Implementing a state-of-the-art STEM curriculum.

Phil Murphy: Can't get economy right without getting higher ed right