Phil Murphy on Education

	Phil Murphy on Education

Let's bring universal pre-K to all of New Jersey

Let us redouble our commitment to bringing universal pre-K to all of New Jersey. To ensure that every family--regardless of their economic status--can afford to send their child to a safe, enriching environment during the day. So far, we have helped more than 14,000 of our state's children enroll in a pre-K program. And we are just getting started. Because making New Jersey the best place to raise a family means ensuring every child has the support they need to reach their full potential. Source: 2024 State of the State Address to the N.J. legislature , Jan 9, 2024

New Jersey expanding pre-K and childcare; we know it works

But on the whole Build Back Better debate, it feels very abstract from here. New Jersey is doing it, expanding pre-K, expanding childcare, funding public education, making housing more affordable, college more affordable, health care more affordable. So you look at that debate in Washington and folks feel like, "Well, I wonder if this would work." And I'm screaming out, "Listen, look at New Jersey. It is working. We're doing this stuff and we know it works." Source: Meet the Press 2021 interview of N.J. Governor , Nov 7, 2021

Tuition-free community college for eligible students

We're putting a college education back within reach. We've opened the doors to a tuition-free community college education to thousands of eligible students, and put in place safeguards to combat college debt. And, for those who want the opportunity, we've reinvested in workforce development and apprenticeships like never before. Source: 2020 New Jersey State of the State address , Jan 14, 2020

Invest in pre-K & free community college

We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our schools and pre-K. Now, 4,000 more three- and four-year-olds are attending a high-quality pre-K program. And, starting this semester, 13,000 worthy students are attending community college tuition-free. We were able to make these investments by asking those with incomes over $5 million to pay a little more, and by ensuring a more equitable distribution of school aid. Source: 2019 State of the State address to New Jersey legislature , Jan 15, 2019

High stakes, high stress standardized tests must end

The era of high stakes, high stress standardized tests in New Jersey must end, and I will see that it does. We must get back to the simple premise of letting teachers use classroom time to teach to their students' needs, and not to a test.

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.

Source: 2017 N.J. gubernatorial campaign website, Murphy4NJ.com , Jun 6, 2017

Our public schools are part of what makes this state great

Phil is a public school product and his sister recently retired as a Boston city educator. He is proud to have received the endorsement of the NJEA, which represents over 200,000 educators statewide.

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.

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.

Source: 2017 N.J. gubernatorial campaign website, Murphy4NJ.com , Jun 6, 2017

Can't get economy right without getting higher ed right

Too many young people are being held back by the unaffordability of a college education. Yet our leaders have sat by as the cost of college spiraled out of control. Phil understands that we don't get our economy right without getting higher education right. Sadly, N.J. exports more high school seniors than any other state in the nation. Phil believes that if we want to keep our state economically competitive and successful, our leading export can no longer be high school seniors. Specifically, he will:

Increase state aid to institutions of higher education, including community colleges, to lower tuitions and fees.

Expand access to community colleges for high school students and create new vocational training programs to provide alternative pathways to success.

Provide loan forgiveness to STEM graduates working in STEM jobs in the state.

Help New Jerseyans stuck with student loans at above-market rates by offering state-based refinancing at lower rates through a new public bank. Source: 2017 N.J. gubernatorial campaign website, Murphy4NJ.com , Jun 6, 2017

Tackle our higher education student debt problem head on

One of New Jersey's great assets is its higher education system. Unfortunately, Governor Christie has chronically underinvested in our colleges and universities. As a result, families of students at our public colleges now bear some of the highest costs in the country--which has produced extraordinarily high levels of student debt. 68 percent of NJ college graduates in 2014 had student debt, and NJ residents carry student debt totaling more than $30 billion. We must tackle our higher education problem head on, by:

Increasing state aid to institutions of higher education;
Providing loan forgiveness to STEM graduates working in STEM jobs in the state;
Helping New Jerseyans stuck with student loans at above-market rates by offering state-based refinancing at lower rates; and
Creating incentives for private sector employers to provide student loan relief as a core employee benefit.

Source: 2017 New Jersey Gubernatorial website, Murphy4NJ.com , Sep 19, 2016

Focus on STEM to make Silicon Valley in New Jersey

Bring back the 'STEM' sector:

Murphy said "reigniting" the state's science, technology, engineering and mathematics sector was his main economic focus. He specifically cited Monmouth County as a "potential hotbed," for such activity.

While the county's suburbs were once home to the biggest names--such as the Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies building in Holmdel--he said the resurgence could come in cities like Asbury Park, "communities where millennials want to live."

"We were Silicon Valley before Silicon Valley was Silicon Valley. There's no reason we can't get that back," he said.

Source: Asbury Park Press on 2017 New Jersey Gubernatorial race , Aug 31, 2016

Reignite NJ science hotbed by focusing on STEM sector

Bring back the 'STEM' sector: Murphy said "reigniting" the state's science, technology, engineering and mathematics sector was his main economic focus. He specifically cited Monmouth County as a "potential hotbed," for such activity.

While the county's suburbs were once home to the biggest names he said the resurgence could come in "communities where millennials want to live. We were Silicon Valley before Silicon Valley was Silicon Valley. There's no reason we can't get that back," he said.

Source: Asbury Park Press on 2017 New Jersey gubernatorial race , Aug 31, 2016

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