Education, taxes, housing, immigration, politics, and other issues that affect the people of New Jersey
Rutgers’ officials now promise that the $10 million “supercomputer” that was destined to “revolutionize” computing at the state university-and throughout New Jersey- will be available to all users next month, a year after a coolant leak forced it to shut down only weeks after it was inaugurated with considerable public fanfare.
Under the Christopher Cerf plan, full autonomy won’t be granted to the elected Newark school board until a two year transition is completed. A transition in which many consultants will get rich and high paid administrators, appointed by Cerf, will continue to earn their six-figure salaries and follow the pro-charter, anti-public, union-shredding school plans for Newark. That will make it official-the state will have controlled the city schools for 25 years-a quarter century.
Newark’s state-appointed school superintendent Christopher Cerf, Gov. Chris Christie’s long-term enforcer of the plan to turn Newark into the “charter school capital of the state,” is expected to resign-perhaps as soon as today-and turn temporary control of New Jersey’s largest school district over to his hand-picked choice, Robert Gregory, a deputy superintendent.
David Hespe, the former New Jersey education commissioner responsible for many of the worst excesses of state control of the Newark public school district, has a new source of employment-the Newark public school district.
Jordan Thomas made his way to his parents’ car parked outside Gate 4 of Yankee Stadium in The Bronx Saturday. In a stadium suite, the Rhodes Trust had just completed the final interviews of the students vying for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships. Jordan carried with him life-changing news-a good sort of life-changing news-that he could barely contain.
Just when the leaders of the state’s largest teachers’ union desperately needed help, who-of all people-becomes their unwitting savior? None other than the chief editorial writer for The Star-Ledger-a man who has spent a good part of his career bashing the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).
Faculty members, staff, and others associated with Newark’s Wilson Avenue School were called to a meeting Friday and told it was “disloyal” for anyone to raise questions about safety at the Ironbound school, according to sources attending the meeting.
An email exchange between Christopher Cerf, the state-appointed Newark schools chief, and John Abeigon, the president of the Newark Teachers Union. Abeigon’s email is at the bottom-it was sent to city officials, local school board members, state school board members, the mayor’s office and others. Abeigon offers his congratulations on the return of local control and asks for a role in the transition.
