It’s Hamilton versus Jefferson all over again. Jefferson’s model was the small agrarian communities. Hamilton was in favor of more centralized government. And right now, Hamilton has the momentum.Not really, not if you ask most New Jerseyans. We love our Jefferson gestalt– those distinctive and quaint little villages and townships that are the stuff of historical tours and civic pride. And, either craftily or blithely (we're betting on the former), Corzine has instituted a number of educational initiatives that seek to erase those differences. We’ve got High School Redesign, which standardizes high school graduation requirements. We’ve got a sea change in our Core Curriculum Content Standards, which are now so detailed as to allow almost no time in the school year for digression (which is a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the teacher). We’ve got the passage of 6A, a massive set of regulations that dictate district governance to a fare-thee-well: nothing is left to individual district control. We’ve got “adequacy formulas,” a cost-per-pupil number that all districts must emulate, regardless of township wealth. And now we’ve got the School Funding Reform Act, which eliminates Abbott designations and distributes state aid and services regardless of town of residence. (Well, there is that preschool thing...)
Labels: Abbott, consolidation, Corzine, SFRA