Sunday Leftovers

Here's great news for school boards and administrators, at least those in well-run schools: districts that receive high marks on the state accountability metric called QSAC will get waivers from the onerous process for six years instead of three. (NJ Spotlight)

The Courier Post talks to Cherry Hill East High School students to “find out what teens think about South Jersey's increasing minority population.”

Gov. Christie approved a bill that enhances N.J.’s vo-tech schools, but he vetoed new funding.

Asbury Park Press reports that “voters across New Jersey approved nine school spending initiatives out of 12 during Tuesday’s election.” Also see New Jersey School Boards Association.

A new trend: school boards are out-sourcing custodians. According to The Record, Teaneck just voted to terminate night-shift custodians, which should save the district $2.4 million over the next four years.

According to a statement previously released by Robert Finger, the school business administrator and Board secretary, the current average annual salary for custodians in Teaneck is $56,261 - 75 percent higher that the private sector average of $32,150 - plus benefits worth up to $25,000 for a family.

Press of Atlantic City: “Seven local school districts will be able to expand and enhance their public preschool programs next year as part of a $17.5 million federal grant awarded to the state Department of Education Wednesday.” In total, reports NJ Spotlight,, “[a]bout 2,000 children in 19 districts will benefit from $66M in aid, partly closing gap left when state abandoned earlier pledge to expand pre-K.” The expansion has been stalled for five years. Interesting timing, just as Education Law Center appeared before Superior Court Assignment Judge Mary Jacobson to demand more preschool funding for sixteen poor rural districts known as "Bacon districts,"  as well as other compensatory K-12 funding.

Mark Magyar at NJ Spotlight reports that if "the state government doesn’t start properly funding its pension system, New Jersey’s two largest pension funds will run out of money in 10 to 13 years, creating a budgetary nightmare, Moody’s Financial Services warns." Also see the Wall St. Journal: "New Jersey’s pension system is in dire straits and the problems have been exacerbated by Gov. Chris Christie’s decision not to make promised payments, according to a financial executive the governor tapped to find ways to fix the system."

Star-Ledger: “The Edison schools chief has moved to fire three teachers who allegedly participated in a vulgar online conversation that ridiculed disabled students, speculated about their coworkers' sex lives, and insulted fellow educators.” The students were privy to these “chats.”

Paterson Public School 20 misspelled “December” on its billboard and School Commissioner Corey Teague “erupted” in anger, says PolitickerNJ. (Maybe they ran out of “e’s”?)

Check out Andy Smarick on the exodus of state education chiefs and the danger of "homeostasis—a reversion to the old tried-and-true way of doing things."

Totally OT: During this grim week of Ferguson and “I can’t breathe” protests, I got a chuckle from this Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired parody called “I Am the Very Model of a Biblical Philologist.” 

Maybe you will too.