TRENTON, N.J. – In the past few years, New Jersey has honored its veterans with free beach access, hunting and fishing licenses, and hiring preferences for civil service jobs. A veteran lawmaker thinks it is time to quit what he calls the “soft-shoe” approach. Assemblyman Brian Bergen, who was...
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TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Brian Bergen called on Gov. Phil Murphy to immediately implement the new social distancing guidelines issued Friday from the Centers for Disease Control, which allow students to sit three-feet apart instead of six feet. The updates were made after the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases published...
TRENTON, N.J. – Sen. Samuel Thompson and Assemblymen Ron Dancer and Rob Clifton slammed Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration for proposing cuts to schools across the state, including those represented by the lawmakers in Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties. The lawmakers received an email from Department of Education Acting...
TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblywoman Aura Dunn criticized Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget for shortchanging schools despite increasing spending by $4.5 billion this year and funding six new pet projects to the cost of more than $95 million. “The governor’s budget funds more free college and preschool when our kids aren’t...
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Forcing school children to take standardized tests this year would be an unnecessary burden heaped on students, parents and teachers, says Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, a member of the Joint Committee on Public Schools. “I don’t know what of value would be gained by forcing students to...
TRENTON, N.J. – Today’s Joint Committee on the Public Schools remote meeting highlighted the importance of getting teachers and children back in the classroom for full in-person learning, said the committee’s Assembly Republican members. Legislators, state officials, education advocates, and concerned parents discussed how New Jersey can successfully reopen...
TRENTON, N.J. – The state Education Department quietly sent a memo last week to school districts detailing its plans to require standardized tests this spring even while it could apply for a waiver from the Biden administration. Assemblyman Brian Bergen says the state should think about the impact on...
TRENTON, N.J. – In anticipation of an adult-use recreational marijuana market in New Jersey, Sen. Michael Testa and Assemblyman Erik Simonsen introduced a bill to educate students in grades 3 through 12 on the risks of cannabis and marijuana use. The bill (S3360/A5168) specifies schools must include age-appropriate instruction...
TRENTON, N.J. – Today the Assembly Higher Education Committee released Assemblyman Ron Dancer’s bill expanding current law to require that all students attending a college or university in New Jersey receive the same kind of cost disclosure information that only prospective students currently must receive. Understanding the true costs...
TRENTON, N.J. – Amid coronavirus school closures and remote learning modules, state officials are failing to uphold the education article in the New Jersey State Constitution, says Assemblyman Erik Peterson. “The current administration has let New Jersey’s educational system become an egregious causality of the coronavirus,” said Peterson (R-Hunterdon)....