TRENTON, N.J. – Schools must be fully funded and return to a rigorous focus on academics to combat learning loss, Assemblywomen Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner said. With the state’s Start Strong assessment showing significant learning loss as a result of Gov. Phil Murphy’s pandemic lockdown policies, their call...
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TRENTON, N.J. – As New Jersey schools prepare to incorporate new health and sexual education curriculum, Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger and Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer sat down to preview some of the lesson plans that align with the standards approved by the state Board of Education in June 2020. WATCH: NJ’s...
TRENTON, N.J. – During an Assembly budget hearing on Monday, Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz and Assemblyman Brian Rumpf pressed acting education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan on the administration’s spending and lesson plans to address students’ two-year learning loss. Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has largely failed to dedicate funding to learning loss...
TRENTON, N.J. – Sen. Ed Durr, and Assemblywomen Beth Sawyer and Bethanne McCarthy Patrick want Gov. Phil Murphy to rescind his executive order that requires school staff and teachers who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to submit to once or twice weekly testing. The freshman legislators argue that...
TRENTON, N.J. – Students who miss class to attend a civics event should be allowed one excused absence per school year, says Assemblyman Kevin Rooney. Rooney’s bill (A1271) would allow students in grades 6-12 at least one such excused absence, with more at the school district’s discretion. Parents or guardians must...
TRENTON, N.J. – As schools struggle to find bus drivers who can safely transport kids and custodians who can sanitize classrooms, Assemblywoman Bethanne McCarthy Patrick eyes an opportunity for retired non-instructional staff. To help alleviate the pandemic-exacerbated staff shortages in schools, she recently introduced a bill that would allow...
TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Erik Peterson credits the Assembly Republican members who refused to comply with the Statehouse Covid-19 policy and fed-up parents for ending the controversial school mask mandates. On Monday, Feb. 7, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that he would be lifting statewide school and child care masking...
TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Ron Dancer’s bill reimbursing school districts for conducting regionalization feasibility studies was back in the Assembly on Monday to concur with the governor’s recommendations. The legislation (A5537/S3488) offers incentives for districts to consolidate and removes statutory barriers in an effort to improve educational quality and...
TRENTON, N.J. – School districts and institutions of higher education must adopt policies protecting students’ freedom of expression under legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Hal Wirths and signed by the governor on Tuesday. The legislation (A169/S108) gives student journalists in public schools, as well as public colleges and universities, the...
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...