Full Story:NJ.com
WAYNE — When Kathleen Waldron submitted her application for the president’s job at William Paterson University, she had all the usual qualifications: a doctorate, experience as a dean and a previous stint as a college president.

But it was the middle of her résumé — describing her 14 years as a top executive at Citibank — that really caught the eye of the university’s trustees.

Like all of New Jersey’s public colleges, William Paterson University in Wayne is struggling with state funding cuts and rising costs during the economic downturn. A banker may be just what the school needs, said Vincent Mazzola, chair of the university’s board.

“Even though we’re talking about an academic institution … it’s a $150 million enterprise,” said Mazzola, a retired Lucent Technologies executive. “You need someone not unlike a CEO to focus on that enterprise.”

Waldron moved into the president’s office at William Paterson last month as the school’s first new leader in a quarter century. She replaces longtime president Arnold Speert, who retired after spending nearly all of his career on campus.

As she waited last week for students to arrive for the new school year, Waldron was full of ideas for revitalizing the 154-year-old university.

“It is probably a tough time to come in as a new president because these are very serious economic issues with no easy answers,” said Waldron, 62.

But a detailed review of William Paterson’s books left her optimistic, she said.

“I have a finance background. So, numbers do tell a story to me,” Waldron said. “William Paterson University has been fairly conservative in its fiscal management over the years. I can see that. And therefore our ability to adjust to changing economic times probably is better than some other institutions in the state.”

Founded as a teaching college, William Paterson has grown into a university with 250 undergraduate and graduate programs on a 370-acre wooded campus in Passaic County. The 11,000-student campus is known for welcoming minority students who are the first in their family to go to college. Undergraduate tuition and fees are $11,238 a year.

Waldron, who is fluent in Spanish, said William Paterson’s racial diversity helped draw her to the school. Born in Brooklyn, she grew up on Long Island as the oldest of four children in an Irish-Italian family with a stay-at-home mother and a father who was a salesman for International Paper. She went to Stony Brook University on Long Island on a full scholarship as a history major.

She went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in Latin American History at Indiana University and teach at Bowdoin College in Maine. But she left after three years to enroll in a program to train scholars to work in the business world. The program led to a surprise job offer in the banking industry.

Waldron worked at several financial companies before settling at Citibank. She rose through the ranks to become president of Citibank International in Miami. In 1995, she took an assignment to oversee Citibank University, a section of the company that provided professional training for 4,000 employees. That prompted Waldron to consider returning to the academic world.

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerKathleen Waldron, the new president of William Paterson University; answers interview questions from freshman student , Anthony Giardullo of Sparta; at the university campus in Wayne.

“I did have a great career in banking,” she said. “I loved what I did — but I always thought about coming back.”

Waldron became dean of the business school at Long Island University. In 2004, she was chosen as the new president of Baruch College, the business-focused college at the City University of New York. At Baruch, some considered Waldron a long shot when she was named one of three finalists for the president’s job, said Myrna Chase, who was the school’s arts and sciences dean at the time.

“Women were not really an important part of the leadership at Baruch. They tended to do the work behind the scenes,” Chase said.

Waldron was hired and quickly made a name for herself at Baruch as an ambitious fundraiser. She helped raise $160 million for the school, largely by courting successful alumni.

“She was very good at that,” Chase said. “I think many, many of the donors really liked her as a person.”

But Waldron’s efforts to build dorms on the urban campus were unsuccessful. When it became clear the school would never be the residential college she envisioned, Waldron said she was ready for a change. When the job opened at William Paterson, Waldron said, she was happy to apply.

William Paterson spent about $109,000 on the search for its new president, which drew more than 100 applicants, school officials said.

Waldron will earn $295,000 a year in the job, according to her contract. The university will pay an additional $44,250 into a retirement account each year, though Waldron will only be able to fully cash in on the money if she stays in the job five years or more. Waldron, who is single, will live in the presidential house and have use of a car.

Her long-term plans for William Paterson include increasing the size of the student body and exploring the idea of offering more classes online. Her first few weeks are packed with meetings with faculty, students and alumni. She plans to take her first fundraising trip to meet potential donors on the West Coast later this month.

In her free time, Waldron is a passionate fisherwoman, theatergoer and a voracious reader who promises to read any book published by one of her faculty, no matter how obscure the text. The avid bird-watcher was also happy to find her new office in Hobart Manor overlooks William Paterson’s tree-filled grounds.

“I have this great office — my binoculars are coming,” Waldron said.

Full Story: Nj.com

TRENTON — At the end of the darkest week in Gov. Christie’s term, it got worse Friday.

The governor had already lost a $400 million education grant, thanks to the most expensive clerical error in history. He then played the role of sore loser, complaining about the contest rules and blaming President Obama.

And when he learned that this harangue was weighed down with factual errors, he fired his able Education Commissioner, Bret Schundler, accusing Schundler of feeding him that bad information.

Friday, Schundler fired back. The governor, he said, made the mistakes all by himself. And Schundler had saved a batch of e-mails that seem to support his view.

“The governor made an error,” he said. “But it wasn’t an error caused by me giving him the wrong information.”

In the end, it may be impossible to settle this one. Schundler has those e-mails, but the two sides had conversations that weren’t recorded, and their accounts are sharply at odds.

• Gov. Christie, Schundler clash over who was wrong leading up to firing

The politics, though, is easy to see. And it’s ugly for the governor. Democrats are planning hearings where they will pick at this scab for as long as they can. After being knocked around by Gov. Wrecking Ball for most of the year, you can imagine how giddy they are.

The core of the story at these hearings will be that $400 million, and the blast of incompetence that kept New Jersey from winning it. Add Schundler’s firing to the mix, and you have a dose of drama as well.

Schundler Friday was deflated, not combative. Sitting at the dining room table in his beautifully decorated brownstone in Jersey City, still wearing a shirt and tie as if ready to return to a job he loved, he sounded crushed.

Full Story:EDLAWCENTER.com

At a time when New Jersey’s schools face many challenges, a new report from the Schott Foundation cites the state as a national model of progress in addressing one of public education’s biggest concerns: improving high school graduation rates for young Black males. (Read the report .)

The report, entitled Yes We Can, paints an alarming national picture of wide gaps in graduation rates and academic achievement between Black males and White males. But it points to NJ — where Black males complete high school at rates well above the national average, and where achievement gaps have narrowed — as an example of “the progress that can be made if Black male students have an equal opportunity to learn.”

Nationally, only 47% of Black males graduate from high school on time. But NJ’s Black male graduation rate is 22 points higher at 69%. “New Jersey is the only state with a significant Black male population with a greater than 65% graduation rate,” says the report.

The report attributes NJ’s progress to investment in the “conditions for success” including equitable and adequate school funding, high-quality pre-school and early literacy programs, after-school and summer programs, and supplemental social and health services. These investments were sparked by several landmark school funding decisions that led to increased resources and reforms in NJ’s least wealthy urban districts.

For example, between 2002 and 2008, the report shows that Newark was able to raise the district’s Black male graduation rate from 47% to 75%. Black males in Newark now graduate at a rate slightly higher than the national average for all groups (74%) and close to the average for White males (78%). This increase in high school graduation rates for young Black males also paralleled a decline in the city’s crime rate that reflects the broad social and economic benefits of closing graduation gaps.

The Yes We Can report stresses that while NJ shows that progress is possible through systematic investment and reform, alarming gaps in academic achievement and opportunity remain. For example, NJ has the highest number of Black males showing proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 8th grade reading test. But that “best score,” the report notes, “is a dramatically low 15%” and much lower than the 44% of White males in NJ reaching proficiency on the same test.

For NJ, building on the progress cited in Yes We Can and closing the large gaps that remain will be even more challenging in the next few years. A retreat from equity funding and reform mandates and dramatic cuts in school funding could bring back the days of “separate and unequal” schooling. At the same time, proposals for more high-stakes testing could narrow the multiple pathways to a high school diploma that have helped sustain NJ’s high graduation rates.

TRENTON — The political arm of the state’s largest teachers union has endorsed eight Democrats and no Republicans for congressional and special state legislative elections this year.

The New Jersey Education Association’s political action committee announced Monday that they are backing U.S. Reps. Rob Andrews (D-1st Dist.), John Adler (D-3rd Dist.), Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.), Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.), Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.), Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.) and Rush Holt (D-11th Dist). The group, which pegs its membership at 200,000, also endorsed Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex), who is running against state Sen. Tom Goodwin (R-Mercer) in a special election in the 14th Legislative District.

Although the union typically endorses more Democrats, they usually support some members of the GOP. In 2008, they backed U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd Dist.). This year, they made no endorsements in their districts. Smith did not screen this year, NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said, though LoBiondo did.

The group did decline to endorse some Democrats. In the 7th Congressional District, they made no endorsement, even though Democrat Ed Potosnak, a former science teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School, is running against freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance.

“As a teacher, I never took my voting cues from them, and I leave it up to teachers of the 7th District to decide who will represent them in Congress,” Potosnak said in a statement.

NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said the PAC may decide to endorse more candidates later on, including in the 7th District.

“I think there may be further discussion on that one,” he said. “A lot of things come into consideration, not just whether you’re an NJEA member… Some of that gets subjective because you also have to assess a non-incumbent’s electability.”

Full Story: NorthJersey.com

The Senate Education Committee meets this morning to discuss a bill that would create new avenues to expand the state’s charter school system.

The bill (S2198) would allow Rutgers University to authorize the creation of charter schools – something only the commissioner of education can currently do. It would also expand their scope to include online schools, single-sex schools and schools for students with special needs, such as autistic children. Community residents, in addition to parents and teachers, would also be able to apply to establish them, and applicants would no longer face deadlines.

Education Commissioner Bret Schundler plans to testify.

The bill, sponsored by state Sens. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark) and Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) is up for discussion only, which means no vote is expected to be taken on whether to send it to the full senate.

Full Story:NorthJersey.com

The Paterson school district, grappling with a classroom space crunch, is in talks with the developer of the Center City Mall about leasing space for high school programs in the downtown retail center.

School officials are looking for a new home for the HARP Academy – a health professions high school located in the Main Street Mall, said Schools Superintendent Donnie W. Evans.

By: Henry Sosa

Friday July 23rd, 2010

During the next 2 days the Statewide Education Organizing Committee will deepen their understanding and skills, assess where they have been, and where do they need to go. SEOC builds parent power as a means to improve their schools by using direct action organizing, an approach that always begins with parents deciding what they issues are, determining which are the most vital, and designing an action strategy.  SEOC parents form strong and independent district-wide organizations (their own SEOC Chapters) and join together at the state level and put the pressure on wherever needed to win educational change.

SEOC needs everyone’s ideas and energies in their struggle for educational quality and justice for all our children! For the next 2 days the leaders and staff will be secluded at their Annual Retreat where they will have a number of workshops to better prepare their members and staff for the tasks ahead.

The 2 day session will include 2 sessions or workshops on Friday dealing with better communication and fighting for for fair funding followed by a Barbecue  and dinner. On Saturday the organization will have Breakfast at 8:00 A.M. then closely followed by the other 2 workshops that will deal with a Graduations for All campaign, the followed by the last workshop of the deal which will deal with Goal Setting for the next year.

Eric Goodman/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — When middle school students gathered at New Jersey Institute of Technology today to meet first ever African-American space-walker, Dr. Bernard Harris Jr., they asked some very important questions about gravity, temperature, space travel and one more practical question.

“What is it like to go to the bathroom in space?” asked a camper.

Harris, apparently used to such questions, answered with scientific accuracy and a sense of humor. His detailed answer involved an intricate “airplane-like toilet” and a lot of suction.

Urban middle school students from New Jersey and New York are attending NJIT’s fourth year hosting ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp. On his second space shuttle flight, on Feb. 9, 1995, Harris became the first African-American to perform extra-vehicular activity, known as a space walk. Harris is the founder of the summer camp, part of the academic program of the Harris Foundation.

“When I go into a classroom, I see a lack of relevancy with how the children learn in school and how it relates to the real world,” said Harris. “We show how science is relevant to everyday life. Learning is no longer a chore, it becomes natural, and if I can make it fun then that’s even better.”

The camp is free to students who have been recommended by teachers based on skills in science, mathematics and leadership. In addition, students had to write a 200-word essay, take a written exam, and show their enthusiasm for science, math and engineering in an interview. More than 250 students applied to the camp.

The 54 accepted students, including eight from Newark, live in NJIT dorms and participate in daily fun and educational science-based activities over a two-week period.

“My major focus is to show the kids that things made by man don’t just appear,” said lead teacher Purvik Patel.

In the morning, campers learned about Archimedes’ principle and had to apply what they learned by building the most efficient raft possible out of two pieces of tin foil and four drinking straws. The students who placed the most pennies on their raft without it sinking won the competition.

Team Awesome won the competition after placing 173 pennies on their raft. The team was made up of Sharon Reitz, 12 of Kearny, Jonathan Butler, 12 of Teaneck, Benjamin Hsueh, 13, of Somerset ,and Natalie Thompson, 13 of Hillsborough.

The team then explained that they built the raft with the straws facing upwards, out of the water and used both pieces of foil on the bottom. Their teamwork and ingenuity helped them win the competition.

“I was so excited when I heard he was going to be here,” said Butler about meeting Harris. “He told me he was a dreamer and that his dream was to go into space. That really inspired me because it shows you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Like many students at the camp, Butler wants to be an astronaut.

“They can do anything they want,” said Harris. “I want to enable them and empower them. They have to have a foundation in education and be willing to work hard and sacrifice whatever it takes.”

TRENTON — Five N.J. Democrats have proposed a bill to expand the state’s charter school system and provide Rutgers University with the authority to approve new schools, according to a report on APP.com.

The legislation would also allow for new types of charters, such as virtual schools, one-gender schools and schools specializing in behavioral disorders, the report said. Though the bill was crafted by Democrats, it should get little resistance from Gov. Chris Christie, who has supported charter schools, the report said.

When a loved one dies, grieving family members and friends often are confronted with dozens of decisions about the funeral – all of which must be made quickly and often under great emotional duress. What kind of funeral should it be? What funeral provider should you use? Should you bury or cremate the body, or donate it to science? What are you legally required to buy? What other arrangements should you plan? And, as callous as it may sound, how much is it all going to cost?

Each year, Americans grapple with these and many other questions as they spend billions of dollars arranging more than
2 million funerals for family members and friends. The increasing trend toward pre-need planning – when people make funeral arrangements in advance – suggests that many consumers want to compare prices and services so that ultimately, the funeral reflects a wise and well-informed purchasing decision, as well as a meaningful one.

Many funeral providers offer various “packages” of commonly selected goods and services that make up a funeral. But when you arrange for a funeral, you have the right to buy individual goods and services. That is, you do not have to accept a package that may include items you do not want.

According to the Funeral Rule:

• you have the right to choose the funeral goods and services you want (with some exceptions).
• the funeral provider must state this right in writing on the general price list.
• if state or local law requires you to buy any particular item, the funeral provider must disclose it on the price list, with a reference to the specific law.
• the funeral provider may not refuse, or charge a fee, to handle a casket you bought elsewhere.
• a funeral provider that offers cremations must make alternative containers available.