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Charter Schools, Future of Public Education to be Discussed at Forum

November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last week, the state Department of Education told Teaneck public school officials that the proposed Garden State Virtual Charter Schoolcould cost the district more than $15 million. School officials were shocked by the potential price tag, but state officials said the amount was only a guide. The virtual school’s founder has also said he didn’t anticipate most students would come from Teaneck.

The Teaneck situation renewed calls for reforms to charter school laws and state Assemblywoman Mila Jasey (D-Essex) has questioned if virtual schools should be funded the same way as brick-and-mortar charters.

Charter schools are independently run but receive public funds based on the amount of students who attend from each local school district.

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America Is Still the Most Innovative Country in the World

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Embracing America’s comparative advantages requires appreciating that, when the world changes, the challenges, as well as the tools, talent, and technology at our disposal, also change. Seeking to provide high-quality instruction to every child in the 21st century is a sea change from our agenda a century ago–when we only expected one student in ten to finish high school and when it was impossible to instruct a child who was 1,000 feet away. Today, we can meet new demands by drawing upon a talent pool and tools unimaginable in 1911.

American K-12 schooling is a hotbed of dynamic problem-solving on this front. Non-profits like Teach For America, Florida Virtual School, The New Teacher Project, Carpe Diem, and Citizen Schools are showing new ways to recruit and utilize educators. For-profits like Wireless Generation, Tutor.com, Pearson, Discovery, and Rosetta Stone are offering up a range of ways to harness new tools and technology to support teaching and learning. Figuring out how to leverage these new problem-solvers is a place where our state systems, districts, and schools have fumbled badly. This is an area where would-be reformers have devoted far too little attention. Meanwhile, not only have the “best” performing nations not done any better on this count, but the schemes promoted by those covetously eyeing Finland inevitably entail oodles of regulations and rule-writing calculated to stifle such providers.

Indeed, if we look to nations that are gearing up to lead the pack in 2052, rather than 2012, we see that countries like Qatar and India are busy spying on these American ventures to help them make the leap. We would be well-advised to take the hint, and to push forward by drawing on what the U.S. has always done best.

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Glen Ridge students participating in online school

November 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For one group of students at Glen Ridge High School, the classroom isn’t just in the brick-and-mortar school building, and some of their new classmates may be on the other side of the country – or the world.

This year, GRHS is participating in the Virtual High School for the first time. The program is a series of online courses tailored for high school students and their schools.

Space is limited – Glen Ridge has made 15 spots available for the first year of the program. There is already a long waiting list for next year, says Jill Landgraber, who coordinates the program at GRHS. Those who are interested in participating have to submit an application to the guidance office, and then have a meeting with teachers and guidance counselors to determine if they are eligible.

Students who take a full-year course can earn five credits for graduation, while a half-year course is good for 2.5 credits.

Participating students communicate with each other, and the instructor, through discussion forums. The curriculum includes both individual homework assignments and group projects.

There are 770 schools enrolled in Virtual High School, 719 from the United States and 51 from other countries.

Glen Ridge High School is one of 43 schools from New Jersey that are participating.

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Virtual charter school plan prompts review of laws

October 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A proposal for a virtual charter school based in Teaneck that would end its first year with $4.7 million of taxpayer money left in the bank has sparked concern and calls Friday for deeper scrutiny.

State Sen. Richard Codey, D-Essex, said the proposal sounded like a “business, plain and simple.”

“With all the people out of work, there are going to be more applications for this … to get rich real quick,” he said.

A proposal for the Garden State Virtual Charter School, filed with the state on Monday, seeks to serve 1,000 K-12 students statewide at first. It would have a drop-in center in Teaneck for those who want extra help in person, but would not have many of the expenses of running a bricks-and-mortar school, such as buses, nursing and sports. Its 36 teachers would do most of their instruction by web conferencing.

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Latest Round of Charter Applications Filed with Education Department

October 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Three of the most contentious applications from the last round — all rejected — have filed again. They are a Hebrew language school in Middlesex County, a Mandarin language school in Essex County, and a charter high school for Montclair that is now making its fifth try.

In all, 12 of the 42 applications are making at least their second bids for the state’s approval, according to the education department.

With much of the tensions over charters coming out of the suburbs, there are new proposals for suburban communities in Bergen County, in Clifton of Passaic County, and in Voorhees in Camden County, which is already contesting a new school approved in nearby Cherry Hill.

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Patch Picks: Exciting Initiatives at Collingswood High

October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

1. The Virtual High School Project (VHS)

In collaboration with other high schools around the United States, VHS is designed to serve the dual purpose of virtual course study and the development of computer and web-based skills. Students log on to the database either from home or at the high school media center, to perform and submit class assignments online. Students also have access to a discussion section, where they can interact with teachers and other pupils. The VHS project offers over 140 courses, all providing permanent credit toward the students’ transcripts.

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MANVILLE: School board candidates give their views MEET THE CANDIDATES

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Six candidates are running for the three three-year terms for the Manville Board of Education. The candidates are incumbent Heid Alles, Judy Faulkner, Valerie Frank, incumbent Jeanne Lombardino, Sharon Lukac and Kim Richter.

The Manville News plans to ask a few questions about their goals if elected to the Board of Education on April 27. This is the first “Meet the Candidates” so residents can get familiar with them and see what these candidates have in their plans.

Heidi Alles

Heidi Alles is also seeking re-election for her seat on the board. Ms. Alles is a lifelong resident of Manville and is employed by Alcatel-Lucent as a business operations manager in the Corporate Real Estate Organization. She graduated in 1983 from Manville High School. Ms. Alles is completing her first three-year term, serving one year as vice president and six months as president.

Ms. Alles said she would like to “Keep the momentum going with sound fiscal management; continue to look for innovative and socially responsible ways to save dollars, such as the Solar Panel Initiative. This board is a good team that is interested in doing the right thing by both our kids and the taxpayers; recognition for both students and staff has been a great addition to our regular agendas as well as a focus on solid policies and professional development. I’d like to see all that continue.”
One thing that Ms. Alles would like to see change or improve in the Manville School District is that “We need to continue to find creative and effective ways to provide quality education while maintaining our highly certified staff. The Virtual High School is a perfect example of keeping programs in place that interest our students without the pressure or the financial burden of a full time teacher staffing small classes.”

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DOE approves 23 new charter schools, including in Camden, Willingboro, Glou. Twp.

January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Among the schools approved are two in Camden: Camden Community Charter School, which would open with 150 students in kindergarten through grade five and grow to 950 students through grade eight, and New Jersey Virtual Charter School, for high school dropouts in grades 10 through 12.

The charter high school, which would also operate in Perth Amboy, Neptune and Paterson, includes an online component and classes in space provided by local community colleges. It is being operated as a partnership between Rutgers University and the Monmouth Ocean Educational Services Commission.

“This gives the students an environment that is different from what they are in, so it may be more successful,” said Timothy Nogueira, the school’s co-founder. The virtual high school has been given DOE approval to start in September 2012, but could easily be open for business a year earlier, he added.

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Online Courses Open Opportunities For Students, Could Save Money for Schools

January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The new program will allow students even to take their required courses online, after obtaining the approval of himself and the school’s principal, Frank Howlett, Siet said.

He said he expects one of the most popular online offerings to be a half-year course on personal finance that is a state requirement for graduation. Students then would be able to fill the second half of the year either with an elective, possibly online, or a study hall.

“It’s really for an independent student,” Siet said of online learning. “This is really nice for the student who wants more courses,” he said. The self-paced classes will be included on a student’s transcript, he said, but would not count towards a student’s grade point average. That is because the township school system has no way of reviewing and supervising the teachers who are presenting classes.

Those free courses have had limited “seating” for about 5o students per year, Siet said. Siet said he expects that number could increase to about 170 next fall.

Siet said that the district paid about $7,000 for a membership fee to belong to the Virtual High School. Another part of that agreement was to have Ridge teacher Steve Isaacs devote one-fifth of his time to teaching online through Virtual High School. Isaacs no longer will be required to teach classes under the agreement with Educere, Siet said.

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Thousands to take third try at New Jersey high school test

July 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

About 1,500 New Jersey students will start online tutoring next week in the hope of passing the state’s alternative high school test in August on their third try, an Education Department spokeswoman said Friday.

“The goal is to get them a solid month of tutoring,” said Beth Auerswald.

They are among the 2,904 students who have not yet passed all necessary parts of the test. That number is substantially higher than the 2,200 estimate released by the Education Department last month.

An additional 1,357 students were allowed to graduate through a state-created appeals process.

The approximately 1,400 students who have not signed up for online tutoring can still do so, Auerswald said. Other options include taking the test without tutoring, repeating senior year, or seeking a equivalency diploma, she said.

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