I will continue now with part 3 on Kim Guadagno, Republican candidate for Governor.
Today I will zero in on how Guadagno wants to improve education in New Jersey. Let us start with what is on her website, ‘Improving Education’ is the header-
Improving New Jersey’s public school system is critical for student success and a brighter economic outlook for future generations. New Jersey is blessed with incredible parents, educators and institutions of learning, but too many students are graduating high school without the necessary skills to succeed. And despite an improving state economy, too many college graduates are struggling to find jobs after earning a degree, choosing instead to move back in with their parents. We must not rest on our laurels and instead put all available tools and resources together to improve our education system so our students can graduate with the needed skills to get a job, buy a home and raise a family in New Jersey. This includes:
Reforming the antiquated school funding formula.
Expanding vocational education and apprenticeships.
Advancing merit pay for teachers.
Making higher education more flexible and affordable.
Expanding school choice.
OK, I totally agree with her that there is the big problem of kids graduating while being unable to function in the workplace because they can not read at an adult level, do simple math and express themselves properly because they do not speak English properly.
Kim talks about how high school graduates need a skill set that enables them to get a job, buy a home (a little unrealistic goal for most now due to our high property taxes) and raise a family (is this a necessary part of a school systems’ curriculum?). She then gives a list of five things that would improve our education system.
The first being the funding formula, well our New Jersey Supreme Court has a big say in that until some state legislators tell them off by passing a law that would exclude the court from meddling. The court has only one fix, spend more money and this will fix everything. Well it has been long enough to know that the court is dead wrong and it just seems to not understand that throwing money at the education system will not fix it.
Next is the idea of expanding vocational education and apprenticeships opportunities. This is a great idea, as not everyone needs to go to college to make a decent living. Having a college degree does not guarantee a good job or even a well paying one.
Guadagno idea of advancing merit pay for teachers does sound interesting, but she has to spell out the exact plan to implement it before I can say anything.
Now making higher education more flexible and affordable is a lofty goal that is sensible. Many students have been protesting for years that tuition is way too high and to the fact that more flexibility is needed, well my questions are how flexible can our upper education system get when it has not shown any ability to be more innovative.
Last, but not least is expanding school choice. We have some school choice with Charter schools, having more would help and being able to home school via the internet would expand a parent’s choice even more.
In summary I have to say that Guadagno and Murphy both have a long hard road to climb to show us how to fix our education system.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
