What’s Important to Know About NJ This Week- 12/09/2023

NJ and US Falling Behind Rest of the World on Test Scores, Police Training Badly, NJ Public Charter Schools Show Up Strong, Underage Drinking May Bring Harsher Penalties, Proponents of Corporate Tax Fighting to Keep it Alive

NJ and US Falling Behind Rest of the World on Test Scores

From NJ Education Report

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, students in 81 industrialized countries that form the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) took a test called “Program for International Student Assessment,” also known as PISA. Students were tested in reading, math, and science. How did American kids do? Dale Chu helpfully gives us a list of headlines from today’s press coverage:

“U.S. students’ math scores plunge in global education assessment” (Axios)

“Math scores dropped globally, but the U.S. still trails other countries” (New York Times)

“Learning loss hits the U.S. hard. It’s as bad or worse across the world.” (Wall Street Journal)

“Math scores for U.S. students hit all-time low on international exam” (Washington Post)

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Private Police Training Encouraged Attendees to drink “out of the skulls of our enemies”

From the NJ Office of the State Comptroller:

Speakers throughout the Conference made comments glorifying violence and the application of military techniques to policing. These instructors encouraged officers to adopt a warrior/enemy mentality, rather than the “”guardian”” approach that is more consistent with police reform initiatives. For example, non-law enforcement speaker Tim Kennedy made comments about “”loving violence”” and later displayed a slide advising attendees to “”Be the calmest person in the room but have a plan to kill everyone.”” He praised savagery and “”drinking out of the skulls of our enemies,”” which he described as “”fucking rad, right?” ” Instructor Sean Barnette, then SWAT Medic and Deputy Sheriff for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’sSheriff’s Office, joked about law enforcement officers loving guns and “”shooting folks . . . not shooting folks, but shooting well. Sometimes you have to shoot folks.”” Former New York Police Department Detective Ralph Friedman stated that he felt “”victorious”” about having killed people in the line of duty and described his involvement in 13 incidents of deadly force, when he shot eight people, killing four, as “”batting .500.  Read More 

Public Charter Schools Outperform Peers in NJ 

From NJ Education Report

Late Wednesday, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) released 2023 statewide assessment scores for all K-12 public schools in the Garden State. The data shows that Black and Latino students enrolled in New Jersey’sJersey’s public charter schools outperform Black and Latino students in their comparative districts by 17 points in English language arts (ELA) and 10 points in mathematics on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA). These data confirm that public charter schools continue to make significant student achievement gains for students of color in under-resourced communities throughout New Jersey. Read More 

New Penalties for Underage Alcohol Possession

From the NJ Monitor:

A Senate panel approved a bill Thursday that would create new penalties for underage alcohol possession over the complaints of advocates who said the shift would send more young people into the criminal justice system.

The bill, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 9-2 vote, would subject individuals under the age of 21 found to possess alcohol to a $50 fine and a complaint summons, the equivalent of a disorderly persons offense. Read More

NJ Corporate Business Tax May Get Some New Life

From Patch:

Gov. Phil Murphy and other high-ranking state lawmakers have repeatedly said they plan to let the CBT surcharge expire. However, soon-to-retire Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-34) has now introduced a bill that could keep it alive.

Giblin’sGiblin’s bill, A-5878, would maintain the 2.5 percent CBT surtax until Dec. 31, 2025. It would require a certain amount of the revenue to be “”dedicated to specific purposes.”” Specific language of the bill wasn’twasn’t available as of Friday afternoon.

Labor advocates and progressive groups have been pushing for lawmakers to renew the surcharge tax, claiming that the revenue is desperately needed to fund vital state programs in a time of budget uncertainty. Read More

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