This Week at NJ21st: Holding the NJ DOE Accountable, SAT Scores, Energy Plans, Problems and Agendas

Newsletter

At the Top

Our state legislative review covered bills moving through Trenton on Turf Fields, Climate and the price of Data.  

Staying at the top, education advocate Kai Collins takes the OAL to task on confidentiality and record keeping while asking some hard questions on fairness for working families battling the system on behalf of their kids.  

We wrap up the state coverage with an addition to our ‘Know Your NJ Government’ series in walking through a BPU agenda – boring but important as utilities continue to be a hot topic.

Regionally, we add to our 7-District School performance hub by taking a look at how our schools compare on the SAT.  

It’s been a while but we put out another Nightwatch episode covering the CMS Turf Field/Sports Complex/Project, Peppertown and NJ’s shift to Adaptive Testing.

Moving on to the Locals….

Berkeley Heights

John covers a Berkeley Heights Town Council agenda that includes a boiler plate energy plan, $1.8M in bills and more redevelopment – although that last one got pushed back.  

Laura covers the 06/11 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting Agenda that comes with a long awaited Custodian Contract and new Principal at CMS.

Town Council Candidate Edmund Maciejewski thinks that our Town Government needs to focus less on flags and pet causes and more on Township Business and resident concerns. 

Resident Michael Leblond continues to hold the Mayor and Council accountable for the ongoing power issues in Berkeley Heights.

Summit

We publish our coverage of the Summit BOE Agenda that had some big bills, big hires and big transfers as that District has it’s year-end meeting.

New Providence

Looks like it’s ‘Energy Plan’ week at the municipal level as New Providence rolls its version out as well, along with a ~$3M Bond .

On the Socials….

The State Supreme Court makes it crystal clear – emails from private accounts pertaining to public business are subject to OPRA.

NJ publishes its first annual wildfire report and 2025 was a bad year.

NJ DOE is investing in High-Impact Tutoring – why aren’t we?

Top Five Articles for May

The 2026 NJ Layoff Warning Trend Spotted in March Continues Through May

7 Districts, 5 Years, 1 Dashboard: A Comparative Performance Summary

“Security Theatre” and a Silencing Lawsuit: Cherry Hill’s War on Transparency

Scutari’s Law Delivered: NJ County Parties Rake In $22M as Pay-to-Play Thrives

New Providence EMS Opposes S1421: ‘A Costly State Mandate Threatening Local Volunteers and Taxpayers’

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NJ21st is an independent nonprofit civic journalism project focused on transparency, public records and accountability in both local and state government.

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