NJ21st 01/06/2025 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week’s newsletter opens with coverage of the Town Council and Board of Education reorganization meetings. Notably, this year marks the first time in recent history that both meetings were scheduled on the same day. Typically, the Town Council reorganization occurs on New Year’s Day. We provide a...
Ten Most Read Articles of 2024
NJ21st had another strong year as traffic to the site and subscriptions topped the prior year across all platforms. Here are the ten most-read articles of 2024… (10) No….The Township Does NOT have a CFO, and the Proposed Solution Should Raise Concerns The CFO position for the Township has been a revolving door, with the last former CFO raising numerous...
How to Increase Core-Content Area Instructional Minutes at Columbia Middle School
Increasing minutes and daily practice, especially for math, while sustaining the music program -Written by a non-politically affiliated Educator in the Community For the past few years, the math program at Berkeley Heights Public Schools (BHPS), particularly at Governor Livingston High School (GLHS) and Columbia Middle School (CMS), has underperformed. This article will focus on instructional minutes at CMS and...
Rights and Wrongs of the 2025-26 BHPS Calendar
Tweaks that could have been made for academic benefits and professional development -Written by a non-politically affiliated Educator in the Community At the December 12th, 2024 Berkeley Heights Board of Education (BHBOE) meeting, Acting Superintendent Mr. Richard Nixon presented the 2025-26 school calendar, which was unanimously approved by all Board members. Based on discussion during the meeting and past BHCW...
NJ21st 12/23/2024 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week’s newsletter kicks off with the timing of the BHPSNJ Budget Survey release—a topic that didn’t seem to surface at the last BOE meeting. The survey, announced just as the holidays are underway and ahead of the District’s presentation of the prior year’s audit, raises questions. Next,...
OSC Exposes Double Standards in NJ State Police Practices
Image Credit: Mark Strozier The New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) conducted a detailed review of 500 motor vehicle stops by the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). The investigation revealed that in over 25% of these stops, motorists used courtesy cards, claimed personal connections to law enforcement, or displayed law enforcement badges to influence the outcome. These actions...
Controversial Ballot Bill Passes Assembly Committee – Working Families Party Mobilizes with Petition
The Assembly Select Committee on Ballot Design has fast-tracked a contentious bill, introduced in response to a federal court decision, that has drawn significant criticism from good government groups. Introduced just a day before the vote, the bill’s amended version was only read aloud just before the vote took place. Critics have raised concerns over the rushed process and the...
NJ21st 12/16/2024 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. Our newsletter kicks off with an in-depth article exploring the history of math education and its relevance to the challenges facing BHPSNJ today. We then provide a recap of the December 12, 2024, meeting, where the Business Administrator introduced last-minute changes to the agenda during the final meeting...
11th Hour Revisions to 12/12/2024 BOE Meeting Agenda
The former BOE hired the current Business Administrator, who has largely continued the practices of their predecessor. The prior BA operated under the misguided belief that the District could act with minimal public input or oversight. This approach led to multiple lawsuits related to OPRA violations and numerous embarrassing incidents for the former BOE and administration, exposing both incompetence and...
NJ21st 12/09/2024 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Our Local & State Government This Week…. This week’s newsletter opens with our 7-District Dashboard, showcasing Spring 2024 NJSLA performance. We highlight competitive ELA scores, tightening math rankings, and pinpoint areas for improvement in Algebra 1, Geometry, and science compared to peer districts. Next, we dive into a series of in-depth articles on the impact...
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