NEW JERSEY'S TEACHER'S

New Jersey's Teacher's



Table of Content

NEW JERSEY'S TEACHER'S1

INTRODUCTION1

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS2

NEW JERSEY'S TEACHERS PAY AND BENEFITS IN REAL AND NOMINAL TERMS5

TEACHER PENSION FUND LOST $9 BILLION LAST YEAR WHILE COSTS ROSE6

Sources of the “big problem”8

GRIM PROSPECTS11

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE IN NEW JERSEY12

BUDGET COMPOSITION14

Direct State Services15

Grants-in-Aid16

Property Tax Relief Fund17

State Aid17

Capital Construction18

The Scope for Charging to Reduce Spending19

BIBLIOGRAPHY21

New Jersey's Teacher's

Introduction

The College of New Jersey, abbreviated TCNJ, formerly Trenton State College, is a public, coeducational university located in Ewing Township, New Jersey, a northern suburb of Trenton.

Established in 1855 by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, the institution was the first normal school in the state of New Jersey and the fifth in the United States. Originally located in Trenton proper, the college was moved to its present location in adjacent Ewing Township during the early to mid-1930s. Since its inception, TCNJ has undergone several name changes, the most recent being the controversial 1996 change to its current name, from Trenton State College.

US News and World Reports ranks The College of New Jersey as the top master's degree level public university in the Northern United States, while Barron's Educational Series Profiles of American Colleges lists the college among its 75 "Most Competitive" institutions. The college is also notable for its quality of life; it currently ranks 9th in The Princeton Review's "Happiest Students" list, and features a first-year retention rate of 95%. In 2009, The Princeton Review ranked TCNJ's library as 4th best college library in the nation.

TCNJ is organized into seven schools, all of which offer four-year bachelor's degree programs, and several of which offer master's degree programs. A great deal of emphasis is placed on liberal arts education via the college's general education requirements

"More money and more teachers are nothing more than self-serving strategies to enhance the wealth and power of the education establishment." This quote by Walter Williams, from his article, "More Money, Better Education?" is one that I couldn't agree with more. Williams article is very persuasive, as he uses effective data to prove his point. While in his article "New Schools Now," Jesse Jackson brings up legitimate counter arguments as to why improving our inner city schools is so important, but does not come across as very convincing. As a recent high school graduate, and a current college student, my opinion of the American education system is very strong. Simply giving more money to schools will not solve the America's educational tribulations; more blame must be put on the students and parents.

Economic Analysis

In his article Jessie Jackson tires to persuade the reader into thinking that more money will solve the educational crisis. Jackson tires to win over his audience by using a outlandish statistic that shouldn't even apply to the topic. Jackson explains, "Chicago spends an average of $18,615 a year on each inmate, compared with an average of $6,941 on each public school student."(Jackson 188). How can these two differing numbers even be compared? An inmate receives housing, food, health care, and spends the whole year at the ...