Education advocates to Gov. Murphy: Update N.J. Board of Education

December 21, 2022

All 13 members of the New Jersey Board of Education will be sitting in expired seats by the end of the school year unless the state Legislature approves three new members Gov. Phil Murphy nominated in September.

Julia Sass Rubin, a professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said Murphy could avoid delays related to senatorial courtesy by appointing people who live in districts with senators who usually vote with the governor.

Rubin said that during Murphy’s first term, he could not be sure the state Senate would confirm his appointees because then-Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, had worked with Christie in support of his school board candidates.

“Sweeney made it really clear he wasn’t going to move any of his nominees,” she said of Murphy. She said the two had different philosophies of education, particularly regarding charter schools and standardized tests. Nominating new board members would have cost Murphy “a lot of political capital,” she said.

Rubin, who directs the public policy program at the school, noted that education is a very thorny political issue, particularly in the face of partisan battles over book bans and sex education standards. And unlike other states with Democratic governors and legislatures, in New Jersey, partisan in-fighting over education is more common.

Both Democrats and Republicans attacked Murphy over charter schools and high-stakes testing, she said.

“New Jersey is kind of an outlier that Democrats go after him on these issues,” she said. “It’s a machine-controlled state, so it doesn’t act like other states with partisan politics.”

But inaction has its dangers, Rubin said. “The challenge is, if (Murphy) leaves 13 spots for his successor, they may have a very different view of public education,” she said. “That’s a huge red flag for him if he cares about his vision of public schools.”

NJ.com, December 21, 2022

Recent Posts

Dan Kennedy (MCRP ’07): CRE Roadmap for Next Governor

As New Jersey prepares to elect its next governor, NAIOP NJ, the commercial real estate development association, has published a comprehensive roadmap for economic revitalization and sustainable development for the consideration of both candidates for governor. As a...

“Work Trends RU” Podcast with WorkingNation’s Jane Oates

This week's guest on the Heldrich Center's Work Trends RU podcast is Jane Oates, Senior Policy Advisor at WorkingNation. She and Dr. Carl Van Horn discuss WorkingNation’s mission, objectives, and accomplishments; the power of digital storytelling; the challenges of...

Zhang et al. Study Street-View Greenspace and Exercise

GPS-based street-view greenspace exposure and wearable assessed physical activity in a prospective cohort of US women Abstract Background Increasing evidence positively links greenspace and physical activity (PA). However, most studies use measures of greenspace, such...

NJSPL: Some College, No Credential Population in NJ

Overview of the Some College, No Credential Population and Educational Outcomes in New Jersey, 2023–2024 New Jersey State Policy Lab Supporting New Jersey residents in returning to college after leaving without a credential has been an increasing focus of the state’s...

Loh and Noland Explore Public Charging Station Disparities

Equal charging for all: Are there income-based disparities in public charging stations? Abstract We compare charging station accessibility for different income groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a microsimulation model, we estimate charging station...