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Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Democrats to square off in Wayne primary for chance to challenge mayor
WAYNE — A pair of Democrats will vie for the party nomination to run for mayor in one of the only contested primary elections in Passaic County on June 10. James Freeswick, 75, is facing Donald Pavlak Jr., 64, the Board of Education president and the candidate endorsed by party leaders. The winner will challenge Republican Mayor Christopher Vergano in a general election on Nov. 4. Vergano, 66, is finishing his fourth four-year term. He is uncontested in the GOP primary. The contested race pits two men who each possess a desire to serve the community, although Pavlak has enjoyed much more success at the polls. The retired police sergeant has never lost an election, while Freeswick has come up short in seven attempts. This marks his third bid for the mayor's office. But just to participate in the process, Freeswick said, is a token victory. Municipal government: Clifton City Council members last got a raise in 1962. Is it time for another? 'I believe in American democracy,' said Freeswick, whose foray into politics began when he was elected as the first Student Council president of Wayne Hills High School nearly 60 years ago. 'I don't take it personally when I lose an election,' he added. 'It's the way it is — the voters get to decide.' Freeswick may have a better shot to win this primary, he said, because Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new law on March 6 to overhaul the ballot design, obliterating a county-line system that was viewed as unfair to non-endorsed candidates. The controversial change was precipitated by a federal lawsuit filed last year by then-Rep. Andy Kim, a Democrat who has since succeeded Bob Menéndez as senator. 'It can't hurt,' Freeswick said of his more conspicuous ballot position. 'It certainly can't hurt — it's certainly more equitable.' Pavlak, meanwhile, said he is relying on his reputation as a straight shooter. He said he models his honest approach after his late father, who was the police chief here until retiring in September 1999. Story continues below photo gallery. 'I always prided myself on telling the truth,' said Pavlak, now in his seventh term on the school board. 'Whether you like it or don't like it, you're going to hear the truth out of my mouth.' Freeswick and Pavlak expressed similar attitudes toward promoting the local economy, repairing crumbling infrastructure and stabilizing the tax base. Their opinions varied significantly on affordable housing. Pavlak said he would explore ideas to satisfy the state mandate that do not involve private development. He stopped short of suggesting that he would recommend the formation of a public housing authority. 'The vision I have is to keep Wayne the community that it is and to not make it a vertical community,' said Pavlak, a 1979 graduate of DePaul Catholic High School. 'Every option should be on the table. We have used the same playbook for 20-plus years, and it's not working.' Freeswick attacked his opponent's plan to address the issue, calling it 'very vague.' He said he is opposed to public housing and that if elected, he would adopt the method used by the current administration — settling site by site with for-profit builders. 'That's the way municipalities in New Jersey have complied with their Mount Laurel quotas,' Freeswick said. 'That's the best path to follow.' Three at-large seats on the Township Council are also up for grabs, and the Democrat and Republican slates are uncontested in their respective primaries. Council members Jill Sasso and David Varano, both Republicans finishing their second terms, did not seek reelection. The county's only other contested primary is happening in Wanaque, where Borough Council President Edward Leonard and Councilman Dominick Cortellessa are being challenged by Republican Angela Demetriou. In-person early voting begins on June 3 at 10 a.m., a week before the date of the primaries. Philip DeVencentis is a reporter for For access to the most important news in your community, subscribe or activate your digital account. Email: devencentis@ This article originally appeared on Wayne NJ Democrats vie to challenge mayor in 2025 election
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘The experience of a lifetime': Ousted Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez bids farewell in final Board of Education meeting
CHICAGO (WGN) — Thursday marked the final Board of Education meeting for embattled Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, who landed a new job after previous board members fired him late last year. Martinez reflected on his time with CPS, calling the chance to lead one of the nation's biggest school districts the experience of a lifetime. Martinez revealed that the journey first began after his family migrated from Mexico when he was 5 years old. 'I was at Walsh Elementary, where I learned how to speak English, where teachers began to see the potential in me that I did not see in myself,' Martinez said. 'That trend continued to Benito Juarez, where teachers and counselors encouraged me to challenge myself. And guide me towards being the first in my family to go to college.' Ousted CPS CEO Martinez earns nod to lead Massachusetts Board of Education But his role as CPS CEO, which he accepted in 2021, likely did not end as he envisioned. Last December, Martinez was fired without cause amid conflict with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his refusal to take out a high-interest loan to help finance a new Chicago Teachers Union contract and a pension payment for non-teacher staff, a move Martinez said was fiscally irresponsible. Nonetheless, Martinez says he's proud of the work he leaves behind. 'Our graduation rate has never been higher; over 84%,' he said. 'Nearly seven out of 10 CPS graduates are enrolling in college. More than half of our CPS students are earning college credit and industry certification or another career credential while still in high school.' Martinez has since been hired to lead the Massachusetts Board of Elementary Education. Through all the turmoil, CPS and CTU reached an agreement on a new contract in April. Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates also attended Thursday's board meeting. The CTU boss held a press conference earlier in the day on charter school renewals and wished the outgoing Martinez well. Reaction pouring in after Board of Education voted to fire CPS CEO Pedro Martinez 'CEO Pedro Martinez, I wish you Godspeed and the best of luck in your new endeavor,' she said. 'I also would suggest very strongly to you to get to know Jessica Tang and Max Page, two very honorable labor leaders who would love to partner with you.' As for the search for a new CPS CEO, Several brainstorming sessions are still scheduled. As of this writing, the job description has not been finalized or posted yet, however. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Debate grows over timing of higher academic standards in Virginia
Students in a classroom. (Photo by Getty Images) As Virginia prepares to revise its academic benchmarks for students, a select group will consider how quickly the state should implement its proficiency ratings. The committees could recommend either a single-year transition or a more gradual approach over several years. However, any decision could significantly impact how schools, students, and communities respond. Implementing the changes over a year could have immediate effects but might also lead to rushed decisions. A phased approach over several years could help reduce anomalies, but may delay schools from receiving timely interventions. 'The (Board of Education) hasn't made a policy decision yet on how they're going to do that,' Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Emily Anne Gullickson told The Mercury. Gullickson did not indicate her preference on the matter but said a subject expert will analyze data from other states that have taken similar approaches. A presentation is expected in June when the standard-setting committees meet. The committees include teachers, instructional specialists, and community stakeholders, such as parents and business leaders. In June, the members will make recommendations to the board for an initial review, with a final decision expected in July. Virginia's effort to change the cut scores — the threshold for determining student proficiency — is part of a broader push by Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration to raise academic benchmarks and 'restore excellence in education.' The plan includes increasing rigor in core subjects, boosting transparency and accountability, and overhauling the state's assessment system. The administration aims to align the new cut scores more closely with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which it says highlights the 'honesty gap' — the disparity between Virginia's current standards and the more stringent NAEP benchmarks. NAEP measures academic performance in grades 4, 8, and 12, using a randomly selected sample designed to reflect student diversity across factors like ethnicity, school size, economic background, and gender. Between 2017 and 2022, Virginia's fourth-grade reading and math results showed a stunning 40-percentage-point gap between the state's Standards of Learning assessment tests and NAEP assessments. According to the latest NAEP results for Virginia, 8% of Black students and 13% of Hispanic students tested proficient in 8th-grade math. In 4th-grade math, 19% of Black students and 27% of Hispanic students reached proficiency. The governor has attributed these results to the previous Board of Education lowering cut scores and altering school accreditation standards. However, Democrats have defended the prior approach. A change would not take effect until the spring of 2026. Board members are still in the early stages of considering their options. Anne Holton, a former state education secretary and a current member of the Board of Education member appointed by former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, said that while she is looking forward to seeing what the superintendent and committees recommend, she's disappointed the governor's administration has not adequately communicated the potential changes to the public — especially because they are likely going to be unpopular. The Youngkin administration wants Virginia to meet NAEP's 'proficient' standard, which is — defined as a student demonstrating a deeper understanding of complex topics and the ability to apply them in real-world situations. In response to Holton's question at the board's recent work session, Marianne Perie, founder of Measurement in Practice LLC and a technical advisor on standard setting, said that aligning Virginia's standards with the NAEP benchmark would increase the student failure rate. Holton said the rate could rise to about 68% — resulting in dramatic changes in the commonwealth. 'You need the public to understand that this is not suddenly your child is dumber than he was last year or that your school is worse than last year, but rather that we're changing the grading scale, causing this change,' Holton said. However, board member Andy Rotherham, a Youngkin appointee, warned of an 'inevitable result' if the state delays action. Speaking at the board's May 21 work session, he said the state has been telling the public that 90% of Virginia's schools are 'doing fine' when fewer than one in five Black and Hispanic eight-grade students are proficient. 'We're either going to have a reckoning for that or not,' Rotherham said, urging the board to continue its push for greater transparency and honesty about how students are performing on assessments. 'The question should not be about that; it should be what we are going to do for those kids, what we are going to do for those communities, what we are going to do for those families,' Rotherham said. 'Those are the kinds of policy conversations that we should be having, not trying to square this circle where we've been telling people that almost every school is great when you have these astounding gaps in achievement, and this astounding gap overall in terms of what we've been saying is proficient and what is not.' Rotherham said he looks forward to hearing from the committees. He did not endorse a specific implementation method but emphasized the importance of raising standards in a way that educators can manage — without postponing a decision. 'The only thing I'm not open to is kicking the can down the road or not being transparent with parents and communities about where we are,' Rotherham said. 'There are multiple ways to do this, and that's why we need to have a conversation that's not getting everybody riled up that 'all the kids are going to fail next year,' or whatever. (It needs to be) thoughtful, and I have confidence in Emily Anne on that.' The Mercury learned that several of Virginia's most prominent education associations share the board's commitment to high standards and accountability for students, but have not taken a position on how quickly the state should implement any proficiency ratings. Carol Bauer, president of the Virginia Education Association (VEA), said in a statement that changes in performance benchmarks have consequences and should only be considered with great care and caution. 'There's no need to rush this process for political purposes,' Bauer said. 'Before any moves are made, we need significant research into how changing cut scores will affect not only student success, but graduation rates, the new Performance and Support Framework, and funding that's tied to SOL outcomes.' On May 16, a statewide coalition of 12 education associations signed a letter urging the Board of Education to consider the broader implications of raising the cut scores on Virginia's SOL assessments. Areas of potential impact include the state budget, the new accountability system, and graduation rates. The organizations include the Virginia Association for Teaching, Learning and Leading, Virginia PTA, Virginia School Board Association, Virginia Associations of Secondary School Principals, School Superintendents, and Elementary School Principals and VEA. 'Our coalition supports rigorous expectations; we do not advocate lowering the bar for learning,' the letter states. 'However, we believe any changes to SOL cut scores must be approached with great care, thorough, extensive modeling of student performance impacts as well as transparency around the impact of the new cut scores on state budget funding streams tied to SOL outcomes, graduation rates, and the new Performance and Support Framework.' The coalition added that significant shifts in performance benchmarks without extensive modeling could carry 'far-reaching consequences.' It urged the board to 'fully analyze and communicate these impacts to all education stakeholders, especially parents, before moving forward.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Axios
4 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Inside Trump's push against school desegregation plans
The Trump administration is signaling it wants to ditch federal desegregation efforts in public school systems, a move that would end much-debated, decades-old programs mainly aimed at improving education opportunities for nonwhite students. Why it matters: Lifting desegregation policies set by federal rules and court orders — some of them a half-century old — could lead to a wide range of changes in more than 80 school systems Axios has identified as still being under such requirements. Those systems, primarily in the South, would no longer have to follow policies that set flexible transfer rules, school boundary guidelines, diversity hiring goals, and requirements for equal resources among schools, for example. It also would mean that Black and Latino parents in school systems that have been historically resistant to desegregation efforts likely would have less help tackling allegations of discrimination. State of play: This month, the Trump administration moved to dismiss a school desegregation case in Louisiana that began in 1966 in mostly white Plaquemines Parish. Plaquemines schools — like many systems targeted by the government's efforts — were run by white segregationists when Lyndon Johnson's administration sued the district for resisting the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision, which outlawed racial segregation in schools. Now, President Trump's Justice Department says it has "righted a historical wrong" by "freeing" the Plaquemines school board from federal oversight. The DOJ and Plaquemines school officials — who say their district addressed its equity issues long ago — have asked a judge to dismiss the case. After that announcement, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) said she wants to end more desegregation orders in the state. To close desegregation cases, the U.S. government and a school system must agree to end monitoring agreements or get approval from a federal judge in most cases. The big picture: Trump's administration has been focused on removing programs that have benefited people in historically disadvantaged communities — and on fighting what it has called anti-white discrimination. The administration, for example, has said the U.S. government no longer will unequivocally prohibit contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains. Trump also has revoked President Johnson's decades-old order on diversity and affirmative action practices in the U.S. government. Zoom in: Like those in Plaquemines, some school officials in districts still under desegregation orders say they've met their integration and equity goals — and that the orders still in effect amount to government overreach at a time when enrollments are more diverse than ever. However, civil rights advocates argue that desegregation programs are still necessary, citing ongoing disparities in educational opportunities and test scores. The advocates also point to the "resegregation" happening in many systems, as white students disproportionately leave neighborhood schools for charter and private schools. By the numbers: At least 84 school districts remain under court orders or federal monitoring agreements, an Axios review found. More than half of those districts — 63% — are in Alabama, Georgia or Mississippi in the South's " Black Belt," a rural and historically impoverished area with large Black populations dating back to enslavement. Another 26% of the districts are in Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. Zoom in: The Huntsville City (Ala.) system is among the districts that still have active desegregation orders. The district has struggled since 1970 to adjust school zoning policies that often have reinforced racial divides and limited extracurricular activities for Black students, according to court documents. The school district recently filed for a partial release from its desegregation order. The Trump administration's Justice Department didn't object. What they're saying: Raymond Pierce, president and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation, tells Axios the Trump administration appears to see school desegregation with the disdain it's shown for DEI programs. "They want to blend diversity, equity and inclusion with civil rights," Pierce said. "DEI is good policy, but desegregation is the law." Pierce added that many districts that still have desegregation orders have never adopted effective plans, and have been waiting for an administration that would de-emphasize them. " These are places that never desegregated seriously, so the chances that minority students will get any response from the courts in the future to violations of rights will vanish," said Gary Orfield, co-director of the UCLA Civil Rights Project. Noliwe Rooks, author of " Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children," told Axios that desegregation failed to address many Black students' needs — whether that meant upgrading their schools, moving them to better ones or providing equal resources.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
With American education under threat, we have to remember where we've been
On the heels of a historic anniversary, our country is reminded of how far we've come, and how much work remains, through the lens of education. May 17th marked 71 years since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision affirmed that education must be available and equitable to all. Yet the Department of Justice's recent removal of 1960s era safeguards to monitor school desegregation in Louisiana, and potentially other southern states, threatens the spirit of that landmark ruling. Further, education is facing other serious challenges across our country, at underfunded public schools and well-endowed colleges and universities alike. One of the greatest challenges is an attack on the very foundation of education via the ongoing threats to free thought and critical inquiry. Without these essential tenets, we weaken our collective ability to reach our full potential as individuals and as community. We run the risk of misremembering the past, not understanding our present and moving into the future without clear purpose or direction. More: Tennessee sees surge in books banned in public schools. Here's which ones and why Elementary and secondary education are at the heart of this struggle. This is where students learn about the trials and tribulations of our country—and where they learn to question, empathize and think critically, so that they can become engaged citizens as adults. When these opportunities are minimized for young people, we are all lessened. Higher education is not immune. Universities—traditionally places for open dialogue and rigorous debate—are under increasing pressure to curtail discussions on diversity and inclusion. Professors and students who challenge conventional perspectives face growing resistance. And even our most prestigious institutions are being pushed toward a simplified version of education that hesitates to confront uncomfortable truths. This moment demands reflection on who we aspire to be in the future, as well as a collective resistance to return to where we've been in the past. It's about preserving the American tradition of free inquiry and robust debate. After all, a healthy democracy relies on citizens who can think independently, engage respectfully with different viewpoints and hold leaders—and each other—accountable. Institutions like the National Civil Rights Museum play a vital role in maintaining this spirit. The Ruby Bridges Reading Festival, for example, provides children with access to important books by established and emerging authors, including many whose works are being banned elsewhere. Opinion: Tennessee can teach American exceptionalism and also end its book ban frenzy A museum Freedom Award honoree, Ruby Bridges is a civil rights activist who was the first Black student to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960, when she was just six years old. Bridges was born in Mississippi in 1954, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision ordering the integration of public schools. The Festival, named in her honor, is a commitment to ensuring future generations understand the full story of our nation's struggles and achievements. History shows us that when education is constrained, societies become more vulnerable to division and authoritarianism. When curiosity and empathy are discouraged, the foundations of community and democracy weaken. Protecting education is a shared responsibility. It means ensuring that our schools and universities remain places of truth, inquiry and understanding. It means supporting teachers, empowering students and encouraging leaders to champion open dialogue rather than fear. Freedom starts with an educated mind. By investing in honest education, we invest in a stronger, more resilient America. The stakes are high. Together, we must choose a path of hope, unity and thoughtful engagement. Dr. Russ Wigginton is the president of the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Education is under attack in the US. We can't forget history. | Opinion
