Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
New Jersey plays a prominent role in the lives of most students in the United States. Educational Testing Service (ETS) is a Princeton-based testing company. They’re the ones responsible for the SAT.
That isn’t the only test it creates, however. The battery of tests New Jersey administers is also created by ETS. I just administered the NJ ASK (assessment of skill and knowledge). This test is administered to all New Jersey students grades 3-8. High School students take the HSPA (high school proficiency assessment). This too is an ETS test.
Today I received an e-mail that included a memorandum from Jay Doolan, Ed.D., Assistant Commissioner Division of Educational Standards and Programs. Doolan shared the news that ETS is out as New Jersey’s standardized testing program for elementary school:
The assessments for grades 3 and 4 will be administered starting in spring 2009 under a contract awarded last year to Measurement Incorporated of Durham, North Carolina.
New Jersey is in a dire financial crunch. Taxes continue to rise. Businesses lament the poor environment government has in place. Many businesses are leaving the state. Governor Corzine’s close friends in New York are awarded a state contract.
Now we find out our standardized test is being outsourced to North Carolina! The premiere testing service is a New Jersey business. Yet the state sends this multi-million dollar contract out of state. Is it any wonder that taxes rise each year?
Posted in Education, New Jersey | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 14th, 2008
We live in a relatively small community, although larger than I grew up in. Even so, there are but two bookstores in the area: a used store in town and a mall bookstore. The mall bookstore is closing at the end of the month (I’d link to it, but the local newspaper wants to charge for that privilege . . . I don’t think so!). It’s not a surprise as to why.
From what I recall, The Booksmith has been opened for 20 years. In that time, book selling has changed radically. Borders and Barnes and Noble are all around (25 minute drive north or east). Their prices severely undercut an independent mall bookstore . . . not to mention the selection is far greater.
Then the Internet hit . . . most books, I suspect, are bought online. I know most of mine are.
So, the mall bookstore cannot compete on price. It must differentiate then in order to remain in business.
Several years ago I ran a contest at my school. After having contacted The Booksmith, it was agreed they would provide a $25 gift certificate for the winner of the contest. When the time came, they backed out. I was told since our school had not ordered any books they didn’t think it was appropriate to give a gift certificate. They did not honor their agreement. That was when I stopped shopping there.
Tonight our family was at the mall. I noticed there was a going out of business sign in the window. With but two weeks left before they close, I figured there might be some good bargains. Nope. Some books are being sold for 20% off, but only some. That isn’t going to move the merchandise.
As I browsed the aisles, I noticed Office 2000 for Dummies and Windows XP for Dummies. That further illustrates the problem with The Booksmith: those books are severely out-of-date. Who is going to pay full price for those books even if there were someone interested in them?
Our area will be down to just a used bookstore in April. I don’t suspect many will be inconvenienced by that.
Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »
Sunday, August 19th, 2007
Back in 2005 I wrote:
Sin taxes are interesting phenomena. You tax under the guise of the public good, but when push comes to shove, government learns to rely upon those tax revenues.
A few months later, I highlighted that Corzine’s increase in sin taxes will produce less revenue:
Look no further than sin taxes. Corzine has proposed big increases in cigarette taxes (whispers are it is not as large as he wanted). Yet, revenue collected from cigarettes will decrease (thanks, Enlighten). That is the nature of sin taxes. Governments keep raising taxes on these products to balance budgets for the public good and eventually the public stops using the product. Then the cash cow is gone.
Now we have the data:
New Jersey has secured another dubious distinction. It is the first state in the nation to experience a decline in cigarette tax revenues after increasing the cigarette tax. This fact illustrates it is possible to overtax an economic activity. When their costs are increased, rational producers and consumers will protect their economic interests. Workers will move to jurisdictions that tax their labor and wealth less and consumers will purchase goods in venues where prices are cheaper.
Governor Corzine’s policies are hurting New Jersey, plain and simple. Sin taxes make no sense. The more one taxes a product such as cigarettes, the fewer people who will purchase that product. Perhaps one will argue that is the ultimate purpose of such a tax. My counter then is why not tax a pack of cigarettes $100? That would certainly reduce demand. Unfortunately, sin taxes are not to reduce consumption but to balance budgets on those who participate in an activity the majority does not. It’s an easy tax to pass as most hardly care what the tax on cigarettes or alcohol is as it does not affect him.
We see now, however, how sin taxes really work. With decreased “revenue” being collected from the tax, money has to be found to supplement the “lost income” (This past year that was $23 million). Where does government get its money from? This is why state spending never decreases.
Governor Corzine may have a successful business background, but his policies are stifling business in the Garden State.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
For the past month my connectivity has been dropping with some frequency.
After failing on a dashpoint today, I was eager to head up to Burlington to grab the one there. I picked up Beetle after her birthday party at school only to find out we were offline again. Without connectivity, I had no coordinates.
Sigh . . .
All afternoon we have been off. I took the router out of the loop. I re-set everything numerous times. Nothing.
After watching Rust Never Sleeps, I decided to call Comcast. Gary put me through the idiot test, then reported technicians are working on the hardware in our area. After he told me that I am billed for downtime unless I specifically ask otherwise, I told him to cancel the service. I loathe these business practices.
He put me on hold.
I hung up.
Amazingly, within three minutes, connectivity was restored. How the hell did that happen?
Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
If ever there was evidence to show how New Jersey Democrats are anti-business, Assmeblymen Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano are the poster boys. Yesterday, in an effort to pass more feelgood legislation, Van Drew stated:
The oil companies are the bad guys
Good going there, Mr. Van Drew. And I suppose you and Mr. Albano are the guys in the white hats. Blech!
They’ve made more profit than they ever have in their history — ever.
That is because the price per barrel is higher than it has been in its history — ever. According to an MSNBC article two weeks ago,
Though the market price for oil has doubled in the past two years, the cost of producing each new barrel hasn’t gone up much. That means most the rise in price is pure profit. That’s why big oil companies have been reporting huge profit gains in the past year.
Yup, that cost per barrel makes the oil companies bad. How did you ever become a representative when your knowledge of the market is so lacking?
Van Drew and Albano are pushing more legislation to ban self-serve at the pump in the Garden State. For almost 60 years, New Jersey has banned self-serve, but that is not good enough for the attention-grabbing assmeblymen. No, they want more legislation (with their names attached to it) to clutter the agenda.
Yes, we all know that Governor Corzine has announced he wants self-serve. Is it not enough Mssrs. Van Drew and Albano to criticize your governor? Why do we need more legislation? Is the law banning self-serve not enough? It seems like it has worked for 60 years. Nothng has changed in the law books to make it legal now.
Why the new legislation?
These two should have their salaries docked for yesterday. This kind of legislation is useless and furthermore, it is wasteful.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »
