MORRIS COUNTY — New Jersey Governor Candidate Phil Murphy spoke to a crowded room of Democrats during the Morris County Democratic Committee 2017 Fall Gala held on Tuesday, September 25 at Zeris Inn.
Phil has also fought for opportunity, fairness, and justice through his involvement in the Democratic Party. He served as Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee, helping to elect Barack Obama. He worked with Howard Dean on the fifty-state strategy that rebuilt the Democratic Party from the grassroots up.
Last August, the State Board of Education passed a resolution making passage of the nationalized PARCC tests a requirement for graduation. PARCC tests are considered by many educational experts to be outdated, expensive, and not helpful to students. They have also been criticized by teachers, parents, and school administrators alike for taking away too much classroom instruction time and for forcing curricula to align with test topics to ensure higher scores. New Jersey is an outlier in its reliance on PARCC: only a handful of states still use the test, and only one other state is using it as a graduation requirement.
Phil Murphy is committed to ending New Jersey’s reliance on PARCC tests and eliminating standardized testing as a requirement for graduation. If elected, he would direct the state Department of Education to work with educators to create an assessment that would meet the federal reporting requirements of ESSA. He also would eliminate passage of a standardized test as a graduation requirement.
Murphy said money from the tax increases will be prioritized for public-worker pensions, education and transportation. Murphy also hopes to institute new programs like universal pre-kindergarten and free community college tuition. The state’s wealthiest will pay more in income tax, corporations would see tax loop-holes closed, and marijuana smokers would see their drug of choice become legalized — and taxed.
Murphy leads Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno by double digits in all polls.
Governor Chris Christie has vetoed five Democratic attempts to institute a “millionaire’s tax.”
