NEW JERSEY
2 more years of school
New Jersey teenagers would have to stay in school until they're 18 under a bill that a state Senate committee has approved. State law requires those between 6 and 16 to regularly attend school.
The bill approved yesterday by the Senate's Education Committee heads to the full Senate for a vote. New Jersey has one of the nation's highest graduation rates, at about 87 percent.
Gay-marriage test
The leader of the New Jersey Assembly announced yesterday that a bill allowing gay marriage would be put to a vote next week, as Democratic leaders continued to wrangle the support needed to ensure passage.
Assembly Democrats met privately for 90 minutes primarily on gay marriage, before Speaker Sheila Oliver announced that the vote would take place Feb. 16. That's three days after the Senate is scheduled to vote on an identical bill granting same-sex couples the right to marry civilly in New Jersey.
"Leadership is confident that the votes are there," said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Trenton, one of two openly gay Assembly members and a sponsor of the bill.
Gov. Christie, a Republican and practicing Catholic who opposes gay marriage, has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. He wants the issue decided by popular vote instead. Democrats say that gay nuptials is a civil right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Vowed to kill a cop?
Tanya Cook Peteete, of Lakewood, N.J., has testified that Jahmell Crockam, 20, who is on trial for killing a police officer, had vowed to do just that if faced with the prospect of going to jail.
Peteete, whose son is friends with Crockam, recalled a conversation that she had with Crockam after he walked out early on a December 2010 court date. Peteete advised Crockam to return to court before a warrant was issued for his arrest. She said he told her that if he went to jail, it would be for killing a police officer.
Ocean County prosecutors said that Crockam gunned down Lakewood Patrolman Christopher Matlosz on Jan. 14, 2011.
Tenure bill resurfaces
A bill that would revise teacher-tenure rules in New Jersey is back in play in the Legislature. The bill would assign teachers one of four effectiveness ratings after annual evaluations, which look at classroom practices and student progress. A teacher's rating - highly effective, effective, partially effective or ineffective - would be a basis for gaining, maintaining or losing tenure.
The bill's sponsor, Senate Education Committee chairwoman Teresa Ruiz, D-Newark, has been working for about a year to craft a measure that could be acceptable to the Legislature, Gov. Christie and the teachers union.
- Staff and wire reports
