The Jaffe Briefing - March 29, 2022
TRENTON – So, you spent 11 years in a New Jersey school system but haven’t learned anything? No problem, under a bill that is moving through the state Legislature. Because of all the learning loss from the pandemic, many lawmakers want to waive a requirement that 11th graders pass a state test to earn their high school diplomas. Instead, struggling students in the Class of 2023 would be asked to pass a “field test,” so they would avoid all the “anxiety and stress” involved with taking a state-mandated proficiency exam. It is compassionate legislation, no doubt. But there should also be some glaring concerns about all the “anxiety and stress” for the next step in the lives of struggling high school graduates: landing jobs in which the boss expects the mastery of basic skills. Remedial education should continue, as concerns of learning loss should not end when someone is handed a diploma.
TRENTON – Pick up the damn phone. That simple act is driving a new bill in the state Senate, which would create a new government office to make sure all the other government offices are answering their phones. Unbelievable it has gotten this far. But the proposed “State Office of the Consumer” would be assigned to conduct random phone calls to municipalities, counties, school districts, state offices and state-regulated health insurance companies to see if real, live people are actually picking up the telephones and perhaps even saying “Hello.” Sen. John Bramnick explains it all to NJ.com: “Basically, pick up the damn phone and talk to residents and quit hiding behind the website or some voicemail.” We will call Bramnick’s office to voice support, hoping operators are standing by.
BRIEFING BREATHER
Grasshoppers have ears in their bellies rather than on the side of their head.
BELLMAWR – There’s already plenty of challenges for the “Ian Smith for Congress” campaign, such as the fact he once killed a teenager in a car crash, served 5- 1/2 years in jail, had been previously convicted for DWI and refused to close his gym at the height of the pandemic, to the direct detriment of his customers. With all that for voters to unpack, here is the latest: Smith is charged with drunken driving, yet again, this time in Cinnaminson on Sunday, NJ.com reports. The GOP congressional candidate also refused to take a breath test and is facing four other charges stemming from the early-morning incident, such as reckless driving. His campaign consultant also told Politico that Smith was disrespectful to the police officer. (No idea why he would add that kernel.) Yet, with all this, if Smith somehow gets his party’s nomination, nearly 200,000 Republicans will vote for him because he is affiliated with the “right” party.
NEW BRUNSWICK – As we are among the biggest Rutgers basketball fans, we have earned the right to say this: Vivian Stringer – thank you for your service – but please move on. The legendary coach was on leave this season, while the university’s debt-ridden athletic department paid her salary and her team amassed only three wins in the Big 10. And now, the Record reports, the 74-year-old coach is at the beginning of a five-year contract, as the program is a shell of its former self, with players eying the transfer portal. A serious rebuild is required. University officials, as well as Stringer, aren’t talking about her ongoing paid leave. “Out of respect for her privacy and pursuant to law, we cannot provide any greater specificity into her circumstances,” a Rutgers athletics spokesman told the Record. That is fair; we have no clue what the real story is here. But, in the end, it would seem RU’s responsibility is to serve the program, not the coach.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Some think she should be the leader of the free world. Others believe Hillary Clinton should play the offstage role of the Giant in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into The Woods” in her onetime home state of Arkansas. The good news: she landed the big gig, working for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. “Real news, and I’m really excited! Check out the production if you’re in Little Rock,” Clinton tweeted. She plays the vengeful widow of the giant who Jack killed after climbing the beanstalk, running April 19 to May 15. Now, this is not the first time the former Secretary of State crossed into entertainment, having cameo roles in both “Madam Secretary” and “Murphy Brown.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2014 that Russia makes assurances that it won’t invade Ukraine in an effort to smooth things over regarding its annexation of Crimea. Big sigh of relief.
WORD OF THE DAY
Bastion – [BAS-chun] – noun
Definition: A place or system in which something continues to survive.
Example: Arthur Avenue remains a bastion for terrific Italian food.
WIT OF THE DAY
“Formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.”
-J. Paul Getty, founder of Getty Oil Co.
BIDEN BLURB
“Right now, billionaires pay an average rate of 8% on their total income. A firefighter or teacher pays double that. My budget contains a Billionaire Minimum Income Tax — a 20% minimum tax that only applies to the top one-hundredth of one percent of American households.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Brrr