Phil Murphy on Education

Let's bring universal pre-K to all of New Jersey

New Jersey expanding pre-K and childcare; we know it works

Tuition-free community college for eligible students

Invest in pre-K & free community college

High stakes, high stress standardized tests must end

The State Board of Education made 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 PARCC tests are considered by many educational experts to be outdated, expensive, and not helpful to students. 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.

Our public schools are part of what makes this state great

Phil believes that our public schools are a critical part of what makes this state great. People move here and businesses invest here because of the world-class public schools in New Jersey. But for too long, we've had leaders who would rather spend money on tax breaks for large corporations than invest in our children's future.

Rather than blaming educators, Phil will work with them to develop an education system that prepares every child to succeed in a 21st century economy by:
• Restoring and funding the only school funding formula that has been upheld by the Supreme Court;
• Working to expand free pre-K to all families in NJ;
• Implementing a state-of-the-art STEM curriculum.

Can't get economy right without getting higher ed right