Will 'Transformation Schools' Transform New Jersey Schools?

EDUCATION REFORM
Could ‘Transformation Schools’ Take Hold in Jersey City? (By Chris Neidenberg, Jersey City Independent) To try shaking up the state’s public education system, particularly in troubled urban districts like Jersey City, Gov. Chris Christie is pitching a proposal to eventually let for-profit firms run schools under state law.

Education Reform: What Works and What Doesn't Work

EDUCATION REFORM
The Record: Can't cut it (THE RECORD North Jersey.com) IN GOVERNOR Christie's first State of the State address, he named education reform as one of New Jersey's most pressing priorities. And as part of that reform, he pledged to "end the myth that more money equals better achievement."

Who has a a solution to the failure of our schools? See Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani's special report Solving the Education Crisis in America 

President Obama's Approval Rating Misleading?

Our first piece of news today surrounds Markos Moulitsas' comments concerning open primaries; he believes they should be eliminated entirely. He attempts to defend these comments by stating that open primaries allow for "political mischief" when in reality he is concerned with the fact that it could "spell death for the two-party system". Speaking of democrats, specifics from the new approval ratings for President Obama continue to come in, with various opinions of what he's done with health care and the economy being the primary issues of discussion. Moreover, although his approval rating seems to be on the rise, these numbers may be misleading, as non-partisan voters have seemed to turn on him as his approval rating with them has dropped 11% over the last two years.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Moulitsas: Another Anti-Democracy Democrat By: themalcontent, Firedoglake) as [Markos Moulitsas] and other establishment-supporting operatives know all too well – open primaries spell the death for the two-party system.
  

OBAMA

• Obama approval on the rise (By: CNN Political Ticker) The poll indicates a jump in Obama's approval rating, which was at 44 percent in the last Quinnipiac poll in November.
• January 13, 2011 - Obama's Approval Bounces Back, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds;
• Health Care Is Best And Worst Thing He's Done (Quinnipiac University) Independent voters disapprove 46 - 41 percent.
• Obama's Rebound Numbers are Misleading (Donald Lambro, Townhall) Fifty percent of the electorate's independent voters, who hold no allegiance to either party and have turned against him in the past two years, said he has been mainly a failure. Only 39 percent said he has not.
• Obama's olive branch to Big Business (By Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post) These are more than just gestures - they represent substantive accommodation to the business community's stated priorities. By the unwritten rules of political reconciliation, they demand and deserve a similar response. The most obvious and effective would be a clear statement from the business lobby that it will not support Republicans in their effort to repeal last year's health reform legislation.

NEW JERSEY

• Booker vs. Gov. Chris Christie for governor? (The State Column)
• Booker, Christie would fight to a draw (Public Policy Polling) What's most striking within the figures on Booker is how well liked he is across party lines. Although he is unsurprisingly most popular with Democrats at a 51/12 favorability, he also has a 47/17 spread with independents, and even a 36/21 with Republicans.

NEW YORK

• NY mayor: Partisan rhetoric not to blame in Ariz. (Associated Press, Wall Street Journal) He said that it appeared to be the work of a deranged gunman, and does not blame "Sarah Palin or any other individual."