    |
Corzine Discusses Education Policy During Campus Visit
Corzine envisions an educational system that prepares each student in New Jersey, regardless of zip code, for success as a member of the international workforce. Crucial to achieving this goal is intensifying the overall focus on math, science, and foreign languages, three areas in which American students tend to fall behind those from other nations. For the most ambitious scholars, Corzine would like to have all high schools offer a variety of Advanced Placement courses. To benefit New Jersey’s youngest students, Corzine plans to offer expanded access to daycare and preschool programs and incentives for schools to hold full-day kindergarten classes, with all districts offering full-day kindergarten by 2009. “Leaving no child behind is not enough,” Corzine told a capacity crowd in Forcina Hall. “We need to make sure every child can get ahead.” One of Corzine’s biggest desires is to introduce the concept of financial literacy, a “personal passion” of his, into public schools. “Few schools in New Jersey–or anywhere else for that matter–integrate financial education adequately into the curriculum,” he said. According to Corzine, the JumpStart Coalition, an organization that promotes financial literacy, found that 65 percent of all high school graduates had little to no concept of financial basics like credit scores, saving for retirement, and purchasing insurance. That’s why “in a Corzine administration, financial education will be taught right alongside reading, writing, and arithmetic.” The son of an insurance salesman and a schoolteacher, Corzine credits his own personal success to the quality public education he received as a child growing up in Illinois. Two years after receiving his MBA from the University of Chicago, he moved to New Jersey and began working at Goldman Sachs. He eventually became CEO and chairman of the company. He was elected to the United States Senate in 2000. |
On September 8, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Senator Jon Corzine made a special appearance on campus to discuss his plans to improve the quality of the K-through-12 educational experience for New Jersey students. “Leaving no child behind is not enough,” he told a capacity crowd in Forcina Hall. “We need to make sure every child can get ahead.” 