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School districts around the state are considering disciplining students for their off-campus transgressions, even though such a policy may spark lawsuits from parents and free-speech advocates. A similar off-campus policy at a Bergen County school is being debated in the New Jersey courts. High schools around the country have had to deal with these incidents for decades, but social network sites are making it easier for school officials to nab teenage culprits.

Fourth- and eighth-graders in New Jersey ranked near the top in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in math and reading, posting the second-highest reading scores in both grade levels, according to data released today.

A Superior Court judge let a lawsuit seeking marriage for same-sex couples in New Jersey proceed, but she sharply pared down the number of allegations in the case against the state. If the law creating civil unions does not give same-sex couples the same protections as married heterosexual couples, it has to be examined as to whether it is constitutional, Mercer County Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg said during a hearing in Trenton this afternoon.

Article that deals with how cyberbullying laws like the one in New Jersey might impact student free speech rights. Includes an interview with Avery Doninger.

"The new student of multimedia narrative may want to bookmark an archive on digital storytelling by Mark Berkey-Gerard, who teaches online journalism at Rowan University, in New Jersey. A Columbia Graduate School of Journalism alum who has won awards for innovative teaching, Berkey-Gerard logged resources and learning tools on a site called Campfire Journalism: Notes on Digital Storytelling"

"Every public school district in New Jersey would be required to set guidelines on how its employees communicate with students online under legislation set for a vote in the state Senate today. The bill (S441) would require that the policy be written, and include "provisions designed to prevent improper communications between school employees and students made via e-mail, cellular phones, social networking websites, and other Internet-based social media." If it passes both houses and is signed by Gov. Chris Christie, school districts would have four months to adopt the policy."

Two New Jersey men arrested at a New York airport planned to travel to Somalia to "wage violent jihad," and also had expressed a willingness to commit violent acts in the United States, according to prosecutors and a federal criminal complain

With the rubble of the old Giants Stadium kicking up dust next door, concertgoers filled New Meadowlands Stadium yesterday to watch Bon Jovi christen the $1.6 billion complex with a sold-out concert that heralded a new era in New Jersey sports and entertainment.

Community service may have inched closer to becoming a graduation requirement for New Jersey high school students under a bill signed into law in the final days of the Corzine administration.

Channel 7 went dark in parts of New Jersey this morning as Disney and Cablevision remained mired in a distribution stalemate

Two conflicting online student speech rights cases are scheduled to be reheard on June 3. The decisions, which are likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, will govern Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the Virgin Islands and dictate the authority schools have over what students write on social networking sites.

Lawyers for two New Jersey county jails asked a federal appeals panel today to overturn a ruling outlawing strip searches for defendants arrested for outstanding traffic tickets, failing to pay child support and other nonviolent offenses.

The New Jersey Education Association said Gov. Chris Christie's plan to alter the benefit and pension system could mean an exodus of teachers, with as many as 30,000 veteran teachers retiring before the next school year, a report on NorthJersey.com said.

A law requiring new drivers under 21 to display decals on their license plates won unanimous approval from the New Jersey Assembly in 2009. But as the controversial rule takes effect today, 10 members of the lower house - including six who voted yes - are working to rescind it.

Thousands of high school students across New Jersey walked out of classes today to protest education cuts proposed by Gov. Chris Christie.The students, galvanized by the Facebook page where the protest was first organized, flooded school football fields, parking lots and bordering streets, wielding "Protect Educations" signs and chanting slogans defending their teachers. 

When Michelle Ryan Lauto decided to organize a statewide protest against school budget cuts, she didn't pass out fliers, make phone calls or attend meetings.She just logged on to Facebook.Lauto's Facebook page - "Protest NJ Education Cuts - State Wide School Walk Out" - drew nearly 18,000 members within a few weeks and sparked today's mass budget protest in schools across New Jersey.With 400 million members and growing, Facebook is becoming the leading forum for mobilizing protests, rallies, boycotts and other social movements

Fewer New Jersey teenagers smoke, drink and do drugs, according to a survey released by the state Department of Education and reported by the Press of Atlantic City.

TRENTON - The owners of three New Jersey gas stations allegedly raised prices multiple times in one day after Hurricane Irene, which is illegal under state law, the Attorney General's Office said. The gas stations - Delta, 2045 South Broad St., Trenton; Lukoil, 298 Kings Highway, Cherry Hill; and Citgo, 1402 Route 47, Rio Grande - are charged with violating the state's Motor Fuels law. The station owners face a civil penalty of up to $1,500 for a first offense.

Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York had dinner a week before the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which they jointly control, announced a steep increase in tolls to cross the Hudson River, according to information posted on New York State government website today. Christie and Cuomo have both denied knowing about the toll increases until a few days before the Port Authority publicly unveiled its proposal.

Hunterdon Central scored a resounding 42-7 victory over Bridgewater-Raritan in the semifinals of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 playoffs last night in Flemington.

This is a story from 2010.