Topic: New Jersey Solutions

Ideas We Should Steal: Sustainability Education for All Students
New Jersey is the first U.S. state to mandate climate change education in every grade and nearly every subject. Can a similar solutions-based curriculum help prepare Philly kids for a green future?
By Courtney DuChene
Ideas We Should Steal: Training Workers for Well-Paying Jobs
New Jersey’s public-private Pay It Forward program provides free or low-cost access to training in fields that need skilled workers. It’s a model Philly should emulate
By Courtney DuChene
Ideas We Should Steal: Information Literacy Education
New Jersey became the first state to require schools teach K-12 students how to tell fact from fiction — a critical skill in preserving democracy
By Courtney DuChene
Ideas We Should Steal Revisited: Reusable Bag Share
As the City enforces the plastic bag ban, Green Philly highlights a Collingswood program that could make going bag-free easier for consumers and businesses
By Brianna Baker
Ideas We Should Steal: Reduce Gun Violence Through Better Policing
While murder and shootings have spiked in Philly and elsewhere, both Camden and Newark have made progress in reducing gun violence by adopting smart policing techniques. Why don’t we do what they’ve done?
By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
Citizen of the Week: Larry Abrams
The South Jersey teacher and founder of BookSmiles has created a magical book bank, where teachers can load up on books to give to their students. The cost? Free.
By Christine Speer Lejeune
Ideas We Should Steal: Treat Homelessness as a Health Issue
While the City and advocates continue negotiations over the homeless encampment on the Parkway, Denver and New Jersey demonstrate some much-needed new thinking
By Diana Lind
Ideas We Should Steal: Voter Turnout Contest
In Cumberland County, NJ, a competition among cities helped to boost 2018 turnout by 13 percent. Could Philly’s competitive spirit be the key to more votes here, too?
By Alyssa Biederman