The cost of special education can be absolutely enormous – with taxpayers paying more than $100,000 in tuition to send children with complex disabilities to private specialized schools. There’s no question these students should receive the best care possible, but isn’t there another viable option? Yes, says Mark Finkelstein, the long-time superintendent of the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, a public entity, which provides the same quality education for about half the price. How does his team do it? Find out in today’s Jaffe Briefing podcast.

Gaping potholes. Higher taxes. Senseless political squabbles. Those are all local issues that keep mayors awake at night. Throw on the pile the constant threat of state aid cuts, requirements for more affordable housing and dealing with a commuter rail station that just can’t seem to work right. Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, is squarely in the middle of it all in her positions as a small-town mayor and the leader of the organization representing our 565 municipalities. She stopped by the Jaffe Podcast to talk about the laundry list of issues that’s currently top of mind. On top of the heap at the moment? Her own reelection campaign.

If New Jersey is truly pro-business, it needs to give a boost to the weary small business owner, the backbone of the state’s economy. These are the people coping with high downtown rents, no advertising budgets, a minimal workforce to cover a mountain of responsibility, and often governmental red tape, especially if they dare seek a building permit to expand. This week’s guest on the Jaffe Podcast is Dr. Dale G. Caldwell, executive director of the Rothman Institute at FDU in Madison, who chats with us about innovation, the “Entrepreneurial Mindset” and what it really takes to be “pro-business” in such a heavily-regulated state. Click here to listen.

It is Back to School, and for many kids, it is the sad return to the hallways, locker rooms and lunch tables, all bastions for bullying. And it’s no longer just about an ill-timed wedgie. Cyber-bullying follows students home and continues every waking hour that he or she looks at Instagram, Snapchat and any other social media app that alienates. We offer a special, Back to School podcast with Dianne Grossman of Rockaway, who lost her 12-year-old daughter, Mallory, to bullying in 2017, and Eleni Theodorou, the author of children’s books designed to reach grade school students as early as possible. The pair tells us the latest about bullying now happening in our schools and what must be done to save children from the abuse.