The only way to bring about change is to come together with a single voice. The Garden State Coalition is that voice—strong, clear and focused. For further information on the Coalition as well as the data analyses and reports that GSCS provides to back up its arguments, go to www.gscschools.org. We encourage you to join us as we make “public support for public education” a reality in New Jersey.

Lynne Strickland

Executive Director

Garden State Coalition of Schools  

                                                                                                                                             As Executive Director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, Lynne represents approximately 120 New Jersey school districts and their communities. GSCS is a statewide, grassroots volunteer association, primarily suburban. Member districts range from Cherry Hill in Camden County to Tenafly in Bergen County. Volunteer members are a unique combination of parents, board of education members, and school administrators. Approximately 400,000 children are represented by GSCS through their school districts’ volunteer membership in the coalition. The Garden State’s mission is high quality education for all children; its focus is equity and excellence, with a persevering eye on school finance. The coalition has a 16 year track record as a leading advocate for public support of public education for all children New Jersey. Recognized as a force at the state level, GSCS, is seen as a valuable resource for information and innovative thinking for New Jersey leadership

Lynne is and has been the sole staff to GSCS since its fifteen years ago with 27 founding member districts. As spokesperson for GSCS Lynne leads public awareness campaigns and seeks to educate members, the public at large and the legislature on school finance issues. Lynne has established a Trenton advocacy office and is recognized for her state level data and school finance analyses. ________________________________________________________________________________

• GSCS and Lynne are synonymous with supporting quality public education for New Jersey’s suburban school districts.
• Lynne has appeared often on television interview programs and is frequently quoted in state newspapers as a commentator on the education politics in Trenton.
• At its 17th Annual Meeting in May 2008, GSCS was able to present the  Governor, Jon S. Corzine, the Commissioner of Education, Lucille Davy, that the Assembly Chairman of the Education Committee as well as State Democratic Chair, Joe Cryan, together at the dais for a conversation and Q&A with GSCS members.
• GSCS ensured that a minimum of one-third of special education aid remained "categorical" under the School Funding Reform Act, passed in Janury 2008. This type of categorical aid is distributed based on the child's need & classification, no matter where he or she resides.
• Since the restrictive school budgeting law S1701 was passed in June 2004, Lynne has organized and presented at more than 25 forums across the state to educate the public on the laws negative consequences. The GSCS website www.gscschools.org is chock full of information on S1701 and school funding data reports produced by GSCS.
• GSCS sponsored a unique statewide symposium on school funding 12-7-05, bringing in speaker Ken Hall, USC Chair/Education,  to present on the California school funding v quality public  education experience.
• Lynne organized a GSCS grassroots Outreach campaign that brought together 700 people at Mount Laurel in February ’04 to heighten public awareness on the tough issues of property tax reliance v. dwindling state aid. Four regional grassroots ‘public support for public education’ meetings were held in ‘04-’05.
• In 2003, Lynne promoted the need for and served on the Governor’s Education Mandate Review Commission.
• GSCS is constant in its advocacy and data reinforcement for broadening state support for special education programs, having successfully advocated for full funding of the extraordinary aid category of special education aid for the 2003-2004 school year, an increase of 37M.
• GSCS is widely recognized for playing the critical role in helping to secure the state funding at a minimum of 40% for school construction projects for all districts, regardless of district wealth.
• In gathering 1200 people from across the state in Livingston in February 1995, GSCS served notice to state leadership of parent concerns that high quality education would be diminished by the original design of the formula when the current school funding formula [CEIFA] was under debate. GSCS won a number of important amendments to this law, including counting enrollment growth in the funding formula.

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Lynne is a graduate of Skidmore College where she majored in American Government and was editor of the social-economic journal. In her earlier professional days, she served as the Assistant to the Editor of the National Tax Journal, based then at the Sloan School of Management, the graduate business school at M.I.T. She has devoted over twenty years to public education in New Jersey, first as a parent activist and home-school president, then a school board member, and in the last fourteen years professionally through representing the Garden State Coalition of Schools. Perhaps one of the earliest of soccer Moms, Lynne was the first woman to sit on the Northern New Jersey Minolta Soccer League board of directors. Her two sons, Dave and Nick, are graduates of Tenafly High School.