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GARDEN STATE COALITION OF SCHOOLS/GSCS
EMAILNET 10-1-07
www.gscschools.org email at gscs2000@gmail.com
ON THE HOMEPAGE TODAY at www.gscschools.org
GSCS QUICK FACT: 10-1-07…GSCS was invited guest to meet w/ the League of Municipalities Mayor’s Committee initial meeting on School Funding. The Committee is chaired by Edison Mayor, Jun Choi.
GSCS General Membership Meeting (open to conference attendees) 10-24-07 in Atlantic City
...At Room 417, Convention Conference Center,4:30 p.m., immediately following the NJSBA's Fall Workshop "State Legislative Update". See you there!
LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES' CONTACT INFO
Click on More below for website links to Senate and Assembly Candidates from the NJ Division of Elections.
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GSCS 'NOV 6th LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS ADVOCACY PACKET (Click on More below)
To date, Trenton has yet to come through with a viable, stable and sustainable state aid funding formula that would provide support to all school districts in New Jersey. GSCS works hard at the state & local level to see that school funding is stable and sufficient enough to protect quality education programs and provide real relief to property taxpayers. GSCS encourages school district leaders to inform the public in general, and public officials, of your concerns and impatience with state leaders’ reluctance to address the public school funding issue as soon as possible. Now is the time to take a pro-active role and launch grassroots awareness campaigns on these critically important issues. Please make use of this advocacy packet as soon as possible– your help is key to seeing that the prolonged school funding debate moves forward to reality.
This advocacy packet provides action items for schools & community advocates to encourage a real conversation around the need for a new school funding formula. Included are suggested questions for legislative candidates (Election Day November 6th for all 120 seats in the New Jersey Legislature/Assembly and Senate); letters-to-the-editor & legislative candidates; explanation of the issues.
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9-29-07 The New York Times - Patience with Corzine Wears Thin
Political Memo...Published: September 29, 2007 TRENTON, Sept. 28 "...Nor is it likely, according to the conventional wisdom swapped in the State House corridors, that Mr. Corzine will unveil anything too controversial before the November elections, in which all 120 legislative seats are being contested.
As a result, the Legislature’s lame-duck session in November and December could be one of the most important in recent memory. Among the knotty issues still on the table are Mr. Corzine’s plan for the state’s toll roads, a new formula to finance public education and a master plan to overhaul the state’s energy priorities...."
[And]"...Educators had hoped that a new formula for financing public schools would be released earlier this year, but now the timetable is unclear.
“This has been a frustrating, slow-motion process that, at least publicly, has created an unstable atmosphere on the issue and a void of practical, needed debate,” said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools..."
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In the news - Corzine on school aid formula & good news for urban schools
STAR LEDGER 9-27, Corzine back in public eye Talks on varied topics week after surgery
"...He cited school finance as an example of progress..."
ASBURY PK PRESS 9-28 'What's left to discuss?' Gov. Corzine said this week his administration is in the final stages of developing a new school funding formula. But as with his "asset monetization" plans, he's holding back on the details until after the November elections.
ASBURY PK PRESS 9-27-07 'POLICY DEBATE: Certain items and policies loom as Election Day nears...Corzine sets the tone for school funding discussion in next budget'
STAR LEDGER 9-28-07 'Smart decisions on improving schools'
Superintendent Nathan Parker is feeling proud this week, as if he's part of something big, almost miraculous. "We've done something unique in New Jersey," he says. "We are on the cusp of overcoming some of the long-term effects of racism..."
STAR LEDGER EDITORIAL9-28-07: 'Good report card a good start'
"..The good news about New Jersey's scores on the national school report card is the evidence of hard-won progress in narrowing educational gaps among black, Hispanic and lower-income students..."
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9-26-07 Jersey Students improve scores on national test
STAR LEDGER Wednesday, September 26, 2007 "...For New Jersey, the news was mostly good. New Jersey's fourth-graders put the state among the top four in the nation in both reading and math, and eighth-grade math also showed strong gains..."
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