Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     GSCS Email-Net Archive - Recent and Selected Posting
     GSCS Email-Net 11-16-10
     GSCS News 'Email-Net' Archive, beginning 2009
     6-2-10 RACE TO THE TOP (RTTT) 'NJ STYLE': It is what it is ...but what exactly is it? Race to the Top application is caught in a crossfire of reports - more information and clarity is needed
     3-4-10 GSCS Email-Net: Summit @ Summit Report - A New Day in Trenton?
     2-12-10 Gov Chrisite's Message re Current Yr Deficit
     2-16-10 Email-net March @ Summit at Summit
     1-26-10 GSCS Email-Net Christie Era Begins
     1-20-10 GSCS Heads Up FYI.docx
     1-6-10 GSCS Email-Net Lame Duck Watch
     12-15-09 Email-Net
     11-9-09 GSCS Email-Net: Request to Trustee Districts
     11-6-09 GSCS Email-Net: Important Post-Election Information
     11-5-09 GSCS Email-Net: Election Information - Christie on Education - and Request to Member Districts
     11-3-09 GSCS Email-Net: Today is Election Day - Coverage, more
     10-21-09 GSCS EMAIL-NET: Commissioner Davy to be at GSCS meeting in Atlantic City
     10-15-09 GSCS Email-Net: Compare Corzine-Christie re education
     9-25-09 GSCS EMAIL-NETOn GSCS Radar Screen, Intro Cons. Cntct
     9-14-09 GSCS EMAILNET Welcome 2009-2010
     6-24-09 GSCS EMAILNET Heads Up FYI
     6-22 & 24 (update) - 09 GSCS EMAILNET FYI re bills A4140, A1489, A4142
     6-19-09 a.m. GSCS 'Quick' FYI - State Budget Vote delayed to Thursday, June 25
     6-15-09 GSCS Heads Up FYI
     6-12-09 EMAILNET
     6-4-09 EMAILNET
     5-19-09 Treasurer David Rousseau announces additional round of cuts to Gov's proposed State Budget FY2009-2010
     5-14-09 GSCS Heads Up - State Aid payments to be delayed into next Fiscal Year
     428-09 EMAILNET Abbott & SFRA; DOE before State Budget Committees
     4-17-09 EMAILNET Federal Stimulus Title 1 and IDEA Allocations Announced
     4-2-09 EMAILNET & GSCS FYI for April 2009
     3-27-09 EMAILNET
     3-16-09 EMAILNET
     3-6-09 GSCS March FYI - Trenton & GSCS Happenings & more
     2-23-09 EMAILNET
     2-12-09 EMAILNET GSCS Message for State Budget FY10: STABILITY & FAIRNESS
     1-30-09 EMAILNET Fed Stimulus Proposal, School Vote, Stability & Fairness
     1-24-09 EMAILNET Federal Stimulus proposal - local district impact listing
     1-17-09 GSCS EMAILNET & SCHOOL FUNDING OVERVIEW
     1-17-09 GSCS EMAILNET
     Education excerpts from House Fed Stimulus package in GSCS 1-15-09 Heads Up
     GSCS 1-15-09 'Heads Up' - House Releases its Fed Stimulus Package
     January 2009 GSCS FYI
     1-5-09 EMAILNET Gov Announces Spending Reductions for FY0809 Today
     12-21-08 GSCS EMAILNET - Excerpts
     10-31-08 EMAILNET
     10-17-08 EMAILNET
     9-29-08 GSCS EMAILNET
     9-12-08 GSCS EMAILNET
     7-2-08 EMAILNET FYI
     6-17-08 EMAILNET FYI, State Budget Agreement, School Construction bill moving towards passage
     6-10-08 GSCS EMAILNET FYI Trenton focus
     5-30-08 EMAILNET FYI - GSCS ANNUAL MTG NEWS BRIEFS
     4-16-08 EMAILNETSchool Budget Elections early results
     1-18-07 GSCS EMAILNET FYI
     1-14-08 EMAILNET Governor Corzine Sign funding legisation into law 1-13-08 at Drumthwacket
     1-11-08 EMAILNET Funding legislation passes - Aftermath
     1-4-08 EMAILNET GSCS statement on current funding proposal - leaning negative
     1-3-08 EMAILNET Aid proposal - update & analysis
     12-21-07 EMAILNET - GSCS spots 'Giveback' provision in draft bill - a flip flop?
     12-19-07 Proposed Funding formula - update
     12-12-07 EMAILNET Funding Plan proposal to be released today, no bill yet
     12-7-07 EMAILNET Jt Committees schedule hearing on new school funding plan, Commissioner Davy to present
     12-6-07 EMAILNET Funding bill - emerging issues
     12-1-07 EMAILNET FYI Governor Corzine present new school funding formula concepts
     11-30-07 EMAILNET FYI
     11-13-07 GSCS EMAILNET
     11-6-07 EMAILNET
     10-15-07 GSCS EMAILNET
     10-1-07 GSCS EMAILNET
     071015 EMAILNET
     071001 EMAILNET
     9-21-07 EMAILNET
     7-31-07 EMAILNET Status of School Funding Formula, more
     7-10-07 EMAILNET Includes GSCS ADVOCACY PACKET Need for new school funding formula, more
     6-29-07 EMAILNET Lots of news affeccting your schools and communities
     6-22-07 EMAILNET State Budget Passes last night
     6-14-07 GSCS FYI EMAILNET State Budge FY08 Revisions to State Budget filed today
     6-13-07 GSCS EMAILNET
     5-18-07 EMAILNET School Funding Formula Needed Now
     3-30-07 EMAILNET
     3-21-07 EMAILNET
     3-6-07 EMAILNET State Budget hearings, State Aid, Grassroots activities
     2-22-07 GSCS EMAILNET re Gov's Budget Message
     2-20-07 EMAILNET FYI - AMID joins GSCS
     2-12-07 EMAILNET SCHOOL AID & PROPERTY TAX HELP NEEDED NOW
     2-9-07 GSCS EMAILNET MEMBER FYI on Trenton legislation Action
     1-26-07 EMAILNET TRENTON UPDATE: A4 CORE Plan on Assembly Agenda Monday; A1 The 4% Tax Cap bill not yet introduced but still possible for Assembly agenda 1-29 also
     1-19-07 EMAILNET
     1-2 & 3-07 EMAILNET GSCS Resolution, Fast Track Property Tax bills
     12-15-06 EMAILNET Bills Held!
     11-14-06GSCS FYI EMAILNET - Spec Session Jt Comm Reports due out 11-15-06
     11-11-06 EMAILNET Special Session Legislative Committees report Nov. 14 or 15
     11-7-06 EMAILNET Special Education Categorical aid at risk and more
     10-21-06 EMAILNET Spec Session, press conference, GSCS board mtg inAtl. City
     10-5-06 EMAILNET
     9-22-06 EMAILNET
     9-20-06 EMAILNET Special Session news & testimonies
     9-15-06 EMAILNET Special Session; School Construction Report Released
     9-7-06 EMAILNET Special Session & Trenton Update
     8-31-06 EMAILNET re Sept 5 Jt Comm on Pub Schl Funding mtg
     7-21-06 GSCS QUICKNET
     8-24-06 EMAILNET Special Session Update
     8-18-06 EMAILNET
     8-2-06 EMAILNET Special Session fyi, more
     7-28-06 GSCS 'QUICKNET' direct from Trenton
     7-28-06 GSCS 'QUICKNET' from Trenton on Special Session
     7-27-06 GSCS 'QUICKNET' Property Tax Session info
     7-14-06 EMAILNET
     7-11-06 EMAILNET FYI
     7-7-06 EMAILNET - AGREEMENT ON STATE BUDGET REACHED, impt 'details' still being finalized
     6-29-06 GSCS 'QUICKNET FYI' Update on State Budget for FY 2007
     6-22-06 EMAILNET on the Homepage today
     6-12-06 EMAILNET - Extraordinary Special Education student aid; FY07 Budget 'crunch' is on; news clips
     6-6-06 EMAILNET On the Homepage today
     6-2-06 EMAILNET
     5-16-06 EMAILNET Action in Trenton
     5-10-06 EMAILNET
     5-5-06 EMAILNET
     4-26-06 EMAILNET Member Question 6-8 Rally
     4-24-06 EMAILNET
     4-17-06 EMAILNET
     4-11-06 EMAILNET FYI Hompage...your help requested
     3-29-06 EMAILNET State Budget FY07 Hearings Update
     3-24-06 EMAILNET FYI Update on Gov Corzine's Budget FY07
     3-23-06 EMAILNET Corzine says some Abbotts can raise taxes
     3-22-06 EMAILNET Governor Corzine's Budget Message
     3-10-06 EMAILNET On the Homepage Today
     3-9-06 EMAILNETto South Jersey districts
     3-7-06 Articles on Gov's Budget Summit and School Board members off to Trenton
     3-7-06 EMAILNET S1701 Call to Action at Gov Corzine Public Hearing
     3-3-06 EMAILNET Budget discussions begin in earnest
     3-3-06 EMAILNET Budget Discussions begin in earnest
     3-1-06 EMAILNET State Budget FY07, Health Benefits
     2-1-06 EMAILNET GSCS Advocacy FY07 Budget; On the Homepage Today
     1-19-06 EMAILNET Quick Facts, On the Homepage Today
     1-5-06 EMAILNET Revised: Quick Facts, State Board Legal Committee school funding decision, legislative update
     12-16-05 EMAILNET
     12-12-05 EMAILNET Bills move out of Assembly Education Committee
     12-3-05 EMAILNET Heads Up!
     11-28-05 S1701 EMAILNET Alert
     11-15-05 EMAILNET
     11-10-05 [REISSUE] EMAILNET Update on S1701
     11-8-05 EMAILNET You are invited to December 7 Symposium on School Funding
     11-1-05 EMAILNET More information on Gubernatorial Candidates
     10-28-05 EMAILNET S1701 resignation, Gubernatorial election information
     10-20-14 EMAILNET At the top of the GSCS Home Page Today
     10-14-05 EMAILNET Parent question for Gubernatorial Candidates aired on 101.5 debate, SCC funds, Next Board meeting, press briefing notes
     9-29-05 EMAILNET School Construction Issues
     9-23-05 EMAILNET Follow Up Parents in Trenton Press Conference
     8-30-05 EMAILNET Invitation to Parents in Trenton Press Conference
     9-9-05 EMAILNET
     7-29-05 EMAILNET
     7-14-05 EMAILNET School Aid Inequity & S1701 amendments update
     7-8-05 EMAILNET GSCS Take on the Assembly Passing of A3680Cryan, an S1701 amendment bill
     6-29-05 EMAILNET re State Budget FY06
     EMAILNET 6-24-05 GSCS Positions: State Budget FY06 Issues Need Resolving
     EMAILNET 6-10-05 SchoolConstruction Heads Up
     Read Parent Call to Action Letter
     6-17-05 EMAILNET [2] School Construction continued
     6-17-05 EMAILNET FY06 Budget & Advocay Update, Quick Facts
     EMAILNET 6-10-05 School Construction Funding Heads Up!
     EMAILNET 6-8-05 Annual Meeting Advocacy - FY06 info - Quick Facts - more
     Star Ledger June 3 2005
     Associated Press on Annual Meeting, 6-4-05: In the Homestretch Candidates Talk Education Issues
     GSCS 14th Annual Breakfast Meeting 6-3-05 AGENDA
     EMAILNET 5-27-05FY06 Legislator Budget Question; A451 State Health Benefits Plan Waiver for Dual Spouse Coverage GSCS Supports ....
     5-18-2005
     5-6-05 EMAILNET Rumson S1701 Meeting; Legislative News...More
     4-21-05 Annual Breakfast Meeting June 3 Sign Up
     Emailnet 4-14-05
     4-14-05 EMAILNET
     4-8-2005
     3-29-2005
     3-24-2005
     3-11-2005
     3-1-2005
     2-21-2005
     2-7-2005
     1-27-2005
     1-26-2005
     1-24-2005
     1-14-2005
     1-9-2005
     1-5-2005
     11-30-2004
     11-19-2004
     11-12-2004
     10-29-2004
     10-26-2004
     10-15-2004
     10-14-2004
     10-5-2004
     9-30-04
     9-7-04
     8-30-04
     8-06-04
     7-08-04
     6-29-2004
     2003-2004 School Year Archive
     2002-2003 School Year Archive
5-30-08 EMAILNET FYI - GSCS ANNUAL MTG NEWS BRIEFS
GSCS was very pleased to have Governor Corzine, Assembly Education Committee Chair Joe Cryan and Commissioner Davy spend a combined total of more than two hours with over 120 GSCS members at its 17th Annual Meeting yesterday. All three officials addressed the audience individually; presentations were followed by Q & A sessions; questions were submitted by those who attended the event..... •Governor Jon Corzine is willing to review certain mandates with an eye to cutting down on them where possible, with the recommendation of Commissioner Lucille Davy..... •An objective of GSCS' has been to remove the 60% voter participation 'yes' vote requirement for 2nd questions imposed via the CORE legislation. GSCS was pleased that Assemblyman Joe Cryan announced at the GSCS Annual Meeting today that he will seek an amendment to A15 to remove the 60% voter participation- passage requirement on 2nd questions. The bill A15 moves school board elections to November, as well as any 2nd question - the Assemblyman's rationale here is that the voter participation will be increased thus giving the public more say in 2nd question passage. •There was discussion about the $2.5B proposal for school construction in the Abbott districts, talk of review of sin-depth and expanded superintendent contracts and related issues. Attached here is a combined letter from the NJ Association of School Administrators and the NJ School Boards Association addressing the contract issue. •In addition to print media, clips from the meeting were aired on NJN and News 12 NJ...to see news coverage and Annual Meeting Program see below.

 

GARDEN STATE COALITION OFSCHOOLS/GSCS

FYI 5-30-08

NEWS FROM ANNUAL MEETING …

Governor Corzine, Commissioner Davy, Assemblyman Joe Cryan featured

www.gscschools.org

GSCS QUICK FACTS: 1) See attached for [PDF] joint statement by the NJ Association of School Administrators and the NJ School Boards Association regarding their proactive apporach to the superintendent contract issue, and 2) See below for Senate Education Committee Ageneda for next Thursday, June 5, which includes the following -  S1911 (Turner) - Establishes Commissioner of Education as the rule-making authority under several school district accountability statutes & S1912 / A45 (Turner / Cryan / Rumana / Moriarty) - Eliminates role of State Board of Education in the appeal of Commissioner of Education decisions in disputes arising under the State school laws.

 ______________________________________________________________________

GSCS was very pleased to have Governor Corzine, Assembly Education Committee Chair Joe Cryan and Commissioner Davy spend a combined total of more than two hours with over 120 GSCS members at its 17th Annual Meeting yesterday. All three officials addressed the audience individually; presentations were followed by Q & A sessions; questions were submitted by those who attended the event.....

·Governor Jon Corzine is willing to review certain mandates with an eye to cutting down on them where possible, with the recommendation of Commissioner Lucille Davy.....

· An objective of GSCS' has been to remove the 60% voter participation 'yes' vote requirement for 2nd questions imposed via the CORE legislation. GSCS was pleased that Assemblyman Joe Cryan announced at the GSCS Annual Meeting today that he will seek an amendment to A15 to remove the 60% voter participation- passage requirement on 2nd questions. The bill A15 moves school board elections to November, as well as any 2nd question - the Assemblyman's rationale here is that the voter participation will be increased thus giving the public more say in 2nd question passage.

·There was discussion about the $2.5B proposal for school construction in the Abbott districts, talk of review of sin-depth and expanded superintendent contracts and related issues. Attached here is a combined letter from the NJ Association of School Administrators and the NJ School Boards Association addressing the contract issue.

· In addition to print media, clips from the meeting were aired on NJN and News 12 NJ...to see news coverage and Annual Meeting Program see below.


    Garden State Coalition of Schools/GSCS

     Seventeenth Annual Meeting, May 29 2008

 

Forsgate Country Club, Monroe Township, Thursday 9 – 11:30 a.m.

 

 

Welcome & Call Meeting to Order ……………………….…..Daniel Fishbein, GSCS President

 

Treasurer's Report, GSCS Treasurer…………………………………… Roger Caruba

 

Nominating Committee Report and Vote …….GSCS Vice President Linda Nelson

 

GSCS Executive Director Report……………….……………………….….........Lynne Strickland

           

Introduction…Brenda Considine, Director, N J Special Education Coalition

 

Remarks, President-Elect…………………………………………………………………Jim O'Neill

               

 

Featured Guests: Presentations and Combined Q & A

 

 Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy

 

Assembly Education Committee Chair, Joe Cryan

 

 

As is GSCS practice, index cards for written questions for our presenters are available at your tables. Please fill them in and a GSCS volunteer will pick them up around 9:30. GSCS appreciates your cooperation and thanks you in advance.

 

11:00 Special Guest: Governor Jon S. Corzine

 

Adjournment………………………………..…....………………………................................

 

· GSCS appreciates the support of all its volunteer members - parents, board of education members & school administrators - who through their membership and informed action, combined with GSCS' efforts, do make a difference.

· A particular note of thanks to outgoing GSCS President Daniel Fishbein/Glen Ridge and Vice President Linda Nelson/Scotch Plains-Fanwood

· GSCS often works with the education community – our thanks for the collegiality and collaboration.

· A special thank you to School House Strategies' Richard Rosenberg and Richard Ten Eyck, Princeton Public Affairs Group, and Ernest Reock of Rutgers/Bloustein School.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ASBURY PARK PRESS,  Friday,May 30, 2008     Maybe voters will get a say on $2.5 billion

By GREGORY J. VOLPE GANNETT STATE BUREAU

Facing criticism over a proposal to borrow $2.5 billion for school construction in poor urban districts without voter approval, Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Thursday he hasn't ruled out placing the measure before voters or including money for suburban areas.

            A day after giving an impassioned plea for the construction plan outside a 19th century school in Newark's Ironbound section, Corzine was more subdued at the annual meeting of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, which advocates predominantly for suburban schools.

           "I am not opposed to a broader program, but that does not have the same constitutional thrust behind it that we have behind the Abbott districts," Corzine told a room full of school officials.

           Though some lawmakers have criticized the governor for seemingly going back on a vow not to borrow without voter approval, Assembly Education Committee chairman Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, D—Union, said he thinks legislation can pass by Corzine's June 30 deadline and needn't be placed before voters.

           "It would need a suburban piece, but I don't think it needs to be on the ballot," Cryan said. "It still has to be vetted, but what more do you need then schools in the Ironbound built in 1880?"

            Republican legislative leaders, however, vowed none in the minority party would support a school construction measure that didn't require new borrowing to be placed before the voters.

             "I don't think the courts have required that it all occur in one year, so we could go to a pay-as-you-go system," Sen. Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon, said. "I feel it should be placed on the ballot. All future borrowing should be placed on the ballot."

Even some Democrats are leery of borrowing without voter approval.

            "The governor and legislators should be commended for their desire to build critical schools, though I would like to see if we can work together to both expand the eligible districts and seek voter approval for the initiative," Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, said in a prepared statement.

Corzine neither endorsed nor rejected the idea of seeking voter approval.

"It's a better idea than not doing anything," said Corzine, adding that if no money is approved, whether by the Legislature or the public, the Supreme Court will impose its will. "... They don't care how we fund it, they care that we build the schools that are required for a thorough and efficient education."

        If borrowing is not authorized, and the courts force school construction to be funded, Corzine said there would be tougher budget decisions in the future.

He also said his plan isn't a break from his promise to stop borrowing without voter approval because the construction program is mandated by the courts and the new funding would be linked to the state's income tax as a dedicated way to pay the debt.

         "My pledge, which I said over and over again, was no borrowing without a source of funding for the borrowing," Corzine said.

         The state is under a Supreme Court mandate to build or fix schools in its poorest districts, known as the Abbotts. The $2.5 billion is seen as a short-term replenishment of the state's court-ordered school construction program that has cost $8.6 billion to date and been criticized for wasteful and potentially illegal spending.

         Some say the agency has reformed and can be trusted again with new funding. The new money would complete 27 deferred projects and 20 new ones in the state's 31 poorest districts, which are estimated to need $12 billion to $20 billion worth of construction.

          Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, said her group cannot endorse Corzine's proposal unless it includes funding for non-Abbott districts.

         "The $2.5 billion is strictly about the Abbott districts, so we don't have a position on it," Strickland said. "We'd like to see school construction funding stabilized for the regular operating districts."

 

Legislator backs a limit on accumulated sick pay   Friday, May 30, 2008

BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL    Star-Ledger Staff

A key state lawmaker said yesterday he will consider legislation that would limit payment for unused sick days to $15,000 for retiring school officials, a move that could cost some school superintendents hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union), chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, endorsed the cap during an appearance at the Forsgate County Club yesterday before the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an organization that represents mostly suburban schools.

 

His proposal is the latest reaction to a proposed $740,000 retirement package Keansburg awarded its outgoing superintendent, Barbara Trzeszkowski. That package includes $170,137 in payments for 235.5 unused sick days.

Cryan endorsed a suggestion to scrap provisions in school reform legislation the Legislature passed last year that imposed a $15,000 reimbursement limit on newly hired school officials, but let more generous benefits stay in place for superintendents and other officials already working.

 

"I think it's more than reasonable," Cryan said of the suggestion lawmakers repeal the so-called "grandfathering" provision. "I'm going to be looking at legislation to do that."

Gov. Jon Corzine, who also addressed the gathering of 100 school officials and lobbyists yesterday, said he would welcome a move to repeal the grandfathering provisions, which he called "a mistake."

 

While state officials launch a wide-ranging review of superintendent perks, professional organizations who represent school officials in Trenton argued for restraint.

The New Jersey School Boards Association and New Jersey Association of School Administrators released a letter promising to form a panel to study superintendent compensation.

 

"Our organizations urge state leaders to avoid overreaction through unnecessary and restrictive legislation or regulation," said the letter signed by Marie Bilik, executive director of the school boards association, and Richard Bozza, executive director of the Association of School Administrators. "Because of recent state legislation, the authority of executive county superintendents to review contracts and the efforts of local boards, we do not anticipate seeing Keansburg-type provisions in future contracts."

Trzeszkowski, 60, is scheduled to retire June 30 and was to begin collecting her severance benefits over five years, starting in July.

 

Besides the sick day payments, the contract, worked out in 2003, included $14,449 for unused vacation time and another $556,290 in severance pay calculated by multiplying her monthly salary by the number of years she has worked in Keansburg.

Those payments are on top of the standard retirement pay -- estimated at $120,000 a year -- Trzeszkowski has earned over a 38-year career in the school district, which is one of 31 so-called Abbott communities that receive millions in special state aid.

Corzine has directed Attorney General Anne Milgram to file legal action this week to seek an injunction barring payments under the pact.

           On Tuesday the Keansburg Board of Education agreed to suspend payments to Trzeszkowski while they renegotiate the severance package.

Dunstan McNichol may be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341.

 

            ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

FROM:

 SENATOR SHIRLEY K. TURNER, CHAIR

 

SUBJECT:

 COMMITTEE MEETING ON THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2008

 

(The public may address comments and questions to Anita M. Saynisch or Sarah B. Haimowitz, Committee Aides, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Marguerite Tazza, secretary, at 609-984-6843, fax 609-984-9808, or e-mail: OLSAideSED@njleg.org. Written and electronic comments, questions and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.)

 

     The Senate Education Committee will meet on Thursday, June 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ.

 

     The following bills may be of interest:

 

S1911 (Turner) - Establishes Commissioner of Education as the rule-making authority under several school district accountability statutes.

 

S1912 / A45 (Turner / Cryan / Rumana / Moriarty) - Eliminates role of State Board of Education in the appeal of Commissioner of Education decisions in disputes arising under the State school laws.