Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

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6-29-07 EMAILNET Lots of news affecting your schools and communities

GARDEN STATE COALITION OF SCHOOLS/GSCS

EMAILNET 6-29-07

Lots of news affecting your schools & communities this week

gscs2000@gmail.com                                                      www.gscschools.org     

 


GSCS Quick Fact:  Next Board of Trustees Meeting July 11, 2007 at 9:30 at the East Brunswick Board of Education. Please RSVP gscs2000@gmail.com   with your attendance plans. (Members are always welcome to attend GSCS Board of Trustee meetings. New Trustee districts should attend this meeting if possible.)

 

 

On the GSCS homepage today…..    

 

                                                …..for details, go to www.gscschools.org

 

 

6-29-07 STATE BUDGET signed - LINE ITEM VETOES LIST - TEACHERS GAIN MORE CONTROL OVER BENEFITS PLANNING – TOLL ROAD PLAN ISSUES -  US SUPREME CT RULING impacts school desgregation - SPECIAL EDUCATION GROUPS file suit against state….


STAR LEDGER -Governor enacts $33.5 billion budget Plan increases rebates while avoiding tax hikes Friday, June 29, 2007 ...

'IN THE LOBBY' found at http://inthelobby.net

After he signed the budget bill into law, an apparently angry Gov. Jon Corzine said he is not going to sell the New Jersey Turnpike or other state assets, and denounced critics who said he was...

In the Lobby - Top Headlines: THE UNLUCKY 66 Gov . Corzine signed the $33.5 billion budget today, but not before he took his budget ax to 66 line items totalling approximately $10 million.

'Every budget has winners and losers. Here's the unlucky 66'

(go to www.gscschools.org  homepage to access the list)

6-29-07 NY TIMES  'CORZINE HEATS UP DEBATE OVER STATE ASSETS'

"…It was supposed to be an orchestrated victory lap on Thursday afternoon as Democratic legislators attended a signing ceremony for New Jersey's $33.5 billion election-year budget, which will not require a tax increase and will offer $1,000 rebate checks for most homeowners…..But that was before Gov. Jon S. Corzine, taking even the legislators standing beside him by surprise, offered his most expansive and fiery comments yet on one of the more controversial topics in New Jersey these days: the possible leasing of the New Jersey Turnpike and other assets…"

6-29-07 ASBURY PARK PRESS/GANNETT: A NEW PUBLIC AGENCY? 'Toll-road plan still formulating' ...Corzine vague about the details, but lashes out at GOP lawmakers..

STAR LEDGER6-29-07 'UNIONS GET RELIEF FROM HEALTH CARE FEES' "Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday signed a bill that will cancel new health care payments that were scheduled to be imposed on retiring government workers next month...The measure, which sped through the Legislature during their last week of work this month, also sets up a generous health insurance package for teachers...The new educators' health insurance program also in the bill gives the powerful state teacher's union, the New Jersey Education Association, control over designing and managing the state-funded health insurance program for teachers and other school employees...Health benefits for working and retired public employees are among the fastest growing elements of the state budget..."

STAR LEDGER WASHINGTON BUREAU 'Setback for school desegregation' U.S. justices say race cannot be main factor when placing students throughout a district June 29, 2007

STAR LEDGER 'Jerseyans wonder how 185-page ruling will apply to them' June 29, 2007

STAR LEDGER 6-28-07 'State sued on special education student separation'

"A coalition of advocacy groups has filed a federal lawsuit against the state that contends thousands of special education students are being wrongfully educated in segregated classes, bringing to court a long-running sore point for New Jersey..."
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New Horizons in the education conversation?  Emerging Jersey City parent group focused on realizing quality education for their children…and getting answers…
HUDSON REPORTER – 'Will our schools ever get better?'

"...Downtown parents' group wants to know what happens after state relinquishes control...recounted a conversation with an unnamed elected official about the possibility of the school system going back to local control. She (Shelley Skinner, parent group leader) said the official told her, "It's just like Vietnam; nobody knows what's going to happen."

Then Skinner asked the school board, "What is the vision for the next few years of this district?..."
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6-25-07 Star Ledger 'Duck out in Trenton on some big issues'
STAR LEDGER 'State lawmakers skip out of debates for the summer'...and maybe even longer...GSCS has concerns that state leadership is not on the same page re prior stated intentions to deal with a new school funding formula by the end of the year. On the one hand, Senate President Codey said that ".... his lame-duck session priorities are "a school funding formula, a determination on the death penalty and what we do with the toll roads so we can pay down this incredible debt we have. Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) said, "I personally want to see us spend a significant amount of time on a statewide housing policy." ". On the other hand, the Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts also stated that a formula "...needs to be done but it can't be rushed ... It's one of those issues that may straddle the end of this session and the beginning of the next..." on another hand, that goes against the Governor's stated commitment to get a funding formula in place for FY09.

What does this all really indicate? Let's not forget that a funding formula has not been implemented in NJ since 2001-02, which has caused higher property taxes, disparity in funding distribution, progam cut backs and more...Years of talk but no substantive action in this regard worries GSCS that Trenton does not have consensus on its priorities, which will hurt schools and continue to increase property tax burdens on communities.
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