Parent Networking

GSCS FYI

1-24-11 GSCSS Testimony before Assembly Education Committee: Charter School Reform

1-24-11 GSCS Testimony on Charter School Reform before Assembly Eduction Committee today

12-8-10 Education & Related Issues in the News - Tenure Reform, Sup't Salary Caps Reactions, Property Valuations Inflated

8-18-10 Property Tax Cap v. Prior Negotiated Agreements a Big Problem for Schools and Communities

7-18-10 Troublesome sign of the times? Read article on the growing trend for education foundations - the pressure to provide what the state no longer supports for education...California's Proposition 13 cited

3-4-10 GSCS Email-Net: Summit @ Summit Report - A New Day in Trenton?

3-3-10 'Public Education in N.J.: Acting NJ Comm of Educ Bret Schundler says 'Opportunity'

3-4-10 'NJ education chief Bret Schundler tells suburban schools to expect more cuts in aid'

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! GSCS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP-STATEWIDE MEETING 'THE SUMMIT AT SUMMIT', TUESDAY MARCH 2, 7:30 p.m., Details to follow

GSCS at TRI-DISTRICT MEETING IN MONMOUTH COUNTY January 27

GSCS to speak at Tri-District 'Open' meeting in Monmouth on January 27

7-16-08 Schools Testing measures adopted; Test scoring upgraded - harder to pass

CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SCHOOLS? YOU ARE INVITED-GSCS General Membership Open Meeting Leonia Feb 25 7 pm

8-27-08 SAT analysis reported by College Boards

11-6-07 GSCS Parent Advocates help clarify election issues...the Millburn Example

GSCS 'NOV 6th LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 'ADVOCACY PACKET

Nov 2006 Special Aid loss to districts if aid were based on current ability-to-pay formula

5-16-07 Education Week 'Frustration Builds in NJ Funding Debate'

SCHOOL ELECTIONS - A PUBLIC'S CHOICE....for ITS PUBLIC VOICE

4-3-07 Governor Corzine signs A1 and A4 today at the War Memorial

2-20-07 GSCS member Fair Haven holds school funding forum tonight

2-15-07 'Parents get boost on special ed rights' Star Ledger

2-12-07 State School Aid - needed to offset property taxes now

2-9-07 GSCS EMAILNET MEMBER FYI on Trenton legislation Action

2-7-07 School funding, school audits - need for new formula underscored

2-2-07 Grassroots letter to editor & communications message to Trenton re S19 'Super' County Supt and S20 Tax Caps bills

2-1-07 GSCS Advocacy on bills A1-S20 and A4-S19

1-31-07 GSCS FYI

GSCS members submit their well-reasoned thoughts to local newspapers

Grassroots in Action, recent forums re school aid, property tax squeeze on communities, consolidation issues

1-9-07 Countywide Pilot Program and County 'Super' Superintendent bills held again yesterday, Jan 22 next probable vote date scheduled for these bills

1-3-07 GSCS Member ALERT 'County School bills' fastracked again

1-2-07 GSCS New Year's Resolution

12-15-06 District 21 letter to GSCS subsequent to S7 & S10 being held

12-15-06 EMAILNET Bills Held!

12-13-06 GSCS critique re A4-Roberts - Executive County Supt sections

12-10-06 Parent Letter to Trenton re CORE Plan

12-8 & 12-9 News clips on Trenton machinations...

12-6-07 Sample Parent Advocacy Letter to Trenton

11-17-06 Letter to members - cites proposal pros & cons, thanks GSCS volunteers

1-17-06 Asbury Park Press "Viewpoint" comments by parents Kim Newsome & Marianne Kligman

9-21-05 Comments from "Parents in Trenton" Press Conference

11-17-06 PARENT ADVOCACY INFO PACKET

11-17-06 News Clips - Trenton Proposals

11-16-06 Property Tax Proposal news articles

11-15-06 The Special Session Jt Committee Reports

11-15-06 Spec Session Proposals - What GSCS is hearing & what's being said

11-11-06 EMAILNET Special Session Legislative Committees report Nov. 14 or 15

11-2-06 GSCS Parent Press Conference Coverage

11-1-06 Press Conference packet

GSCS PARENTS' Press Conference at the Statehouse set for November 1, 11:00 a.m.

10-31-06 PRESS ADVISORY

DIRECTIONS to Statehouse

SPECIAL SESSION ADVOCACY TIPS

DIRECTIONS

Parent & Member Information Packet on Special Session

October 2006 Quality Education At Risk

GSCS Key Message Points re Special Session & School Funding

GSCS Press Conf at theStatehouse set for November 1, 11:00 a.m.

Parents: For information on the Special Session on Property Tax Reform

6-22-06 GSCS Parent Coordinator Letter to the Editor

3-9-06 Governor speaks to S1701 at town meeting

EMAILNET 3-9-06 to South Jersey districts

COFFEE a coalition of families for excellent education

1-29-06 Asbury Park Press Sunday Front Page Right

Posted 1-17-06 December 2005 article from the NewsTranscript of Monmouth County

12-16-05 EMAILNET

1-12-06 Asbury Park Press letter to the editor

12-12-05 EMAILNET Bills move out of Assembly Education Committee

Summit Parent Nora Radest on Statehouse Steps Delivering letters re S1701

12-2-05 Hopewell Valley letter to Senate Education Committee Chair Shirley Turner re: school budget amendment bills & S1701

Madison parents and Morris County Outreach Efforts on S1701 Amendment legislation 11-28-05

Parent Network FYI re EMAILNET 11-28-05 on S1701

11-15-05 EMAILNET

S1701 EMAILNET Alert 11-28-05

Parent Letter to Senate Education Committee Chair on S1701 and request to move amendment legislation

Parent letter to legislators on S1701 and 'stalled status of amendment bills S2329 and S2278'

10-14-05 EMAILNET Parent question for Gubernatorial Candidates aired on 101.5 debate, SCC funds, Next Board meeting, press briefing notes

People are asking: How does the GSCS Parent Network 'work'?

MANY HAVE ASKED; How does the GSCS Parent Network 'work'?: Grassroots, yet coordinated, with the help of GSCS - See this 9-30-05 Candace Mueller, past GSCS Parent Network Coordinator, letter reaches out to Ewing district parents

9-21-05 Comments from

new file

See 9-21-05 Press Conference Program

THANK YOU - OVER 100 PARENTS SHOWED UP TODAY IN TRENTON at the Parents in Trenton Press Conference

PARENTS IN TRENTON PRESS ADVISORY & INFO & LOGISTICS

PARENTS IN TRENTON PRESS ADVISORY & INFO

FYI Parents in Trenton Press Conference 9-21-05

PARENTS IN TRENTON PRESS CONFERENCE INVITATION

NJ State Public Information: How to Locate

A Parent Call to Action To Amend S1701 & Pursue Quality Public Education for All Children

Parent Network Sign Up Cover Letter

Parent Network FYI 1-27-05

2004 Archives

2-2-07 Grassroots letter to editor & communications message to Trenton re S19 'Super' County Supt and S20 Tax Caps bills
Members - you can use these well written advocacy letters as models to communication your concerns to Trenton about pending legislation S19 'Super" County Superintendent and S20 Tax Caps bills that have real potential to diminish quality education and local decision-making.In addition to you local legislators please make sure you addres your communications to Governor Corzine, Senate President Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts directly: Gov.Jon Corzine http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html (609)-292-6000
Senate President Richard J. Codey SenCodey@njleg.org (973)-731-6770

Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr AsmRoberts@njleg.org (856) 742-7600

Feb. 2, 2007

Dear Editor:

Is home rule chaos, as Trenton and the media like to suggest, or is it democracy at its best? Our 566 municipalities and 616 school districts are not just another New Jersey joke. Towns like ours practice taxation with representation at its most basic level: Our school board meetings are televised live; we know the agenda in advance; people get off their couches, drive to meetings, and argue with their bipartisan elected representatives in open debate. We fight hard to keep costs down, share services with districts, and struggle to fund from our own pockets the costly federal and state mandates that rarely come with the aid pledged by Trenton and Washington (the state pitches in just 5% of our town’s school spending). We know months ahead the dates for hearings on our local school budget, and as taxpayers we are actively involved in shaping an education for our children that ranks second in the nation.

Contrast that to the scene in Trenton: Scores of bills hammered out in closed sessions are so confusing that the statehouse staff can’t explain them when citizens call to ask. Legislation is slated for a vote a week after it’s introduced. Bills that claim to save money by eroding local control have no cost analyses attached, and would create yet another layer of expensive and potentially corrupt political appointees. If New Jersey wants to preserve its greatest natural resource—the education of the children who will shape its future—the lawmakers need to stop using home rule as a whipping boy. If Trenton honestly wants to find a solution to school funding that is fair and equitable to all taxpayers—and to our children—it should look no further than its own small-town, democratic roots.

Anne Newman and Paul Nadler

133 Woodside Ave.

Metuchen

______________________________________________________

Please oppose the appointment of a “Executive County Superintendent
of Schools” (Bill S19), who would have broad powers to override local
school decisions.

Please amend or oppose new bill on property taxes (Bill S20): Voters
should be free to choose the level of taxes they are willing to pay
to support quality education – but with a 50% pass-mark, not 60%; we
pay for 90-95% of our schools with property taxes - therefore school
funding should be a local decision without State interference.
Please oppose the line-item school budget power proposed for the
Commissioner of Education.

Regards, Mr. and Mrs. Alan Routh
Chatham, NJ

______________________________________________________________

ALERT!

'Super' County Superintendent on Monday's Senate Agenda

Next Monday, Feb. 5, the state Senate is scheduled to act on a new version (S-19) of legislation to create "super" executive county superintendents, and another bill (S-20) which has several provisions which could adversely affect our schools..

Thanks to your previous efforts, we not only held off action on these proposals, but also successfully eliminated a provision that would have moved school board member elections to the partisan November election.

It's time to act again.

These bills would

·         Give a politically appointed state official sweeping powers over local school district budgets.

·       Eliminate savings school districts have already achieved.

·         Affect school district grade organizations and boundaries.

These bills would not save property taxes

Take action now .

Please spread the word to friends, relatives and co-workers here, and those who live elsewhere in New Jersey.

Call, e-mail and fax members of the Senate ASAP, and certainly before Monday. If you want, you can cut and paste the points below.

        1. Vote "No" on S-19, and oppose the appointment of an "Executive County Superintendent" who would have broad powers to override local schools decisions, and whose purpose would be to cut expenses, with no mandate to preserve quality education. This bill would create a costly and unnecessary bureaucracy.

        2. Amend S-20 so that budget votes and referendums have to pass by the usual     50% majority, not the proposed 60% "super-majority."

        3. Oppose the line-item school budget power proposed for the Commisioner of Education in S-20.

        4. Make sure that the cap waivers in A-1 which are essential to the educational health of our districts do not get "amended out" of the Senate version.

        5. Establish a time frame of no more than one year for the development of an equitable funding formula that works for ALL of New Jersey's children.

To find state Senator contact information, consult the NJSBA Legislative Directory or visit the NJSBA Legislative Action Center online. Below, we're providing you contact information for the Governor and key Senators from similar districts:

Governor Jon Corzine--(609)-292-6000 http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html

Senate President Richard Codey--(609) 292-5215, 973-731-6770, SenCodey@njleg.org.

Senator Leonard Lance--Minority Leader--(908) 788-6900, SenLance@njleg.org

Senator Barbara Buono--(732) 819-8141, SenBuono@njleg.org

Senator Nia H. Gill--(973) 509-0388, SenGill@njleg.org.

Senator John H. Adler--(856) 489-3442, SenAdler@njleg.org

Senator Ellen Karcher (732) 462-8883, SenKarcher@njleg.org

Senator Shirley K. Turner--(609) 530-3277, Sen Turner@njleg.org

Senator Joseph Doria--(201) 451-5100, SenDoria@njleg.org

Senator Nicholas J Sacco--(201) 295-0200, Sen Sacco@njleg.org

Senator Bernard Kenny--(201) 653-1466, SenKenny@njleg.org

Senator Joseph Coniglio--(201) 576-9199, SenConiglio@njleg.org

Senator Loretta Weinberg--(201) 928-0100, SenWeinberg@njleg.org

Senator Paul A Sarlo--(201) 804-8118, SenSarlo@njleg.org

Senator John A Girgenti--(973) 427-1229, SenGirgenti@njleg.org

And of course, if you've time, thank our Senator, Tom Kean, (908)-232-3673 for leading the opposition to these bills.

Remember .

·         S-19 will not reduce property taxes. It will hurt our children's education.

      Thank you for taking action!

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