Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     4-16-06 Sunday NY Times Metro Section, front page
     4-13-06 'Budget cap puts NJ schools on edge'
     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
     EMAILNET 3-7-06 S1701 Call to Action at Gov Corzine Public Hearing
     12-8-05 GSCS and Educ community testify together for S1701 amendment bills before Assembly Educa Com
     1-17-06 Asbury Park Press "Viewpoint" letters on S1701
     Op-ed piece written by GSCS Parent Network Regional Representative Kim Newsome published in Monmouth's "Two River Times" July 2005
     LINK to the S1701 Law
     S1701 Summit Board members' report re GSCS 1-11-08 Board mtg
     1-29-06 Asbury Park Press Sunday Front Page Right
     1-24-06 Asbury Park Press 'Funding sparks heated debate'
     FYI - S1701 impacts on local districts - excerpts from NJSBA spring 2005 survey, released 9-27-05
     Posted 1-17-06 December 2005 article from the NewsTranscript of Monmouth County
     1-17-06 Asbury Park Press
     1-12-06 Asbury Park Press letter to the editor
     12-20-05 Star Ledger 'Schools lower the heat and risk a backlash'
     Recap on property tax issues and S1701 - GSCS has been requesting legislative help on school budget cost drivers for a number of years - here is one example from summer 2004
     12-16-05 Star Ledger Schools may end courtesy busing, tied to S1701 budget stressors
     12-16-05 EMAILNET
     12-12-05 EMAILNET Bills move out of Assembly Education Committee
     5-6-05 EMAILNET Important S1701 meeting in Rumson
     UPDATE on 12-8-05 Assembly Education Committee hearing
     12-2-05 Hopewell Valley letter to Senate Education Committee Chair Shirley Turner re: school budget amendment bills & S1701
     EMAILNET 12-3-05 Heads Up!
     11-15-05 EMAILNET
     Parent Letter to Senate Education Committee Chair on S1701 and request to move amendment legislation
     S1701 EMAILNET Alert 11-28-05
     Ridgewood Board of Education member letter to legislators 11-15-05; good example letter with local legislator response
     Parent letter to legislators on S1701 and 'stalled status of amendment bills S2329 and S2278'
     EMAILNET 11-10-05 UPDATE on STATUS of S1701
     10-28-05 EMAILNET S1701 resignation, Gubernatorial election information
     AMEND S1701: GRASSROOTS BUMPER MAGNETS now available at the initiation of GSCS Rumson parent and their networking
     Readington Forum on School Funding & Meet the Assembly Candidates 11-1-05
     Invitation to October 7 Rumson hosts 'Stuff S1701' Party
     October 7 Sample Letter for 'Stuff S1701' Party Rumson area. html
     Parents in Trenton 9-21-05 Press Conference
     Link to The Hub article on Rumson Parent 5-19-05 Meeting Opposing S1701, GSCS and Assemblymen Sean Kean & Steve Coredemus co-hots
     Schools will seek Extra Funding
     Parents Give Codey an Earful
     Courier Post Online
     Bill to loosen school budgets altered
     Educators urge parents to fight school spending cap
     School funding plan gets OK from panel
     Legislature Acts to Revamp School Spending Caps
     Educators to Argue for Repeal of Cap Law
     S1701 One Board Member's Perspective
     Moody's Investment Services School Bond Rating Analysis post S1701 passage (pdf)
     EMAILNET 7-8-05 GSCS Take on Assembly Passage of A3680
     Asbury Park Press-Gannet Bureau 7-2-05 Legislature Passes Aid bill for Districts Near Abbotts
     October 13 2004 School Funding and S1701 Meeting hosted by Bergen County school group 'Dollars & Sense
     Glen Ridge Schools and Garden State Coalition co-host Dec 9 Meeting 'Public Support for Public Education v. Property Tax Stress' plus a focus on new school funding law S1701
     Red Bank Regional High School, Red Bank K-8 Schools, Little Silver, Fair Haven,Rumson-Fair Haven, Rumson K-8, Shrewsbury, and the GArden State Coalition Host December 6, 2004 Forum on the new school funding legislation S1701
     Rumson PTA, Monmouth Parents sponsor S1701 meeting, co-hosted by 11th District Assemblyman Sean Kean & the GSCS May 2005
     040430EMAILNET Govs PTax Proposal - reaction (Word)
     One Board's Example: Glen Ridge Public Schools
     Princeton Public Schools education symposium to explore impact of school cap legislation
     Real Figures and Sound Facts - A Grassroots Rebuttal to Trenton on S1701
     GSCS School Funding and S1701 Power Point - February 2005
     EMAILNET 2-21-05 S1701 and A3680 Still Stalled
     School Funding Presentation December 2004
Parent letter to legislators on S1701 and 'stalled status of amendment bills S2329 and S2278'
This letter, addressed to key legislators, is written by a central New Jersey parent who is a member of the Garden State Parent Network. It is an excellent example of the thoughtful parent perspective and argument against S1701.

Dear Senator Bryant,

 

My name is Molly Emiliani and I am a member of the Garden State Coalition of Schools Parent Network.  I am a parent of five children, an educator and a former school board member.  I have experienced many different sides of the educational system in the State of New Jersey.

I am writing this very passionate letter to ask you to post bills S2329 and S2278 at the 12/8/05 Senate Education Committee hearing.  S1710 is such a threat to a school district’s ability to provide for the needs of the students. 

Bursting at the seams is a classic way to describe the increased enrollments at many schools throughout the state of New Jersey. No one wants to take responsibility for negative financial impact on school districts.  Communities continue to build new houses which lead to increased enrollments at local schools and yet there is never any consequence to the town councils that approve this construction or to the construction companies that benefit financially from this.  Real estate companies will attest to the turnover of properties of senior citizen residents to young families with children which is also adding to the high percentage of increased student enrollment numbers. 

School districts must continue to work within ridiculous financial restraints and try to meet the needs of the booming student populations.  Some kind of financial accountability must be imposed on the groups that continue to exacerbate this problem and reap the financial benefits. Let’s impose a surcharge on the people who have a direct financial benefit from this situation so that school districts can accommodate the increased demands and needs. 

Bills like S1701 are completely irresponsible because they further cripple school districts in regard to providing for the extra needs of students.  School districts continue to get squeezed in the vise of increased enrollments and the incurred costs and between the state imposed financial caps.  The bottom line is that the state wants districts to do more for more with less and less. 

Let’s get real here.  Students are the ones that will suffer because let’s face it, no one will tackle the costs like teacher salaries and benefits that are “must pays” for districts.  Salaries continue to climb to ridiculous heights faster than a runaway train!  The only areas of school budgets that can actually be touched when reductions are needed (in order to comply with bills like S1701) are areas that are directly linked to student programs and classroom related expenses.  These  cuts directly hurt the children.  When are we going to put the students first in the convoluted scenario?  THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!  

The state needs to go after some of the groups that have NO parameters when it comes to “taxing” the budgets schools have to work with.  NJEA, special education providers for special needs students that need to be placed outside of a school district because of their needs, special services providers for students in district, companies that provide electrical and heating/cooling services to schools, transportation companies (i.e. busing) are just a few of the groups that can charge whatever they want and school districts are at their mercy.  Why doesn’t the state start to impose restrictions for what these groups can charge so that school districts have a fighting chance to make ends meet?  I’d LOVE to get a response from SOMEONE on that question!

Maybe your children are older and have already graduated from high school or maybe your children attend private schools and are not a part of the public education system, whatever the case, for a moment imagine that you children ARE in the public education system.  Would you want them to be the pawns in this continuing tug of war that has gone on for YEARS in the State of New Jersey?  Would you want your child’s educational future to be precariously dangling over this cliff of unpredictable financial security? 

Let school districts do their job!  Let school districts do what is necessary to provide for the educational needs of their student populations, which is not a one size fits all funding formula!  Individual school districts are not all the same…needs are different. 

Please don’t legislate in the “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality.  See if you could run your businesses(a.k.a. school districts) within the same imposed caps (a.k.a. S1701)  and continue to provide for all the needs of your customers (a.k.a. students) and employees (a.k.a. teachers) without soon running into the brick wall of not having enough  money to do all you need to do in order to keep your company from failing.  Hmmm…that is something to think about isn’t it?  I have a feeling that you will come to the same conclusion that many school districts have already come to…IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Thank you for your kind attention.  Please post Bills S2329 and S2278 for the 12/8/05 Senate Education Committee hearing.  Please do the right thing for the children in the State of New Jersey.  They are counting on you.

 

                                                            Sincerely yours,

Molly R. Emiliani