Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

1-19-06 EMAILNET Quick Facts, On the Homepage Today

GARDEN STATE COALITION OF SCHOOLS/GSCS

 

     GSCS EMAILNET 1-19-06   

                 On the Homepage Today…

 

www.gscschools.org                                    

gscs2000@gmail.com

 

210 West State St, Trenton, NJ 08608                       

 

609 394 2828/fax396 7620

GSCS quick facts:

ü        Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, February 8, 4 p.m. E. Brunswick Board of Education [732 613 6705]. Please RSVP gscs2000@gmail.com. The Board thanks Star Ledger reporters John Mooney and Dunstan McNichol for visiting in with GSCS Trustees at its January Board meeting.

ü        The bill to establish a Special Education Review Commission (GSCS is to have a seat on the commission) passed in the Assembly on January 9 and was signed into law January 12 by Governor Codey/PL 2005, Chapter 339.

ü        GSCS website statistics show that the site was logged about 140,000 hits in its inaugural year.

 

IMPORTANT ITEMS ON THE WEB HOMEPAGE TODAY see www.gscschools.org :

1-19-06 GSCS member concerns re Proposed Revisions in Special Education Code
A good resource of member district thoughts on the State Board of Education proposed revisions for the Special Education Code. In keeping with GSCS focus on school funding, the GSCS question to the state is this: Will the State provide support for the additional program costs inherent in the code? Some surveys indicate the proposed code provisions will result in a 30% cost increase to current special education programs. More ...

GSCS submission(1 page limit) to Governor Corzine's Educ. Transition Team “…Public support for public education in New Jersey inextricably links to property taxes and school funding – one cannot be realistically addressed without recognizing the needs of the other. The year 2006 finds New Jersey at a critical jointure in the school funding debate: the CEIFA school funding formula has not been implemented since FY2002, nor have enrollments been counted in what aid has been distributed per the old CEIFA. Where state aid per pupil falls, property taxes will rise. In New Jersey, more than 45% of the regular operating districts are now considered too wealthy to receive basic state support aid; in California only 60 districts of 1000 school districts fall into this ‘too wealthy’ category…”  More ...

1-19-06 News Articles Trenton Times, The Record, Star Ledger
Governor Corzine's first day and recap of his talk with the League of Municipalities yesterday: shared services and positive incentives for towns and schools noted; Trenton Times article re: New Special Education Code - school & parent reactions cited. More ...

1-18-07 Courier Post Opinion - Now Corzine must act on ethics, fiscal goals
Frankly, it would be more commendable if Corzine could get lawmakers to fix the state's broken school-funding/property-tax system without a convention.More

1-18-06 Star Ledger The Corzine Era Begins More ...1-18-06 North Jersey News Governor Corzine's new Cabinet relies heavily on insiders More ...

Governor Corzine's Inaugural Address 1-17-06 More

1-17-06 Asbury Park Press 'Viewpoint' letters on S1701
'State's school spending cap law fails to help students,(or) trim taxes' - thoughful comments re S1701 by parents Kim Newsome, Rumson, and Marianne Kligman, Middletown. More ...