GARDEN STATE COALITION OF SCHOOLS/GSCS EMAILNET 11-11-06 Special Session Legislative Committees report Nov. 14 or 15
Stay Informed & Be ready to input to Trenton:
School funding formula/consolidation and more - recommendations anticipated to be passed by end of the year.
GARDEN STATE COALITION OF SCHOOLS/GSCS
EMAILNET 11-11-06
Stay Informed & Be ready to input to
Special Session Legislative Committees report Nov. 14 or 15, school funding formula/governance structure recommendations anticipated to be passed by end of the year.
On the Homepage Today: go to www.gscschools.org for details....
11-11-06 School Funding, Governance, Property Tax Recommendations on schedule for mid-week Nov 14 or 15
GSCS is working hard to see that all communities are positively impacted by legislative reform efforts...details of the as yet publicly 'unvetted' plans are going to be very important...Details will require thoughtful analysis to assure funding stability, underscored by district flexibility to realistically provide for quality education for all children, no matter where they live.
Nov 11, 2006 Star Ledger - New school funding plan could add $1 billion in aid
"...The new school funding formula outline will be part of a wide range of reform proposals by four committees that spent the summer reviewing ways to cut the nation's highest property taxes. The plans are expected to be released Tuesday or Wednesday."
11-9-06 Public hearing on school consolidation, 7 pm, at Freehold Borough Chambers,
GSCS FYI: GSCS backs consolidation (and of course shared services which occurs frequently already) efforts of school districts, with the caveat that it remain voluntary for individual districts option.
GSCS also supports laws and regulations that would secure: 1) a tax structure that would not penalize a district via higher property taxes as a result of consolidating with another school district; 2) find an equitable way for districts not to have to share debt services incurred by one or more of the merging district prior to merging; 3) addresses differences in teacher salaries that would not lead to joined districts' having to cover additional salary costs that are likely to occur due to the merger.
These points above are currently major stumbling blocks to districts' merging and yet the legislative dialogue on consolidation has remained silent on these issues. GSCS, as well as other groups, have noted these problems consistently when talking to legislators, in our communications in general and in testimonies as well. We formally noted it in our write-up to Gov Corzine's Transition Team/Education last December as well.
GSCS is interested in Pennsylvania's Intermediate Unit system which goes a long way in helping to provide regionalized services to local districts - from special education instruction and various education programs to transportation to textbooks etc - while sustaining local district home rule.
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11-8-06 Summary Overviews - Elections '07
Courtesy to GSCS by
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