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Garden State Coalition of Schools . . .
a statewide grassroots advocacy network of parents, administrators,
Board of Education members, community organizers and friends
Public Support for Public Education
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| GSCS Email-Net
Keeping GSCS Members & Friends Informed
Have You Checked Out
Our New, Improved Website?
GSCS has worked hard to revamp and update our website for you.
Moving to a new website structure is a massive job, so please bear with us during this initial time of transition while we may have to deal with some "go-live" kinks, as well as getting our updated materials on line.
Thanks for your support, as always.
Also Below:
* Executive Director's Report
* GSCS at the NJSBA Workshop
* GSCS Calendar
*NJ Education in the News
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Coming Up
On the GSCS Calendar
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Panel Discussion
NJSBA Annual Workshop
Tuesday, Oct. 23,
2:30 p.m., Room 404, Atlantic City Convention Center
GSCS Trustee Board
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 3:30 p.m., East Brunswick Board of Education Building
GSCS Trustee Board
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 3:30 p.m., East Brunswick Board of Education Building
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On the GSCS Radar Screen
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How GSCS Members Rank Their Concerns About Education Issues in NJ
1. Shared services programs
2. Public school choice reform, funding, regulation
3. Keeping education policy issues before the public
4. Close monitoring of the School Funding Reform Act
5.School leadership decline, and
5. High-stakes testing, testing revisions
6. Reasonable education reform, and
6. State aid for suburban districts
7. Teacher evaluation, and
7. Special education funding
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Tell Us Your Concerns
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The GSCS message is stronger when we have your input.
Please email us at gscs2000@gmail .com
to share your concerns regarding state policies and proposed legislation that impact on local education and financial issues.
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Help Us With Your Email Address
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Please check that your school and computer are not blocking our emails.
Receiving more than one copy of each email from us?
Your address not current?
Want to add an address to our list?
Please send the correct information to us at gscs2000@gmail.com
Please ask those who say they've stopped getting our emails to email us
at the above address to add their names to our list once again. |
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A Note From the GSCS Executive Director
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Dear GSCS Members and Friends,
GSCS has been keeping close watch on the development of the new charter school regulations, as well as on potential, emerging legislation devoted to updating and overhauling the outdated 1995 charter school law.
Recent meetings with the Department of Education have included direct conversations with Commissioner Cerf, Evo Popoff (Chief Innovation Officer) and Amy Ruck, Director of the Charter School Office. GSCS also had a delegation meeting with Assembly Education Chair Patrick Diegnan, who is likely to introduce a charter school overhaul bill in the near future.
All meetings were open to GSCS issues and positive overall. We thank both the Commissioner and Assemblyman Diegnan for the interactive discussions. We look forward to continuing to work with them on balancing charter process and programs, while shedding light on the needs and perspective from our local communities.
This Tuesday, Oct. 23, GSCS will participate in a special legislative panel at the NJSBA Fall Workshop Atlantic City (see below for details). We encourage you to stop in and listen to the panel, moderated by John Mooney of NJ Spotlight, as well as participate in the Q&A session scheduled to follow. Please stop by to say hello to me and GSCS Officers after the session.
Our new website is up and going and has been very well received. While still a work in progress, we are getting there! If you have any specific suggestions or feedback on it to share with us, please send an email to gscs2000@gmail.com.
The GSCS member survey results are rolling in . . . look to the left to see the initial top 10 NJ education issues. Note that the survey responses were all rather concentrated in the center, and none of the issues were either way behind or way ahead. All 10 issues are clearly considered important to our members, and GSCS will follow them closely, advocating for your needs. We appreciate your taking the time to fill out the survey, as well as writing in your ideas and suggestions for additional concerns. We take them all seriously, and our work this year will reflect your input.
Look to the left, also, to see what's coming up on the GSCS calendar. The calendar box in this location will be a regular resource for our readers.
Thank you for your comments, suggestions, survey feedback and support of GSCS. We couldn't do it without you!
Sincerely,
Lynne
Lynne Strickland
GSCS Executive Director
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Find Us at the NJSBA Workshop on Oct. 23 |
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NJSBA FALL WORKSHOP 2012, Tuesday, October 23, 2:30pm - 4:00pm @ Room: 404
GSCS thanks NJSBA for the invitation to join other NJ education advocacy groups in an informative conversation and an inside look into the perspective of the governmental relations directors.
John Mooney of NJ Spotlight will moderate. Joining in the discussion will be representatives from NJ Principals and Supervisors Association, NJ Association of Counties, NJ Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, NJ Education Association, Garden State Coalition of Schools and NJ School Boards Association.
Hope to see you there.
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More NJ Education News
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| For details and full articles, please visit the GSCS website: www.gscschools.org
10-18-12
NJ Spotlight: "Newark Teacher's Contract Culmination of Two Years Give and Take"
"The new deal includes large-scale bonus system and teachers evaluating teachers . . . "
Star Ledger: "Newark teachers strike historic deal including bonuses for top educators"
"The Newark Teachers Union has reached a historic deal with the state that will make the district the first in New Jersey to offer bonuses to top teachers, union officials said . . . "
NOTE: GSCS will be analyzing these issues closely as they evolve.
NJ Spotlight: "Quest Academy Charter to Get Its Day in Supreme Court"
"After being denied a charter for a record five times, Quest questions if the state is meeting its own 'standard for review'
. . . "
10-17-12
NJ Spotlight: "School Districts Comparison Shop for Teacher Evaluation Systems" "End-of-year deadline puts pressures on educators and system developers alike . . . "
10-16-12
NJ Spotlight: "Big Charter Network Looks South to Camden for Expansion" "Nationwide program has won plaudits for success of schools in Newark . . . "
10-15-12
Asbury Park Press: "Learning: Shore area school districts get 'Choice' approval" "Nine school districts within Monmouth and Ocean counties have been approved for the 2013-14 Choice School program offered by the state Department of Education . . ."
Courier Post Online: "Guidebook helps N.J. schools prepare for violent crises"
"The publication, called "Active Shooter Safety Considerations for Educators," includes tips . . . a detailed manual on how best to survive an armed assault inside a school . . . "
Courier Post-Associated Press: "Camden parents file petition to switch schools"
10-12-12
NJ Spotlight: "Principal Evaluation Mandate Will Put Administrators Under Microscope" "Some districts question the wisdom of rolling out new systems while teacher evaluation just getting underway . . ."
Education Nation @ NBC.com: "Online schools face backlash as states question results" "Public officials and educators are questioning whether cyber-schools are making the grade . . . "
10-11-12
Northjersey.com: "Officials think new school lunch program is beneficial" "School districts across the nation recently received a new federally-mandated lunch program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented new regulations on lunches which are designed to fight childhood obesity . . . "
NJ Spotlight: "DOE Follows $1.6 Billion in Stimulus Money . . . but Only So Far" "Safeguards recommended several years ago by state monitors still not in place. . . " 10-10-12 Star Ledger: "Two tiny N.J. schools might become part of new regional district . . . South Hunterdon Regional and Stockton Schools"
NJ Spotlight: "NJ Extends Contract to Keep High School Tests for Two More Years" "Switch to new assessments scheduled to begin in 2015 . . . "
PARCC: "Assessment Design"
"The PARCC assessment have six priority purposes, which are driving the design of the system . . . "
10-5-12
NJ Spotlight: "DOE Rescinds Administrative Leave, Reinstates Ousted Perth Amboy Super "Cerf angers school union, meddling in what some see as a strictly local dispute . . . "
Star Ledger: "Federal merit pay program to reward teachers across N.J." "The best teachers in Asbury Park, Lakewood, Hillside and North Plainfield will be among the first in the state to earn federally financed merit pay, a spokesman from the U.S. Department of Education said . . . "
NJ Spotlight "Interactive Map: Violence and Bullying in New Jersey Schools"
10-3-12
Washington Post-Associated Press: "NJ counts school bullying incidents for 1st time under new law" " . . . 12K in 2011-12 academic year"
The Record: "N.J. schools serving breakfast to only a third of those eligible"
"New Jersey schools served free or reduced-price breakfast last spring to one of three poor children who qualified for it - a significant increase over recent years but still placing the state 48th in the national school breakfast program . . . "
10-2-12 NJ Spotlight: State Gives Preliminary Go-Ahead to Two New Charter Schools" "Newark academy would be first under new law allowing private-to-public conversions . . . "
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