Our Children/Our Schools
A newsletter about New Jersey school funding and reform
  November 2008 - Issue 17
In This Issue
Resources

The Garden State has been a national leader in school funding equity. But the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 may change that. The new aid formula underfunds many New Jersey schools and programs and removes the historic Abbott "special needs" designation for poor, urban schools. In addition, the new formula does little to change New Jersey's over-reliance on local property taxes to fund education. Our Children/Our Schools seeks to inform the public debate on these important issues and advocate for high quality education for all New Jersey children.

 
On the day the NJ Supreme Court issued an opinion in the most recent round of the Abbott v. Burke case, OC/OS distributed a press release welcoming the justices' unanimous decision to remand the case to a lower court for fact-finding. "Let's find out what the SFRA will do to the Abbott districts. Let's see how the state expects to remain in compliance with the Court's landmark Abbott decisions. And let's understand, once and for all, how significant those decisions have been, and still are, for urban schoolchildren," the release read.
The September 22 rally organized by OC/OS, with help from the New Jersey Education Organizing Collaborative (NJEOC), just prior to the New Jersey Supreme Court hearing in the Abbott v. Burke case, brought out several hundred Abbott supporters. Buses came to Trenton from Newark, Paterson, Jersey City, Asbury Park, Camden and Bridgeton, with smaller groups and individuals arriving from around the state.
 
On November 14, well over a hundred New Jersey school districts were required to submit plans for implementation of the State's preschool expansion program. The weeks leading up to the deadline were eventful with public testimony before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools and Governor Corzine's remarks about a possible delay in program implementation because of budget concerns.
Despite growing opposition, Education Commissioner Lucille Davy and the NJ Department of Education are moving ahead with proposals for new graduation standards and tests that would dramatically increase the requirements to earn a high school diploma. The "High School Redesign" plans are now before the State Board of Education, and critics from urban, suburban and county Vo-Tech schools have raised numerous concerns about the plan.
On November 12, the Jersey City Municipal Council passed a resolution opposing the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 (SFRA) and urging the New Jersey Legislature to "reinstate the Abbott designation" and "revise the SFRA." Parents and Communities United for Education, the Jersey City Chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee, helped prepare the resolution.
The September 27 Summit held at Joyce Kilmer School attracted parents, grandparents, teachers and administrators, who joined together for a day-long session about the new curriculum guides used throughout the Trenton Public School System. Speakers, including two Children's Futures' board members, Trenton Schools Superintendent Rodney Lofton, and Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, encouraged parents to partner with and guide their children along the learning continuum.
With 125,000 Latino children living in Abbott districts, it's no wonder the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey (HDANJ) decided to intercede in the Abbott v. Burke case on the new school funding formula. But long before the formula became law in January, HDANJ, a founding member of OC/OS, had turned its attention to education issues.
State Supreme Court Rejects Corzine's Bid to End School Funding Case
Funding Formula Blasted
Plan in Need of Remediation
Test Scores Plummet as State Raises Standards
A Plan to Cut the High School Dropout Rate
NJSTARS Scholarship Plan Would Cap Income, Awards
Abbott Leadership Institute Classes: Series 14 "What Parents Need to Know," December 6 and 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Ackerson Hall, Dean's Lounge, Rutgers University Newark. For more information, call 973-353-3560 or visit www.abbottleadership.org.
Too Hungry To Learn? Connecting Resources to Address Poverty's Impact on Student Success, Public Education Institute Forum with Cecilia Zalkind of the Association for Children of New Jersey and other panelists. Monday, December 1, 9 a.m. to noon, Rutgers University Douglass Campus Center, New Brunswick. No charge for admission. To register, call 732-564-9100, x 25, or e-mail rupei@rci.rutgers.edu.
Our Children/Our Schools General Meetings, Thursday, December 18, 10 a.m. to Noon, via conference call, and Thursday, January 15, 10 a.m. to Noon, at Education Law Center in Newark. For more info, contact skrengel@edlawcenter.org.
Send announcements of upcoming events for the Our Children/Our Schools Calendar to info@ourchildrenourschools.org.

"At its core, a constitutionally adequate education is one that will prepare public school children for a meaningful role in society, enable them to compete effectively in the economy and contribute and participate as citizens and members of their communities."

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