Our Children/Our Schools
A newsletter about New Jersey school funding and reform
       May 2007 - Issue 9
In This Issue
Internet Resources

The Garden State is a national leader in school funding equity. Yet not all New Jersey children have adequate funding or access to high quality preschool, safe facilities and other initiatives. And the State still relies too heavily on local property taxes.

Our Children/Our Schools seeks to inform the public debate on these important issues.

On April 25, the NJ Department of Education (NJDOE) held the first in a series of "stakeholder" meetings designed to lay the basis for a new school funding formula. The sessions raised a host of questions that must be answered before a proposed new formula is ready for the NJ legislature in the fall, as Governor Jon Corzine has requested. It was less clear, however, what the NJDOE's plans were for getting those answers.
At the meeting, Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy and school finance expert, John Augenblick, the consultant who assisted the NJDOE's costing out efforts, defended the DOE's report. In the question and answer session, however, stakeholders raised their concerns about a number of serious flaws and gaps.
A delegation representing the OC/OS campaign met with Commissioner Lucille Davy last month to discuss her "reorganization" of the Department of Education and related matters. It was the beginning of what OC/OS hopes will be extended dialogue with the Commissioner about the NJDOE's central role in improving educational programs and accountability throughout the state.
The Governor says he supports the "concept," but not the "execution." The Education Commissioner says it's "a label" that has led to "inequities." The president of the NJ Senate says those who depend on it "need tolearn to live with less." And the communities that need it most, worry that it will disappear. What is it? Abbott.
Updated profiles of Abbott districts that include a wealth of information on school conditions, student performance and community context are now available. The profiles, produced by the Education Law Center, compare each district with other Abbott districts and with the state of New Jersey in over 65 categories. In part the project seeks to compensate for the failure of the New Jersey Department of Education to adequately document school and social conditions in the state's poorest, urban school districts or evaluate the impact of the programs ordered by the State Supreme Court to equalize educational opportunities for urban schoolchildren.
Advocates for children attending New Jersey's urban public schools filed legal action in April asking the NJ Supreme Court to order State officials and the Legislature to provide constitutionally-required funding to restart numerous stalled construction projects and address emergency repairs threatening their health and safety. At the same time, more school construction projects were put on hold due to funding shortages at the School Construction Corporation.
New Jersey's Abbott pre-kindergarten program is among the top programs in the country, according to a new study by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. The study, titled The State of Preschool: 2006 State Preschool Yearbook, reports that the Abbott program meets nine out of ten standards on a research-based checklist of quality benchmarks. New Jersey has made remarkable progress in developing an excellent pre-k program, but significant challenges remain.
On March 19 more than 100 people attended a forum co-sponsored by OC/OS and the Public Education Institute at Rutgers Busch campus. The forum addressed different approaches to Costing Out an Adequate Education in New Jersey. Panel presentations covered the legal and political history of school funding in NJ and many of the procedural and technical issues involved in developing a formula that meets the needs of all NJ students.
The Trenton CHANGE coalition, a member of the OC/OS campaign, is building toward a "Parent Empowerment Summit" on May 19. The daylong event will be held at the War Memorial from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Guest speakers include Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund; Lenworth Gunther, author of Black Image, Flaming Tongue, The Rise of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.; and Eddie Glaude, a Tavis Smiley "disciple" and author of Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America. For more information, call (609) 656-4900, ext. 5677.
On April 5, Camden residents, students, community and business leaders and state and local education officials gathered at Brimm Medical Arts High School to participate in a forum to address the challenges facing Camden's public school system. With 180 attendees, the forum provided a platform for an exchange of diverse ideas that underscore the need for a dialogue between the community members in Special Needs Districts such as Camden and the state officials who oversee the reform efforts in those districts.
End the bickering and build schools by James H. Murphy
End delay on school funding
Urban superintendents protest heavy-handed audit tactics
Commentary on ETS "Perfect Storm" Report From Daniel Santo Pietro, Executive Director of HDANJ
May 16, Kids in Concert, annual benefit for ELC 7:30 PM State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ
May 19, The Trenton CHANGE "Parent Empowerment Summit"
May 24, Our Children/Our Schools Planning Retreat. For info contact lhirsch@edlawcenter.org.
June 6, PEI forum, Urban Schools - Public Public Will: Making Education Work for All Our Children, keynote by author and education activist Norm Fruchter

"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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