FW: Save Our Schools New Jersey

[Guest guest]

Dear Community Members,

We wanted to pass this on to the community regarding a grass roots

organization called SOS-NJ.

The month of January is especially critical for SOS-NJ because the bill that

is being drafted by our group and supported by our Assemblyman Diegnan,

regarding accountability and transparency of Charter schools, will be in

hearings. There is also an additional piece of legislation we are drafting

that would allow any community that would be served by a charter school, the

right to hold a referendum vote regarding the opening or expansion of a

charter school. It will be critical that we show grass roots support for

this cause by writing letters, attending hearings in Trenton if possible,

and making calls to our state representatives. After January and the

charter bill legislation, SOS-NJ has further agendas regarding budgets and

state funding that we will begin to address. This is just the start for an

organization that I believe in, and believe can make a big difference.

As the organizer for East Brunswick, I am asking for your help and support.

Parents, teachers and administrators of public schools are one of the best

audiences to ask for support. In the next few weeks, I would like to be

able to reach as many of your parents, teachers, and administrators as

possible. I would be happy to speak briefly at PTA meetings - or any other

gathering of faculty and parents you may have planned. I would be grateful

if you have any kind of email blasts, newsletters, or form of mass

communication to your community, that you could include a brief bit of

information regarding SOS-NJ and my contact information. And finally, as a

start, if you have not already done so, it would be wonderful to add your

names to the list of supporters through our web site (below). This web site

does not send out emails on a regular basis but will be used to mobilize

support at a few critical junctures along our journey. In other words, we

will not flood your in box. The link is:

http://saveourschoolsnj.org <http://saveourschoolsnj.org/>

I have attached the one page description of our mission which also includes

the web site link at the bottom. Please feel free to share this widely,

starting perhaps with the executive committees of your PTAs and principal.

If I can provide any further information or clarification, please feel free

to contact me.

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Deborah Cornavaca

732 432-9028

732 692-3860

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS NEW JERSEY (SOSnj)

http://SaveOurSchoolsNJ.org

New Jersey's excellent public schools are under a political attack that will

destroy them. You have the power to stop this destruction by speaking up.

What is at stake goes beyond the quality of our children's education. New

Jersey's public school system is consistently ranked as one of the top three

nationally. Great public schools are what draw people to New Jersey and are

critical for maintaining the state's economy and property values.

ASSAULT ON NEW JERSEY'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The assault on our schools began in February of 2010, when the state

confiscated $475 million that school districts around the state had set

aside for necessary capital improvements. The 2010-2011 state budget cut an

additional $820 million from the state's schools. The 2 percent property

tax cap that goes into effect in 2011 prevents school districts from making

up these budget cuts, even as the proposed " tool kit " does little to contain

the rising costs facing those districts.

While the full impact of these draconian budget cuts is yet to be fully

realized, school districts around the state have already been forced to lay

off teachers and dramatically increase class sizes; eliminate art, music,

language, and extracurricular programs; and cut the transportation necessary

to insure our children's safety. And, the 2011-2012 state budget is sure to

bring additional cuts.

Beyond being starved financially, the schools are facing an onslaught of

legislative and executive actions, designed to impose destructive

regulations, waste our tax dollars, and take away local control such as:

* Unaccountable charter school expansion that depletes local school

budgets

* Siphoning off of public funds for private and religious school

vouchers

The experiences of other states demonstrate consistently that these actions

would undermine our public schools.

WHO WE ARE

Save Our Schools New Jersey (SOSnj) is a nonpartisan, grassroots

organization of parents and other concerned residents who believe that all

New Jersey children should have access to a high quality public education.

Our group initially formed in 2010 - during the state budget cuts - when a

group of parents created a successful phone bank to ensure the passage of

our local school budget. It quickly became clear that it will take many

voices for a sustained period of time to ensure that our children's

education is not compromised to political and ideological objectives. Thus,

what was an ad hoc movement has grown into Save Our Schools NJ.

SOSnj's goals are to preserve and protect New Jersey's public schools by:

* Establishing a statewide network of individuals willing to let the

legislature know they support the state's public schools.

* Keeping the community at large and our legislators informed about

issues and legislation that directly affect our children's education, both

locally and at the state level.

OUR POLICY AGENDA

We oppose legislative and regulatory actions that threaten the health of

NJ's public schools:

1. draconian cuts to the state's education budget

2. reductions in state resources that support high-quality education in

low-income districts

3. unaccountable expansion of charter schools

4. publicly funded vouchers to pay for private and religious education

WHAT CAN YOU DO

If you want to help protect New Jersey's public schools:

* Sign up on our web site http://saveourschoolsnj.org

<http://saveourschoolsnj.org/> to receive critical action alerts

* Encourage your friends to sign up -- the more legislative

districts represented by SOSnj, the better we can protect New Jersey's

public schools.