ll gpcp may 04202015

May 2015 CHARTER SCHOOL STUDY UPDATE EDITION [email protected]

The Newsletter of the League of Women Voters Teaneck, NJ

League Lines May 2015 p.1

LWV Teaneck CALENDAR Friday, May 1, 2015: Convention Cocktail Reception. Making Democracy Work Awards

Saturday, May 2: LWVNJ State 61st Bien-nial Convention. 8-4. The Convention will commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. $95.00

Thursday, May 7 Money in Politics T10AM Leonia Library 227 Fort Lee Road.

Monday, May 11: LWVT Board Meeting, 7:30 PM Shirley Soslands house

Thursday, June 4: 63rdAnnual Membership Meeting

Saturday, June 13 & Sunday, June 14 LWVT Garage Sale

League Lines May 2015 In This Issue: Calendar...1 Annual Membership Meeting ...1,7 Garage Sale...1 Education: New ESEA ...2 Board of Education Report ...2 Town Watch: Three Minute Limit ...3 LWVNJ Convention...4 LWVNJ Charter Consensus News ...4 LWV News Clips US ...5 Womens History Quiz ...6

Contributors to this issue: Patricia OBrien Libutti, Editor Naomi Cramer Margot Embree Fisher Arlene Gartenberg Barbara Ostroth

League of Women Voters of Teaneck Blog: http://lwvteaneck.blogspot.com

League of Women Voters of Teaneck, 2015

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Marjorie Hirshbergs home $25 Dinner

Deadline: May 20

League of Women Voters of Teaneck

63rd Annual Meeting & Dinner

When you are springcleaning and sorting your stuff think Garage Sale! in Doriss driveway with a price tag on it .

Also select your baking recipes to use that weekend to sell. More information will arrive in your mailbox about do-nations and scheduling. We need all members to help so this is a successful fundraiser to support LWVT operating expenses!

LWVNJ 61st Biennial Program Planning & CHARTER CONSENSUS POSITION Page 4

Please join in our 63rd annual dinner and meeting. A delicious dinner will be catered from Jerry's Gourmet of Englewood. We will have the opportunity to socialize with League members and guests interested in the work of the League. Following the dinner, we will have our annual meeting, where we will hear highlights of ouraccomplishments this past year and information on where we will direct our efforts

LWVT Baked Goods

SAVE THE DATE! LWVT

GARAGE SALEJune 13 & 14

League Lines

League Lines March 2015 p. 2

TEANECK BOARD OF EDUCATION

A number of serious issues have been under discussion during the last two months.

1. The budget. The preliminary budget for 2015-2016 approved at the last public meet-ing contains a 4.25% tax levy hike (2% allowed increase plus 2.25% in banked cap all that we have).

Despite these increases, we are also facing layoffs/RIFs of 10 teachers and 3 administrative staff, plus outsourcing of 39 instructional parapro-fessionals and 42 lunch paraprofessionals, with some minor cuts in athletics and extracurriculars and elimination of courtesy busing.

The plan to consolidate non-public bus stops to several locations is likely dead, given that the superintendent and the police both feel this is un-safe. The next workshop on April 1st should have some lively discussion before final decisions are made. This years budget is only a prelude to next years, given that there is no more banked cap and essentially no excess fund balance, plus the next set of contract negotiations are going to be difficult, given that the Board must make some major alterations in employee benefits packages. 2. Common Core/PARCC. While these are usually considered together, they should be separate issues. Most of the Board views Com-mon Core instruction as a good thing, in that in sets standards and raises the educational bar. PARCC, the extensive state testing program to determine if Common Core is working, is an-other issue. The teachers remain only grudgingly engaged in Common Core, and most are actively opposed to PARCC. 3. The charter school applied for an increase in their enrollment, which will cost the district another chunk of cash. Recently, the increased enrollment has been denied by the state, which will help on this years budget. Town Council chose to pass a last-minute resolution this past (contd p.3)

Reauthorization of Federal Education Act

Rare news of political bipartisanship came from DC this month, as Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and RPatty Murray (D-Wash.) announced agreement on reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (EASA), currently called No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The new legislation is called The Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. Alexan-der said that the new legislation is aimed at fixing key weaknesses in NCLB:

Basically, our agreement continues important measurements of the academic progress of students but restores to states, local school districts, teachers, and parents the responsi-bility for deciding what to do about improving student achievement. This should produce fewer and more appropriate tests.

The bipartisan bill negates almost all of the Obama administrations Race to the Top educa-tion initiatives, stating that the federal government cannot force states to enact punitive accountabil-ity programs. President Obama has made it clear that he would veto any bill that did not include annual testing; The act maintains annual testing requirements. It strips away the federal sanctions and unfunded mandates that have proven burden-some to public school districts across the nation.

States and school districts would have more authority to decide how to use standardized test scores. The federal government would be prohib-ited from dictating how to reform low-performing schools. States will be free to decide what academic standardsincluding Common Corethey will maintain in their states.

The act also preserves one of the most success-ful provisions of NCLB: the reporting requirement of disaggregated data on student achievement, which breaks down scores according to demo-graphic categories.

A draft of the proposed Every Child Achieves 2015 legislation can be viewed online or down-loaded as a .pdf file from www.help.senate.gov

--Margot Fisher, Director, Education

Board of the League of Women Voters Teaneck, NJ 2015-201

Vice President, Program: Arlene Gartenberg

Vice Presidents, Voters Services Shirley Sosland & Barbara Ostroth

Secretary: Joyce Jacobs

Treasurer & Membership: Louise WilliamsDirectors, Womens History: Janet Austin

& Patricia OBrien Libutti

Director, Observer Corps Naomi Cramer

Director, Education: Margot Embree Fisher

Director, Advocacy: Doris Long Thurber

Editor, League Lines & LWV Teaneck Blog: Patricia OBrien Libutti


TOWN WATCH May 2015 Limiting Time Is Not the Answer from article in Teaneck Suburbanite 3/19

Our Town Council majority chooses not to meet often enough to fully deliberate about Town-ship issues . Scheduled meetings went from 45 meetings in 2007 to 24 scheduled for 2015. They do not hold workshops, held by most towns, for thoughtful discussion of issues before presentation at regular Council meetings requir-ing more time to be spent at Council meetings.

And now the majority) have introduced an ordi-nance to cut time the public can share thoughts about Township issues from 5 to 3 minutes, stating that they don't have time to hear from us.

However, only a few who speak at Good and Welfare take a full 5 minutes, adding only about 10 minutes to the meeting. If someone speaks on one uncomplicated issue 3 minutes is enough. But for more complicated issues and for those with thoughts about more than one is-sue, 3 minutes is not sufficient for the educated electorate or public input from people presenting different points of view. Social science research indicates that allowing for different points of view makes for better decision making.

week that urges the state to overturn their deci-sion, without Board input. 4. There are no major policy initiatives that I know of, although the Board is once again re-viewing the policy for extracurricular activities to consider instituting charging per pupil for partici-pation in athletics and clubs. 5. The Board fortunately doesnt have to take away any April vacation days because of school cancellations this past winter. This is due to a number of days with delayed openings instead. 6. The Business Administrator position is about to be advertised (an interim is in place); the Special Ed Supervisor position remains unfilled.

---Barbara Ostroth, Observer Corps

Council meetings are currently organized with the beginning like a workshop. However, rather than allowing full discussion, this part of the meeting is often rushed - the Mayor pushing things along so regular business can be com-pleted by 11 pm. If they held one workshop a month, their time issues, as they see them, could be resolved and give them more time to hear the public and to completely and publicly share ideas on township issues. People deserve Council-member's attention and response to comments.

The proposed ordinance also limits each Coun-cil member's G&W response to 3 minutes. If many speak, there is not enough Councilmem-ber time to respond to everyone. So with the new ordinance both resident and Council speech is unnecessarily curtailed.

Postscript: At the Council meeting on March 24, the majority passed an ordinance limiting public and Council speech at meetings ---Naomi Cramer, Director,Observer Corps

LWV ILO Bergen County News

Members! A Must -Go-To:Money in Politics. Thursday, May 7 10 AM Leonia Library 227 Fort Lee Road. The history of money and political campaigns and where we are today. Sponsored by LWVNV.

Watch for the LWV ILO Bergen Nonpartisan Policy on LWV Teaneck blog soon.


Charter Schools 2000, Update 2015

The original LWVNJ position statement (2000), supports the intent of the 1995 legislation that es-tablished charter schools as a means to encourage innovation within local public schools. However, that support came with qualifications; furthermore, the educational landscape has changed substan-tially over the past 15 years.

The study materials included: 1) accountability, including school governance, student achievement, and communication of innovative practices and curricula to the district public schools; 2) the role of district residents in charter approval; 3) what or-ganizations should be allowed to authorize charter schools; 4) full-time virtual charter schools; and 5) oversight of educational management organiza-tions in the operation of charter schools.

The LWVNJ Education formed the position from the consensus of 26 leagues, (816 members). The study materials on the areas listed above were developed by the committee.The full position is available at: http://lwvnj.org/images/issues/char-terschools_update-2015.pdf. Or try the front page: lwvnj.org and select item from right hand side.

State League Program Planning: Current Positions The League of Women Voters of New Jersey (LWVNJ) Board of Directors recommends retaining all current positions for the 2015-2017 biennium.

LWV NJ News Charter Update Consensus Position & LWVNJ Program Items for 2015-2017

Caucus: Federal Role in Public Education, LWVNJ Education Committee and participants

The Boards decision to retain all positions was based on responses from 24 local Leagues.

Recommended Studies Sexual Assault on College Campuses (LWV of Morristown Area )How best to respond to sexual assault on college campuses. Redistrict-ing (Camden County). Investigate the current system for redistricting at both federal and state levels in New Jersey.

Other studies proposedThe effects of hydrofracking on New Jerseys environment, as well as Risks associated with storing and transporting hydrofracking waste in and via New Jersey. (LWV of Sussex Highlands)

Non-recommended but eligible for vote at Convention Alternatives to incarceration for low level crimes (LWV of Morristown Area.) Nuclear waste is-sues. (LWV of Ocean County ILO).

Position ConcurrenceThe LWVNJ Board of Directors recommends concurrence with the following Coastal Zone policy posi-tion adopted by the League of Women Vot-ers of Delaware:Coastal Zone - Support for Coastal Zone planning which consid-ers the best possible outcome forpeople, the land and the coastal environment.

---Patricia OBrien Libutti, Editor, League Lines


DEFENDING THE ENVIRONMENT

The League of Women Voters has been at the forefront of the environmental protection movement for decades, consistently supporting legislation to preserve our nations natural resources and protect our public health.

We support legislation that seeks to protect our coun-try from the physical, economic and public health effects of climate change while also providing path-ways to economic prosperity.

More: http://lwv.org/issues/defending-environment

League Asks U.S. Representatives and Senators to cosponsor "Frack Pack" Bills.

The League signed on to a letter asking U.S. Sena-tors and Representatives to co-sponsor legislation that would help protect the environment and public health from the risks of oil and gas production includ-ing hydraulic fracturing. The set of bills is commonly referred to as the "Frack Pack."

More: http://lwv.org/content/league-asks-us-representa-tives-and-senators-cosponsor-frack-pack-bills

League Joins letter to EPA regarding Ozone Standards. The League joined over eighty-five 85+ environment groups, public health advocates, labor allies, environmental justice and civil rights organizations and faith groups in support of revising the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone to a level of 60 parts per billion (ppb). More: http://lwv.org/content/league-joins-letter-epa-re-garding-ozone-standards

Reports from the LWV site

Voter photo identification was NOT required at the Wisconsin polls on April 7. On Monday, the U.S. Su-preme Court dealt a big blow to voters in Wisconsin. The Court refused to hear a challenge to the states voter photo ID law, one of the strictest laws of its kind in the country. The Wisconsin law allows for only eight forms of acceptable identification; a Veterans Admin-istration identification card does not meet the states requirements. More: http://lwv.org/blog/us-supreme-court-chooses-not-address-wisconsin-voter-photo-id-law

In Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe honored his promise to citizens of his state and protected voting rights by vetoing a bill that would have imposed voter photo ID requirements on absentee voters. More: http://www.nbc29.com/story/28634502/gov-mcauliffe-announces-his-response-to-va-bills. (HB 1338)

In Ohio, Governor John Kasich used his line-item veto to kill a provision that would have required out-of-state college students who registered to vote in Ohio to also obtain an Ohio drivers license and vehicle registration in order to vote. More: http://www.dispatch.com/con-tent/stories/local/2015/04/01/ohio-transportation-bill.html

The Georgia League and its partners rallied at the Capitol on what turned out to be one of the coldest days of the winter and action alerts were regularly dropping into email boxes of members and supporters throughout the session. The Georgia General Assem-bly had a bill cutting early voting from 21 days to 12 days with no weekend voting opportunities.

It had failed to cross over from one house to the other just a few weeks before. But Thursday at midnight the legislature was gaveled out of session and legislators went home without doing further damage to elec-tions in Georgia.More: http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/04/03/early-voting-laws-narrowly-escape-sine-die-intact/

Links were checked in Google. Plase let me know of any dead links at [email protected]

League Connections

League of Women Voters of US -http://www.lwv.org

League of Women Voters of NJ http://www.lwvnj.org

LWV Bergen County http://www.lwvbergen.org

Sources: LWVUS site: www.lwv.org

DEFENDING THE VOTE

LWV US News Clips

---Patricia OBrien Libutti, Editor, League Lines


Womens History Month was celebrated by LWVT on March 2 with a discussion on landmark legislation supported by the LWV. This short quiz was used to obtain a LAQ (Legislation Awareness Quotient.) See how you do with the questions. Janet Austin and Pat Libutti, Co-Chairs, Womens History, look forward to more discussions of this type in 2016.

National Women's History Month Quiz

Read each question and choose the best possible answer.

Above: Clue for Question 101. What Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave womenthe right to vote? A) 17th B) 18th C)19th D) 20th

2. In what month do we celebrate National Women's History Month? A) March B) April C) June D) December 3. What state was the very first to adapt the Amendment giving women the right to vote? A) New Mexico B) Colorado C) Vermont D) Idaho 4. In what year did Congress pass the Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than a man for doing the same job? A) 1952 B) 1970 C) 1963 D) 1924

5. What was the first country in the world adopt womens suffrage? A) New Zealand B) Nor-way C) Denmark D) Canada 6. In 1994, the Violence Against Women Act did what? A) Tightened penalties against sex offenders B) Funded services for victimes of rape and domestic violence, C) Provided special training for police officers D) All of the above 7. The Roe vs. Wade case allowed the Supreme Court to establish what? A) A womans right to a safe and legal abortion B) Better working conditions for employees C) A womans right to own property D) A set of rights in conjunction with divorce proceedings. 8. What was the name given to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guaranteed womens right to vote in the United States. A) Abigail Adams Amendment B). Sojourner Truth Amendment C) Susan B. Anthony Amendment D) Gloria Steinem Amendment 9. How many poems of Emily Dickinson were published during her lifetime? A) 0 B) 6 C) 391 D) 12

10. What First Lady said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" ? A) Nancy Regan B) Mamie Eisenhower C) Eleanor Roosevelt D. Dolly Madison.

ANSWERS: 1. 19th (C) 2. March (A) 3. Colorado (C) 4. 1963 (C) 5. New Zealand (A) 6. All (D) 7. Abortion (A) 8. Susan B. Anthony (C) 9. 6 (B) 10. Eleanor Roosevelt (C)


63rd Annual Meeting & Dinner

Celebrate the

LWVT Year!

NJ Consensus on ChartersWomens History Discussion Sponsorship of TIFF movie WadjdaGarage SaleSwearing in of new citizens at New Bridge Voter registration and more...

Thursday, June 4, 2015 at Margorie Hirshbergs home

6 PM Dinner 8 PM Business Meeting

Cost: $25

Deadline for reservations: May 20, 2015

Make your check payable to:


Mail your check to Louise Williams

Come to the 63rd Annual Membership

Meeting

Highlights of2014-2015


ll gpcp may 04202015

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