Where Does Governor Christie's Rainbow End?

For Immediate Release Friday, March 15, 2013

Contact: Rob Duffey, (973) 273-3363 or rob@njworkingfamilies.org

Local Activists Deliver “Pot of Gold” to Citibank to Protest Governor’s $12.3m grant

Advocates decry Citi’s layoff of 276 Englewood Cliffs Employees; lack of jobs created by Christie’s programs

Englewood – Activists representing over eighty community, labor and civic organizations delivered a ‘pot of gold’ to the Citibank branch of Englewood on Friday to protest Governor Christie’s decision to award the bank $12.3 million in taxpayer dollars even after it fired Englewood employees.

“Citibank must have the ‘luck of the Irish’ to receive $12.3 million from Chris Christie despite laying off over nearly 300 New Jerseyans,” said Rob Duffey of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. “It seems like in good times or bad this Governor always has a pot of gold ready for corporations. The problem is that there don’t seem to be any actual jobs at the end of the corporate subsidy rainbow.”

Citibank is among the many corporations that have been awarded over $2.3 billion subsidies from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) during Governor Christie’s term. It’s allowed to collect $12.3 million in income taxes from employees it moved from Wall Street to Jersey City under the terms of a 2011 Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) grant. Within months of receiving the award Citibank laid off 276 employees in Englewood Cliffs.

Protestors outlined several high-profile grants they claim are suspect. In 2011 the Christie Administration awarded British corporation Pearson Education $82 million in state subsidies to move 700 jobs from its current location in Upper Saddle River to a new facility in Hoboken. At the same time it received $50 million from New York to ship an additional 600 New Jersey jobs out of the state altogether. In 2012 Prudential was awarded $210 million through an Urban Transit Hub (UTH) tax credit to cover 400 new jobs the company said they were going to create anyway.

Speakers pointed to New Jersey’s relatively weak economy as a clear indication that tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations had failed to create the jobs the Governor promised. The state’s unemployment rate is currently 9.6%, the 4^th highest in the nation and unchanged from when Governor Christie took office amidst a global recession. In 2011 the state ranked 47^th in economic growth.

Coalition leaders maintained that these grants have come at a cost to essential services and investments that could have helped New Jersey better weather the recession and join the nation in its economic recovery.

“Chris Christie paid for his failed jobs program with cuts to investments that help people get jobs or keep the jobs they have,” said Carol Gay, President of the Industrial Union Council. “He’s slashed scholarships for college students, after-school care that lets parents work full-time, and Bergen County schools to pad big business’ bottom line.”

Speakers decried the lack of any new jobs proposal in the state budget Governor Christie unveiled last week. In his budget address Christie pointed to $547 million in business tax cuts, $257 million of which were approved during his administration.

"New Jersey has paid these corporations to keep and provide jobs, but instead were losing more jobs," said Magalye Matos, an Englewood parent. "Even worse, the Governor is paying for these corporate subsidies with cuts to education and affordable after-school care. Bergen County has been hit from all sides, and the only winners seem to be the banks and developers.”

Better Choices for New Jersey represents over 80 organizations including the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, New Jersey Communities United, New Jersey Citizen Action, and the New Jersey Policy Perspective. The campaign calls for increased investment in critical public services and long-term solutions to New Jersey’s economic crisis. Some of its revenue proposals were adopted in the budget for FY 2010.     

 



  

Over 100 employees were
let go from the Englewood
Public Schools in
2012. The positions were
abolished
and these employees
 were replaced with
independent contractors.

Special Englewood Public School District Board Meeting

ATTENTION ENGLEWOOD RESIDENTS:  A School Board Meeting that you should not miss

Monday, March 11
NOTICE OF SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING
BOARD OF EDUCATION - Special Public Meeting

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq The Open Public Meetings Act
The Board of Education of the City of Englewood 
has scheduled a Special Public Meeting on 
Monday, March 11, 2013 
in the Cafeteria at Dr. John Grieco Elementary School. 
The meeting will convene at 6:30 p.m. and immediately adjourn to closed session to discuss items permitted under the Open Public Meetings Act.
The meeting will reconvene in open session at 8:00 p.m.
The agenda of the meeting, to the extent known, is:
Approval of Preliminary 2013-2014 School Budget for Submission to the County.
Other Matters Which May Come Before the Board
Action Will Be Taken
By order of the President of the Board of Education,Maria Engeleit
Board Secretary
March 5, 2013

Regular March Board of Education Meeting
Time: 8:00 PM 
Date: Thursday, March 14
Place: Quarles Early Childhood Center

Note the timeline and the requirements mandated by the state for adoption, filing, giving notice to the public hearing about the budget and approval of the budget by the Executive County Superintendent.


FrequentlyAskedQuestions
RegardingNew School Election Law
http://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/PL2011c202FAQ.pdf


An Educated Community is the best warranty against an unresponsive, lazy and self centered School Board. Use the link below to keep up with the adoption, filing, presentation to the public and state approval of the budget that  we must vote on in the April 16, 2013 School Board Elections this year.

http://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/calendar.pdf

Have you Registered your child for Pre - K & Kindergarten?

Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten Registration for September 2013

Inscripciones Para Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten para Septembre 2013

Begins March 5, 2013 •  Empezando el 5 de Marzo 2013

Call for an Appointment • Llame para una cita   (201) 862-6212

 More information, view the attached  •  Mas informacion, ver el documento adjunto

 Pre-K,K Registration - Incripciones 2013.pdf

Register now!
The lottery has not been mentioned this year, but no announcement has been made that the lottery has been eliminated.

Next Board of Education Meeting is 

March 18th @8pm

Are You Ready to Vote For The First Time In School Board Elections?

The following is a list of sample questions for a school board candidate during a candidates forum or for use in a questionnaire.  40 questions is a lot. These are universal or generic questions and are intended to give you an idea of what you might ask a School Board Candidate. There are many more possibilities that may be more specific to Englewood.

1. Why do you want to be a school board member?

2. Have you ever run for or been elected to public office?

3. In what ways have you been of service to public education prior to your becoming a candidate for the school board?

4. In what other ways (church, clubs, service organizations) have you been involved in our community?

5. What do you see as the future role of public education in our society?

6. Describe your top three objectives if elected to the school board?

7. Please state two or three major goals you want our school district to accomplish during your term of office, and describe the steps you would take to see that those goals are achieved.
8. How would you improve learning conditions in the “high needs” schools? What kind of special training or
    preparation will teachers in these schools need?
9. What suggestions do you have for recruiting and retaining teachers and other professionals in our school
    district?
10. How do you propose to maintain the public’s confidence in the School Board?
11. To be effective, a Board member must gain support from other members for his/her issues. Explain how
    you plan to get other Board members to support your goals.
12. What are your budget priorities?
13. What role, if any, do you believe employee unions should play in school district decision making?
14. Do you support collective bargaining rights for public school employees?
15. In what ways do you find out what school district employees are thinking?
16. How much should the board seek out the views of teachers and other school district employees?
17. Board members must, at times, decide to support or to oppose controversial issues that have vocal

      supporters on both sides. What process would you use, and with whom would you consult in making such decisions?

18. Do you favor privatizing (hiring private companies or individuals to perform work currently performed by

school district employees) any school district programs or services; academic, management, or support services? Why or why not?

19. Please list your organizational affiliations, groups and/or individuals that support or endorse your candidacy for the local school board. (You may enclose campaign materials resume, or other such material if you wish.)

20. In the development of a school district budget, what goals and objectives would guide your decision-

     making?

21. The legislature recently gave school districts permission to increase the portion of school employee health

     insurance premiums that districts provide to 80% of the premium cost. Do you support increasing the

     district paid portion of employee health insurance premiums?

22. What should be the relationship of curricular and extra-curricular activities in the school district program
     and budget?

23. What are your financial priorities for the school district? (Examples: reduction in class size, improved technology in the classroom, maintaining current programs, increasing school employee compensation)

24. Describe how you would provide quality education for a diverse student population: i.e. the gifted and talented, the average student, special needs students, the physically challenged, the academically challenged, English language learners, and cultural differences?

25. What is your view on charter schools? What role should the local school board play in approving charter schools?

26. What role do you think public schools should play in ensuring that girls and women are given full

     opportunity to achieve educational excellence?

27. What is your philosophy regarding the increased emphasis on testing to a standards-based curriculum?

28. What are your views on the role of religion in the public schools?

29. Should the teaching of creationism play a role in the public schools?

30. Do you favor abstinence-based sex education that urges children to abstain from sex, but also discusses birth control issues, or do you favor an abstinence-only education?

31. How do you respond to a parent, who wants the district to limit access to or remove books form the school library or classroom?

32. What is your position regarding vouchers? Do you believe that public money should be spent on private and religious schools and why? If you support vouchers, how can you justify seeking to be a member of a public school board?

33. Legislation establishes state policy. To what extent would you like to be involved in legislative activity?
34. What do you believe your relationship should be to local, city, and county officials? How should the
      board achieve this?
35. Do you believe the school board members should be involved in the day-to-day administrative decisions
    of the school district, or would you prefer to be involved in policy decisions, leaving management to the managers?
36. What is the most important role of the superintendent?

37. How important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent? If important, how would you achieve this?

38. Describe the type of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members?

39. Are you educating or did you educate your child in public school, private school, or other alternative education?

40. What public or private organizations have endorsed you and/or contributed to your campaign?