The NJASA Leadership Team Works Harder to Make it Happen for Education

(left to right top row) NJASA Executive Director Richard G. Bozza, Ed.D.; NJASA Secretary Andrew Rinko, Ed.D., Superintendent, Bedminster; and NJASA Treasurer Donna B. Van Horn, Ed.D., Chief School Administrator, Weymouth Twp.; (left to right front row) NJASA President Douglas B. Groff, Superintendent, Galloway Twp.; NJASA President-Elect Judith Ann Rattner, Superintendent, Berkeley Heights; and NJASA Past President Kenneth D. King, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, East Orange

The New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA) is an organization of professional educational leaders dedicated to the advocacy of school children in the Garden State. NJASA represents 593 operating school districts in New Jersey’s 21 counties. The Association’s membership includes: Chief Education Officers – who are the districts’ superintendents running one of the biggest organizations in town, 24-hours a day, seven days a week – and school administrators.

NJASA is pleased to introduce the members of the Association’s 2009-2010 Leadership Team. They are:

NJASA President Douglas B. Groff, Superintendent, Galloway Twp.;

Groff, an exceptional professional, was instrumental in the implementation of a full-day kindergarten program in the Galloway Twp. Public Schools.

NJASA President-Elect Judith Ann Rattner, Superintendent, Berkeley Heights;

Rattner, an experienced field superintendent, put into action an array of innovative curriculum programs in the Berkeley Heights District.

NJASA Secretary Andrew Rinko, Ed.D., Superintendent, Bedminster;

Rinko is a results-oriented school leader and prides himself on a remarkable record of improving student achievement in the Bedminster District.

NJASA Treasurer Donna B. Van Horn, Ed.D., Chief School Administrator, Weymouth Twp.;

Van Horn, a Lehigh University graduate, has successfully secured more than 25 grant awards, including the very competitive Technology for Teaching Grant from Hewlett-Packard, for the Weymouth Twp. School District.

NJASA Past President Kenneth D. King, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, East Orange; and

King, an Eagle Scout, implemented a new automated substitute teacher system to improve the learning environment for the students of the East Orange Public Schools.

NJASA Executive Director Richard G. Bozza, Ed.D.

The NJASA Leadership Team, as the elected representatives of the NJASA membership, will support the common goal of improving the high quality of education that New Jersey’s children receive and will demonstrate determination and resourcefulness in their efforts as they work harder to move education forward through instructional leadership.

Connect with the NJASA on Facebook and LinkedIn

The NJASA is pleased to announce that we are now on both Facebook and LinkedIn.

We have created Facebook and LinkedIn group pages to better represent and serve our organization. Both social media outlets will allow group members to view our media content, exchange thoughts, and comment on a variety of topics relating to chief education officers and education, just to name a few.

With the explosion of social networking on the Internet, it’s important that the NJASA address the communication preferences of its members and adopt technologies, services, and applications that they use to connect and share information – this is our way of moving education forward.

The prominence of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube has given us the ability to introduce our organization in new format to the media, elected officials, and public.

You will need to have a Facebook account to view the NJASA Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile to participate in the NJASA LinkedIn group. To get started, simply click on the links below and follow the prompts.


LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1994005


Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/r.php?page_id=99599986174&r=111&locale=en_US

New Jersey’s Budget - Reasons to be Pessimistic

On Monday, Governor Jon Corzine signed his $29 billion state budget that lays out how the state will spend taxpayer dollars over the next year. The budget leaves many to question the future of our state, especially the fiscal footing of the education community. Press reports place the structural deficit for the following year’s budget at $6 to $10 billion due to the non-recurring revenues contained in the newly adopted budget.

Not all was washed with the Governor’s budget; the NJASA is pleased to see that there will be an increase of $374 million in direct aid for K-12 school districts - $74 million more than proposed during the Governor’s March budget address.

However, the NJASA is disappointed that many districts scheduled to receive up to a 20% increase in aid under the new funding formula were capped at 5%. Also disappointing is the cut of direct state aid in the amount of $31million to New Jersey’s municipalities. This is a 2% decrease from last year’s spending levels – 2% that now needs to be addressed by local communities and their taxpayers.

Nothing has changed from the Governor’s State-of-the-State address with his use of the public pension system as a vehicle to control the state’s run-away expenses – he did so by deferring $940 million in pension payments, with $560 million being directly related to school employee pensions.

The NJASA has been strongly opposed to this type of shell game, a maneuver that has been passed down from other administrations. As we stated previously, the pension payment deficit is nothing more than a near-sighted solution to a far-sighted problem.

We are pleased to see the use of federal monies from the stimulus package being utilized to stabilize education funding. Yes, we recognize that this is a one-time solution that was necessary to prevent large local tax increases or much deeper cuts in school board budgets. We remain hopeful that the state and national economies recover sufficiently during the upcoming year to generate the needed state income to fully support the schools funding formula.

The leadership of NJASA will continue to work with our elected officials to assist them with creating and implementing sound education policy that will lead to an effective and efficient system of New Jersey public schools.