MOVING SCHOOL ELECTIONS/ELIMINATING BUDGET VOTE: S-3148 (Norcross) would establish procedures for districts, municipalities, or voters to opt to move their annual school election to November. A district that moves its annual school election to November would not require voter approval for its base budget if the budget is under the 2% cap. Districts would still need to seek voter approval for spending that exceeds the cap at the November election. According to the bill, municipalities may move their school elections from April to the November general election by a resolution by the governing body of the municipality; a resolution by the municipality's board of education; or a petition signed by 15 percent of the legally qualified voters who voted in the immediately preceding presidential election is filed with the municipality's board of education. Towns that successfully move their school elections to November will not be permitted to move their election back to the third Tuesday in April until at least four school elections have been held in November. For limited purpose regional school districts, each of the constituent local school districts must approve moving the election to November. NJEA supported this bill which was released by the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee. It now moves to a vote by the full Senate.
PENALTIES FOR ILLEGALLY PASSING A SCHOOL BUS: S-400 (Singer, Allen) passed in the Senate Budget and Appropriation Committee today and now moves to the Senate floor. This legislation, initiated by NJEA, would increase the fines assessed for illegally passing a school bus from the current fine of $100 for a first offense to $200 and the current fine of $250 to $500 for second or subsequent violations.
Requires DOE to include cheerleaders in the student-athlete head injury safety program: A-4008 (Coutinho)/S-3053 (Ruiz) passed the Senate 36-0 and goes to the Governor. NJEA supported this bill. This bill amends the 2010 law which required the Department of Education to develop and implement an interscholastic athletic head injury safety program on the recognition of the symptoms of head injuries. The 2010 law which we supported did not include the very physical sport of cheerleading.
Resolution to implement baseline cognitive testing program: AR-85 (Diegnan, Giblin, Coughlin, Voss, Jasey)/SR-74 (Codey) NJEA supported this resolution that passed the Assembly 71-0 and the Senate on a voice vote. This resolution urges school districts to implement baseline cognitive testing programs for student athletes and cheerleaders. A baseline or pre-season cognitive test is a pre-injury measurement of an athlete’s cognitive function. It’s vital in determining the cognitive ability of an athlete before an injury to compare their cognitive ability after the injury.
The "Safe Playing Fields Act": S-2610 ScaScaSa (3R) (Turner, Gordon) passed the Senate today and was combined with A-3782 Acs (Wagner, Voss) which passed out of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee and will go the Assembly floor for a vote. NJEA supported this bill which would prohibit the use of lawn care pesticides on the grounds of any school, except as an emergency response to an immediate threat to human health, as determined by school officials, in consultation with the local health officer, and would additionally prohibit the use of lawn care pesticides on playgrounds and recreational fields. The bill defines a “lawn care pesticide” as any pesticide labeled, designed, or intended for use on lawns, gardens, turf or ornamental plantings. Under the bill, a “school” includes both public and private schools and applies to all schools under college grade. A-3782 Acs was combined in the committee meeting with a similar bill NJEA supported, A-3621 (Quijano, McKeon).
NJ STARS and NJ STARS II PROGRAM A-4283 (Lampitt, Diegnan) which revises the NJ STARS and NJ STARS II program, was amended on the Assembly floor and will have a 2nd reading in the Assembly (not scheduled). NJEA did not have a position on this bill as we are still reviewing the bill. The bill makes a number of revisions to the NJ STARS and NJ STARS II programs. It changes the NJ STARS program, limiting coverage to only the cost of tuition (not the cost of tuition and fees), and encouraging county colleges to host an annual recruitment day and invite representatives from each State four year public and independent institution in order to offer an opportunity to recruit students for the NJ STARS II Program. In the case of the NJ STARS II Program, students will be permitted to use the scholarship to attend a New Jersey independent four-year institution of higher education, where as currently the program applies to only four-year public institutions. Finally other revisions to NJ STARS II include: the elimination of the provision that calculated the amount of the scholarship based on the student’s GPA; and the cost of the scholarship, which would be paid 100% by the State, not 50% by the State and 50% by the institution of higher education as provided under current law.
Aviation programs: S-536 (Kean)/S-1720 (Van Drew) would allow county colleges and vocational school districts to establish aviation-related job certification and programs, providing a tax credit to corporations which donate money to establish these programs. NJEA supported this bill, which passed the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee and is now on second reading in the Senate. These two bills were combined when they passed the Senate Education Committee.
INVESTMENTS: S-3064 (Sarlo)/A-4363 (Coutinho) authorizes the Director of the Division of Investment to use an unspecified portion of the assets in the public employee retirement funds to make venture capital investments in private New Jersey businesses. Under the provisions of the bill and existing state law, the director must act as a fiduciary, which means any investment must be made for the exclusive purpose of providing financial benefits to the beneficiaries of the funds and that the expected returns are commensurate with the risks associated with the investments. NJEA did not take a position on this legislation. The bill has passed in both houses and has been sent to the Governor for his signature.
SPECIAL EDUCATION TASK FORCE: S-2635 (Beck, Kean, S.) NJEA supported this bill, which passed the full Senate on December 15 by a vote of 39-0. This bill creates the “Task Force on Improving Special Education for Public School Students,” which is charged with studying various issues related to improving the funding, delivery, and effectiveness of special education programs and services. Under the bill, the task force will examine issues such as the evaluation of practices for classifying students; the development of best practices; strategies to reduce the costs of special education placement in out-of-district public or private schools, including the development of in-district special education programs and services; and, the development of standards and appropriate oversight to ensure that programs and services address the needs of students. The task force will consist of 17 members as follows: the Commissioner of Education and 16 members appointed by the Governor, including one representative from NJEA. The task force is to present its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Legislature, the State Board of Education, and the Commissioner of Education no later than 180 days following its organizational meeting. The bill now goes to the Assembly, where it has been referred to the Assembly Education Committee. (SH)