Support H.R.5193, "The Back To School Tax Relief Act"
H.R.5193, "The Back to School Tax Relief Act," provides a tax cut for low to moderate income families, allowing them to deduct up to $3000 in expenses related to elementary and secondary education in public or private schools. The legislation is currently being debated by the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington with significant opposition coming from the expected sources - the National Education Association and the public school PTA.Continuous support in the form of telephone calls, e-mails, and faxes to the members of the NJ Congressional House Delegation is necessary in order to express support for this legislation. PLEASE SEND INFO ONLY TO THE HOUSE MEMBER IN YOUR DISTRICT AND NOT TO THE TWO U.S. SENATORS. We ask you to please contact the appropriate member of the House of Representatives for your district to express your support for H.R.5193. There is a significant effort on the part of the public school lobby to "bury" this legislation by returning it to the Ways and Means Committee for further amendments.
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Failing Schools Revealed
Want to know the state of schools in your district? Check out the NJDOE website for a complete list of schools, or download a list featuring only the state's Category I and II schools.Category I schools are defined as: schools that did not achieve Adequate Yearly Progress and have an achievement gap of more than 25% in attaining the state standards in either language arts literacy or mathematics. The progress achieved by these schools demonstrates that significantly greater assistance is needed to reach full state standards.
Governor's Charter School Silence Speaks Volumes
Last week's last-minute education conference held by Governor McGreevy did little to assuage the concerns of parents whose children are enrolled in the state's public schools. Most remarkable, however, was the absence of any support for the state's Charter School community in the Governor's 20-point plan. Read the response of Sara Tantillo, Executive Director of the state's Charter Public Schools Association, HERE.Every Child Left Behind
New Jersey's compliance with the No Child Left Behind legislation is lacking at best. So much so that the state has earned a place on the Department of Education's "watch list." A recent feature in the Star-Ledger shows exactly how the state D.O.E. is thumbing its nose at the law by playing deaf, dumb, and blind.MORE
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