NJ Student Advocacy
Union
Founding Statement and Membership Form
Join Now
FAQ: What We Need: A
Parent – Student Advocacy Union!
Call
for Inclusive, Collaborative and Democratic Board of Education Special Education
Code Hearing Process
MS Word 2000 Printable Hand Outs:
Founding Statement /
FAQ: What We Need
Action Alerts: Call On Corzine to
Accept Petition / Mobilize for May 17 /
IDEIA 2004 Petition
Student
Advocacy: A Call to Union
We call upon parents, guardians, students, advocates, other family members and supporters of students with disabilities and all who face adversity in New Jersey public schools due to racial, economic or other disparities. In recent months, we have been engaged in a mounting conflict with the NJ Department of Education and now with the New Jersey Board of Education, to uphold rights and protections of children with disabilities and their parents and guardians. We now come together to call for the formation a new organization, The NJ Student Advocacy Union, to carry forth this a political struggle on behalf of our children and their advocates.
We are forming this parent/student union to carry this movement forward in a
more organized and unified way, and to empower parents to improve our potential
for success around the issues outlined in the 2000 strong IDEIA 2004 petition
that has been organized through The Student Advocate Website
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org and The New Jersey Student Advocate newspaper.
We will also press for emergency action to eliminate racial disparities in
special education in New Jersey and to address language related special
education issues including the lack of adequate communication in Spanish and
other languages by the Office of Special Education.
We need to raise our voices in unity to
make sure that our children's education provides the life skills needed to
produce a healthy, strong-minded and complete individual --ready to meet all
challenges and successes of life.
We the undersigned believe that in order to carry this effort forward with
maximum effectiveness, we need to organize a new body that is completely
independent from the New Jersey Department of Education, from local and county
school districts, does not receive nor seek funds from any government body or
agency and is not defined as a 501C3 non-profit agency. This organizational
structure is important for our new Union as it will ensure us the independence
and autonomy to address our issues of concern with full political freedom.
Our formation of a parent/student advocate union is not meant as a critique of other existing organizations. There are many organizations in the state of New Jersey and in our local communities that do tremendous work on behalf of students and families. However, either due to their governmental funding or their non-profit status many groups are legally restricted from certain types of political action that are integral parts of our effort, including taking a position on electoral issues. With regard to organizations connected to local districts, most of these are either unwilling or unable to take a position on an issue related to IDEIA 2004 and how it is implemented in New Jersey that is at odds with their district’s position. Many of NJ’s non-profit education and disability advocacy organizations have not addressed the issue of how IDEIA 2004 is addressed in New Jersey.
On the other hand, there are organizations that are addressing these issues. Our goal will be to unite with such organizations whenever possible and at the same time to pursue all avenues at our disposal to further our goals. To that end, we will seek as much unity as possible to enable our communities to pursue these other means of advocacy and political participation that many important organizations are unable to due to their funding and their legal definition.
FIRST STEPS
We will adopt the furtherance of the IDEIA 2004 petition at The Student Advocate Website and the related letter and testimony drive as a priority. We are launching a drive to urge Governor Corzine to personally meet with and accept the petition from a delegation of special education parents.
We call for a public mobilization for the May 17 IDEIA 2004 hearing, not only to testify but for a rally outside the hearing rooms.
We are continuing the media outreach effort that so successfully mobilized
articles in 7 NJ daily newspapers after the rally outside the January 18 Board
of Education hearings.
We will continue efforts to overhaul the way the NJ Board of Education arranges
hearings. We call for regional hearings, a registration period that goes right
up to at least the day before scheduled hearings, and hearings to be held in the
evening and on Saturday’s instead of during the work day at the precise time
that students get out of school. We are also looking into the terms of current
board members with an eye on pressuring the Corzine Administration to appoint
only prospective members who support a more open hearing process and who support
the rights and protections of children with disabilities.
We will utilize The Student Advocate Website http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org and the NJ Student Advocate newspaper as vehicles to communicate with as broad a grass roots base as is possible.
OUR METHODS
The most fundamental principal of The New Jersey Student Advocacy Union is to organize parents to publicly speak out, demonstrate, testify, and if need be march and vote for the best interests of our students. We will do our best to communicate developments as widely as possible around issues of concern to our students and continue to propose courses of action. We will invite other like-minded organizations to work with us and we will support initiatives of other groups when they are consistent with our goals.
We also promote active engagement of the families and supporters of NJ’s 225,000 special education students and public pronouncement of our positions. We aim to empower parents to get over their fears of speaking out so that we can be much more effective in communicating massive opposition to the demise of rights and protections for students with disabilities and their families.
We also believe in the fundamental ability of communities to overcome any and all obstacles through unified and cooperative efforts, open dialogue, active opposition to oppressive policies and a willingness to take risks – to take the steps that prove necessary to overcome those obstacles.
At the local level – we support the creation of watchdog organizations that monitor and speak out on behalf of special education students to the administration and when need be at board meetings. We also support the idea of electing special education parents and special education friendly candidates to local school boards.
FUNDING
The NJ Student Advocacy Union will be financed by membership dues and donations. Suggested membership dues at founding are $40 per individual or family for one year with a sliding scale – those who can afford more should donate what they can and those who could afford less should donate less. Donations would be welcome from other organizations and from non-members but without any strings attached. Dues paying members will have rights to vote on decisions.
DECISIONS
We will decide major decisions by membership vote. Day to day decisions will be carried forward by an all volunteer steering committee body with a steering committee chair and / or co-chair(s).
CHAPTER AND AFFILIATION
Any organization that is agreement with our principles, is not receiving nor
seeking government funds, is not 501C3 defined and is not linked to a local
school district can affiliate or become a chapter of The New Jersey Student
Advocacy Union. As chapters are formed or affiliated, we will develop
decision-making capacity and structured voting around their participation. Such
groups will maintain autonomy to pursue their local struggles as long as they
abide by the goals, principals and positions of the statewide body.
Signed,
Dr. Allison Ashley,
Montgomery Township, NJ
Sandra Bongart, Yardville, NJ
Lisa Cardon-Singh, Bridgewater, NJ
Susan Colacello, West Windsor, NJ
Susan Colby, Montgomery Township, NJ
Gail Correa, Trenton, NJ
Evelyn Delgado, Woodbridge, NJ
Ramon Delgado, Woodbridge, NJ
Betsy Di Lello, Ocean, NJ
Marcos Edghill, Pemberton, NJ
Patricia Ewell, Browns Mills, NJ
Carmen Falcones-Espinoza, Jersey City, NJ
Susan Fiordland, Upper Freehold, NJ
Joann Fruciano, Linden, NJ
Sherry Golden Lee, Medford, NJ
Gail Gordon, Teaneck, NJ
Sharon Hockaday, Newark, NJ
Deborah Iannone, Paramus, NJ
Veronica Jurjevic, Audubon, NJ
Barbara Kemp, West Windsor, NJ
Jessica Klein, Clarksboro, NJ
Susan Kleiner, Morris Plains, NJ
Lenore B. Laracuente, Esq., East Brunswick, NJ
Harry Mansure, Colombus, NJ
Karina M. Mari, Toms River, NJ
Robyn Manzo, Park Ridge, NJ
Nancy Nemhauser, Perth Amboy, NJ
Theresa Peters-Holloway, W. Caldwell, NJ
Stephanie Rosati, Hamilton, NJ
Janet Santiago,
Middletown, NJ
Barbara Strate, Palisades Park, NJ
Dana Taboadela, Rockaway Township, NJ
Pierina Thayer, MSW, LSW, Princeton, NJ
Dan
Trisker, Sewaren, NJ
Fay Trisker, Sewaren, NJ
Naomi Weiss,
Cherry Hill, NJ
Bob Witanek, Montgomery Township, NJ
Elizabeth Yard,
Burlington Township, NJ
Julia Zindzius, Island Heights, NJ
Join Now!
Ask the Advocate
NJ Complaint Form (MS Word)
(PDF)
On Line Public Hearing on IDEIA 2004
Survey on NJ OSEP Complaint
Process
Past Activities
IEP Wkshp
Rec. Programs for
those w/ Disabilities
An Evening of Educational Advocacy
September 8, 2005 Edison, NJ
What The Student Advocate Has Done for Our Children
Lately . . .
NJ IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee
Minutes of IDEIA 2004 meeting on Thu., May
26
Student Rights Radio
Discussion, October 31
Effort to
Reach Gubernatorial Hopefuls and Acting Governor / Candidates
IDEA: An Update
Dec. 5, 2005
Middletown
January 18,
2006: Hold a Candle Light for Our Children's Rights
50 Strong For Our
Children
No. Jersey Radio Interview Aired, 1/22
Petitioning for Rights Children: Legal in Princeton
Interview on NJ IDEIA Rights
- Racial Disparities in Sp-Ed
Call
is Heard in Montgomery Twp: Inclusive Recreation
NJSAU Minutes 2/18/2006
Playing and Singing for
Our Rights, 4/1/6
Better IDEA Laws for Special Education
Students?
Better IEPs? Anything is Possible!
April
1 Report: Student Advocacy Union - Fundraising Concert
Mobilization for Rights
of Our Children, May 17, 2006, Trenton
Nationwide Internet Radio Rally for Sp-Ed Parent Rights
9pm EST, Sat. May 20
Parents’ Rally @ Statehouse in Trenton Thursday, June 8, 2006
Piscataway Parents Mtg, June 19, 2006