Corey Booker on the Radio....

answering questions regarding Essex Regional School...


Invited to school!

Will he take the offer?

Ill keep you Posted!

(Download Here)


BTW.. THAT WAS OUR VERY OWN ROSELYN.. !!!! // We are proud of you!

Parents Connection

Changes to Your Child's Special Education Placement; What Parents Need to Know. A brochure from the offices of Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law.


Download Here

About ASAH

Since 1974, ASAH has served private special education schools and agencies in New Jersey, ensuring the highest standards of service excellence for students and youth with disabilities.

With a focus on the needs of students, ASAH works to foster partnerships between its members, local school districts and local communities. We know that these collaborations not only enhance the quality of education programs, they ensure that students with disabilities are served in the least restrictive setting, and have the greatest chance of returning students to public school settings.

While providing information and referral to anyone seeking appropriate placement of individuals with special needs, ASAH also advocates directly for individuals with special needs and their families.

In order to ASAH also promotes programs and policies that protect and enhance the well-being of individuals with disabilities and their families, especially those that impact or interface with their education.

SOURCE




//PASSING THE GRADE – The Union City Board of School Estimate and the Board of Education recently approved the 2009-2010 school budget. The budget totals $230 million, with 84 percent of the funding coming from the state.

Union City recently finalized a $230 million school budget for 2009-2010, which will keep taxes stable, said Union City Business Administrator Anthony Dragona.

The new budget was approved by the Board of School Estimate on March 30, after it had been adopted by the Board of Education on March 26. Unlike some other towns in Hudson County, Union City residents do not vote on the school budget, but they can speak up at the annual hearing on the budget.

The total budget is actually down $4 million from last year, but the school tax levy, the amount that Union City taxpayers contribute to the budget, remains at $15.4 million. The schools are also funded by state aid.

Dragona said that the budget decrease is due to Gov. Jon Corzine’s new school funding formula, which is based on demographic information about the students, rather than the town as a whole.

“That type of funding formula is viewed as being fairer than the previous funding formula,” said Dragona. “Now, with this new funding formula, they throw away the zip code.”

He said that state aid is now dependent on enrollment, the number of students with special needs or limited English proficiency, and the number of students who are eligible for the National School Lunch program, which provides kids with free or reduced price meals at school based on their family income.

For 2009-2010, Union City received $181 million in state aid, which makes up 84 percent of the total budget, and $10 million in federal aid.

Dragona said that the district may also receive additional funds, possibly up to $6 million, from the national economic stimulus package, but that preliminary numbers for that are not reflected in the new budget.

“When you budget, you try to budget as conservatively as possible because you do not want to anticipate funds that may not materialize,” said Dragona.
_____________

“We are trying to handle things more like a business.” – Anthony Dragona
________

The new budget also includes $21.8 million from the budgeted fund balance, money left over from the previous year that may be used in the next academic year.

The district also saved about $1.5 million in salaries and benefits by reducing the number of employees by about 15, Dragona said. He said the reduction was mostly due to retirements and consolidating positions.

“We are trying to handle things more like a business, and we have to be very sensitive in the economy that we are in right now,” he said.

Enrollment has increased to 11,166 for the coming fall. In 2008, 11,050 students attended Union City schools.

Dragona also said that the district is looking forward to the opening of the new Union City High School at 2400 Kennedy Blvd. in September. Right now, the school is divided into two campuses.

In October, the district is also anticipating the ground-breaking for the new Christopher Columbus Elementary School, at the corner of New York Avenue and 15th Street

Amanda Staab can be reached at astaab@hudsonreporter.com.

SOURCE

04/20/09
VINELAND - Mayor Robert Romano today is set to visit the state Department of Children and the Families Regional School, which is set to close by July 2010, along with 17 other such facilities.

The school for 35 years has administered children and adults - between the ages of 3 and 21 - who are handicapped, adjudicated, cognitively impaired and developmentally disabled, as well as pregnant teens.


At least one parent and others close to the West Sherman Avenue school have expressed fear over reports the facility would close by the end of June.

However, NJDCF spokeswoman Kate Bernyk has refuted that claim.

Some at the school said parents and faculty are in a state of "confusion." No one on the state level has been able to tell them where the students will ultimately be relocated.

Bernyk has stated the students will be placed into other programs - ranging from regular public schools to county special services - on a case-by-case basis.

Romano will visit the school today at 1:30 p.m. for a short tour.

On April 30, Sen. Jeff Van Drew, along with assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matt Milam, will also tour the school.

"We further request that you publicly invite Gov. Corzine to visit the DCF Cumberland Campus School, as we have attempted to contact him on several occasions with no reply," said Grissel Ayala, co-president of the school's Parent Teacher Association.

She added: "According to Gov. Corzine, he was a governor that was in favor of providing money to schools. However, he is attempting to close the schools that are truly needed, as students have no other educational facilities to go to."

According to Bernyk, the decision to cut all 18 NJDCF campuses came out of a desire to "streamline" the department's resources to "focus back on what we're legislatively and legally mandated to do, which is offer support, but not run schools."

She added enrollment at the schools had also been falling.

The Vineland campus currently serves 31 students.

SOURCE



"In a cost cutting move, Gov Corzine has decided to close down the N.J. Schools for the Handicapped (DCF).

"All 18 schools will be closed on or before June 30, 2010.

"Five of our schools will be closing by June 30, of this year.

"The spin doctors from Trenton allege that the shutdown is being caused by declining enrollment.

"This is disingenuous.

"The reason the enrollment has declined over the past two years is that Trenton would not allow the schools to accept new students.

"It must be noted that these children are extremely handicapped and cannot be mainstreamed.

"Also, our children go to school all year round.

"It is my belief that local school districts do not have the resources to deal with our special children.

"It is an old axiom which states: History will judge a society in the way it treats its people who are least able to fight back.

"I urge our citizens to mount a campaign to keep these schools open.

"Last week, Gov Corzine was in Millville handing out $27 million to widen the exchange where Route 55 pours into Route 49.

"That was state money, not part of the stimulus package.

"Plenty of photo ops and smiles all around.

"The governor never bothered to visit our schools, even though he was ever so close.

"Seems to me our priorities are all mixed up.

- Bridgeton Jack

About 50 students, teachers and parents from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Regional School in Secaucus march and make some noise on the usually quiet street of Mill Ridge Road, chanting cries of: “Save our school! Save our school!” The crowd protested in retaliation to Governor Corzine’s notice to shut down all 18 special-needs DCF Regional Schools in New Jersey, due to the decline in enrollment and to save costs, April 8, 2009. -- CONNER JAY / THE JERSEY JOURNAL




One the therapy dogs at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Regional School in Secaucus marches with a crowd of his family of students, staff and parents, as they protested in retaliation to Governor Corzine’s notice to shut down all 18 special-needs DCF Regional Schools in New Jersey, due to the decline in enrollment and to save costs, April 8, 2009. -- CONNER JAY / THE JERSEY JOURNAL



Solange Ryan of North Bergen and her daughter Rebecca protest together outside Rebecca's school. Governor Corzine has given a notice to shut down all 18 special-needs DCF Regional Schools in New Jersey, due to the decline in enrollment and to save costs. 'How could he?' asks Solange Ryna. 'How could Corzine on special education?' April 8, 2009. -- CONNER JAY / THE JERSEY JOURNAL



Staff technician at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Regional School in Secaucus Gonzalo Perdreros marches with his students outside their school. About 50 students, teachers and parents protested against Governor Corzine’s notice to shut down all 18 special-needs DCF Regional Schools in New Jersey, due to the decline in enrollment and to save costs Tuesday afternoon, April 8, 2009. -- CONNER JAY / THE JERSEY JOURNAL



Staff and teachers at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Regional School in Secaucus have collected hundreds of signatures to petition Governor Corzine’s notice to shut down all 18 special-needs DCF Regional Schools in New Jersey, due to the decline in enrollment and to save costs, April 8, 2009. -- CONNER JAY / THE JERSEY JOURNAL

04-23-09 9:45 am

Hello Readers,

I just recieved word that Mayor Booker of Newark will be on 88.3 FM radio... Newark parents need to call in.. get their voices heard..

For those who have trouble with radio reception or may not own a radio(yes, it happens) im going to try to setup a link from here..

keep you posted..


//// edited 9:53 am

http://www.wbgo.org/listennow/

From The Montclair Times in N.J.:


Montclair firefighters and police officers recently took a crash course in understanding autism.

Contingents of 20 first responders attended seminars each day last week and the week before on how to improve their reaction to fires, crimes and missing-person cases involving autistic people.

The disorder, which has a range of manifestations from severe forms, where sufferers are incapable of communicating, to milder types where patients can drive and work, is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States.

In New Jersey, autism is more prevalent than anywhere else nationwide.

According to a recent study, an average of one in every 152 children had the disability across 14 states assessed in 2000 and 2002.

Meanwhile, the rate in New Jersey was one in every 94 children, the highest rate ever documented in the nation.

Autistic subjects pose unique challenges for first responders, who must use modified tactics to search for, rescue, and glean information from them.

Since children with autism have a tendency to wander away from home and have "no fear of real danger," authorities might have only minutes to locate and save them before it is too late, according to Gary Weitzen, the instructor of the recent classes.

Drowning is the leading cause of death among autistic children, who are captivated by and attracted to water. Weitzen, the executive director of a nonprofit that serves autistic people and their families, urged his listeners to have a good sense of where Montclair’s major bodies of water are, and to check those spots immediately upon receiving a report that a person with autism is missing.

Weitzen told his audience last Friday that his autistic son once nearly died in a lake after running away from home.

Remembering that the boy, now 14, had been showing great interest in a lake a quarter-mile from the house, Weitzen’s wife headed there while searching the neighborhood and found her son barely keeping his head above water.

She leaped in and swam to save him, but when the boy grabbed onto her he inadvertently began choking her. Thankfully, an off-duty Asbury Park police officer who resided nearby heard her cries for help, jumped into the lake and rescued both mother and son.

Fires can also be more deadly than usual at the homes of autistic children, Weitzen said, telling firefighters that, if they know they’re rushing to such a house, then they will probably need to break in.

Since autistic children have an inclination to leave their homes and become lost, their caregivers will frequently seal their houses shut like fortresses to prevent the children from running off, Weitzen said. But that can also make entry difficult.

After attending a class, Montclair Detective Lt. James Carlucci said he found the interviewing tips to be particularly beneficial, enabling officers to more effectively question people with autism and to decrease autistic subjects’ stress level following a traumatic event.

Interviewing victims or suspects with the disability can prove especially tough for investigators, since many times autistic people don’t understand slang or body language, can become upset over trivial issues and are difficult to calm down, Weitzen said.

They might use irritating or distracting nervous tics to soothe themselves during an interview, and is not uncommon for autistic subjects to repeat back what their interviewers have just said, to avoid making eye contact and to be evasive.

With most suspects, such behavior would be seen as antagonistic, uncooperative or incriminating, but with autistic people, it can simply be brought on by the disorder, Weitzen explained.

He had advice for civilians, as well. If any residents dwell with someone who has autism, then they should notify authorities and have their houses flagged in the 911 database, thereby giving police and firefighters a better idea of how to manage calls to those addresses, Weitzen said.

SOURCE


FUN*RUN for Disability Rights 2009 is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Olmstead decision.

On Sunday, April 26 The ADAPT Community will be having a FUN* RUN for Disability Rights 2009 at Upper Senate Park in Washington, DC.

The FUN*RUN is a fundraising event to support disability rights where sponsored people will run, walk, jog or roll around Upper Senate Park for one hour.

2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision. This decision has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities and older Americans getting and keeping out of nursing homes and other institutions.

The 2009 FUN*RUN for Disability Rights is a celebration of this 10th anniversary
and a commitment to the principle of “most integrated setting”, a principle at the foundation of The ADAPT Community’s advocacy.

Please join us as a “FUN*RUNNER”, “CHAMPION” or as a disability rights activist. Together we can make a difference.

SOURCE


A sweeping government policy for all new births in the United States has just passed the House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate.

The Mother's Act, if passed, will mandate that all new mothers be screened by means of a list of subjective questions that will determine if each mother is mentally fit to take their newborn home from the hospital.

Just imagine that after your child is born, you are told that you can't take them home since a multiple choice questionnaire wasn't answered correctly. Just imagine being told that the only way you can take your child home is if you or your spouse goes into treatment or on anti-depressants which we know causes psychosis, delusions, and even homicidal thoughts.

The protest letter from AbleChild:

The MOTHERS ACT has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 324 introduced Jan 26 2009). This bill quite simply is a feeder line for the psycho-pharmaceutical industry and will result in more mothers and infants being put at risk for being prescribed antidepressant and other dangerous psychiatric drugs. These drugs are documented by the U.S. FDA to cause birth defects, psychosis, mania, worsening depression, suicidal and homicidal ideation.

The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act is a federal bill named after Melanie Stokes, a woman who suffered emotional difficulties after giving birth and was subsequently prescribed a cocktail of intensely controversial psychiatric drugs including anti-psychotic, anti-anxiety, and anti-depressant drugs before being subjected to electroshock treatment.

Melanie Stokes was in the mental health system, was prescribed drugs, was hospitalized, was subjected to the still barbaric practice of electroshock and only after receiving mental health “treatment” did she commit suicide. That is what the mental health industry did for a new mother named Melanie Stokes. It is incredible that a story such as this does not raise alarm bells within Congress on the negligence of prescribing cocktails of psychiatric drugs to new mothers, drugs documented by the US FDA and international drug regulatory agencies to cause not only a host of documented adverse events for adults, but also for the unborn children of pregnant women who incredibly, are being prescribed these drugs even during pregnancy.

Despite the industry's rhetoric about the need for more mental health treatment of pregnant women and new mothers, the fact remains that the most common treatment for women diagnosed with postpartum depression is drugs. There is absolutely no language in the Mothers Act that will ensure mothers being “screened” for postpartum depression are granted the most fundamental right of “informed consent,” meaning, per the legal definition, they are warned about all the risks of the proposed treatments and all the alternatives. Please stand up for the rights of mothers and don't let this bill pass.

The opposition to the Mothers Act is simple. It puts the government in a position where they can mandate subjective screening and then determine the fate of a mother and her child --all without any evidence based scientific tests. I urge you to vote NO on this lethal legislation.