November 2014 Meeting

Voter Service Update

Chrystal Schivell thanked members who helped with Voter Service and reported that 67 registration forms and 29 Vote-by-Mail applications had been distributed during the League's voter registration drives. Five Voters' Guides, covering 16 candidates, were published in The Princeton Packet and posted on the League's website, where they received 2,757 views. Although forums for the Princeton Board of Education and the 12th Congressional District were planned, the candidates declined. Only a forum among candidates for the Montgomery Township Board of Education materialized. Read more

Report on Activities of LWV-New Jersey

Lee Forbes is responsible for selling 30 raffle tickets and for distributing another 30 for League members to sell to raise money for the Education Fund. Members bought tickets at $10 each, but Lee has many more. Please contact her either to buy a ticket or help with selling.

1st Prize: Apple iPad Air 16GB

2nd Prize: $200 MasterCard Gift Card

3rd Prize: $100 MasterCard Gift Card

The drawing will be held December 11, 2014 at 12:45 PM at the State League office.

Thank you to all the members who have taken tickets already. Please contact Lee if you can take some to sell or to buy any for yourself.

The State Convention will be held at Mercer County Community College on Saturday, May 2, 2015. A party will take place at the Hamilton Garden Inn the night before.

Upcoming Change in Leadership Committee

Sandy Smith will be stepping down from her role as Spokesperson/Convener when the current term of office for the Leadership Committee expires in June 2015. This role involves issuing agenda and presiding at meetings, and speaking for the League in the community. To maintain our current structure, a member willing to take on this role is needed. This will be a topic of a future meeting early in 2015.

We thank Sandy for her meticulous attention to the important position of Spokesperson/Convener. We are grateful that she will continue as a part of the Leadership Committee in her role as Voter Service Co-chair for West Windsor-Plainsboro.

Cuban Connection

On a recent educational trip to Cuba, Nancy Hall reported that one of the group's Cuban translators had high praise for the League and that she had seen the film Iron Jawed Angels, about suffragettes Alice Paul, Frances O'Connor, Carrie Chapman Catt, and others. We are thrilled that the League enjoys worldwide, positive recognition. If you've not yet seen the film, do try to borrow it from your public library or Netflix.

Planning for December Meeting

Our December business meeting will be brief so that we can enjoy a social, end-of-year celebration afterward. Please note the date of December 9 at 7 PM at the Suzanne Patterson Building. More details will follow.

Charter School Update Study: Review and Consensus

Twelve members, including Julia Sass Rubin, an associate professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers and spokeswoman for Save Our Schools, participated in the discussion led by Lee, Melissa Scott, and Chrystal. It soon became clear that information such as the role of hedge funds in promoting charter schools and recent findings about the accountability of multiple versus single authorizers was missing from the study. Although we reached consensus on many questions, we felt that additional information is needed before taking positions on others. Click here to read the entire consensus.