Committees at Work

League of Women Voters^®
of the Montclair Area

Nominations for Board

The League of Women Voters of the Montclair Area has several ongoing committees which study issues, monitor local government, and host educational forums on topics such as education, the environment, international relations, and social policy.

Education. Environmental Quality. International Relations. Social Policy.

Education

The League of Women Voters has a history of supporting equal access to quality education and desegregation of schools. The League supports a range of federal education programs, including those designed to meet the needs of the poor, and minorities and women.
Locally, our League works to support equality, equity, and excellence in education. We monitor and evaluate the impact of changes in government policies and funding as they affect local public schools. Our League supports the position that Montclair remain a Type 1 district with an appointed Board of Education and a Board of School Estimate.
Our LWVMA education committee actively monitors Montclair Board of Education meetings and Board of School Estimate and Budget hearings. We have also sponsored and co-sponsored educational forums on topics such as The No Child Left Behind Act, education funding, and heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping in the classroom. The Education Committee welcomes you to join our monitoring and public education activities. We especially need members from the area towns surrounding Montclair to monitor board of education activities.

WANTED: SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

If you, a friend, or a neighbor has ever considered becoming more actively involved in your community's schools, the League of Women Voters of the Montclair Area and the New Jersey School Boards Association strongly encourage you to consider running for a School Board position in your town.

To help you make this decision, the League is distributing a packet of information from N.J. School Boards Association to familiarize citizens with the procedures to follow. The packet contains a description of the job requirements, a sample application, requirements of the school ethics act, important dates to know about, and expectations of the position itself. You can request this packet free of charge by calling the League at 973-233-1995 and leaving your name and address. It will be mailed to you.

Please note that Montclair, as a Type 1 school district, members of the Board of Education are appointed by the Mayor rather than elected. According to the Town Clerk, the Township Council suggests that interested individuals complete a Committees, Boards, Commissions Volunteer Application, downloadable from the township website in the General folder, indicating their interest.

Environmental Quality

We "think globally and act locally".
The Environmental Quality (EQ) committee recently ushered through a resolution to reinstitute the Recycling Enhancement Act in Montclair. We are asking other towns to do the same. This act will increase the amount of recycling and decrease the amount of solid waste sent to the Resource Recovery plant. For more information about recycling in New Jersey, check out the new Recycling Primer for laws, rules and regulations.
Our committee recently presented a panel discussion on "Smart Growth", or compact growth, which promotes housing in existing communities, provides transportation choice, and protects open space. The presentation was well attended by current and prospective members, and included an opportunity to ask questions of our expert panelists. State of New Jersey's plan for smart growth
We also coordinated a public forum on energy deregulation. The panel included members from the Board of Public Utilities, Public Service Electric and Gas, Consumer Advocate, and an Environmental Engineer. The outcome assured residents of New Jersey that there would be no rolling blackouts or brownouts as there were in California.
In the past we have had book discussions on environmental issues. We arranged environmental trips to the waterways of the Meadowlands and to the Home of the founder of the U.S. Forestry Service, Gifford Pinchot, in Milford, Pennsylvania.

International Relations

The International Relations Committee seeks to gain a clearer understanding of the political, economic and social issues that affect the lives of women in other countries.
The topics we choose every year give us an opportunity to study the traditions of different cultures and their impact on women's aspirations. As each member researches a separate aspect of the topic, we enjoy sharing our information in lively discussion at our monthly meetings, and together we prepare a presentation to our local League members.

Our focus this year is: "Why international lending institutions are unable to effectively deal with the disparinging gap between rich and very poor nations". The meeting will take place at
Jean Ganguly:
96 Cooper St;
Montclair,NJ 07043

Our work relies heavily on source material from the various agencies of the United Nations, and we have committee members who are closely connected with that international body.
Doris Schapira, National Observer to the U.N. for the League of Women Voters of the United States, provides us with access to source material from, and valuable information about, various agencies' work. At our next presentation, she will report on the progress of the U.N. in formulating laws to protect women against all forms of violence.
Carrolyn Williams, who covers the activities of the U.N. for the Maryknoll Sisters, recently organized a visit from a young Sister from Tanzania. Our guest spoke eloquently about her country and the issues that affect women and girls.

Social Policy

Immigration

The Social Policy Committee is currently studying and evaluating issues related to immigration in New Jersey, with an emphasis on exploring social concerns related to illegal immigrants, government entitlements for legal and illegal immigrants and the debate on immigration policy. Currently, the national League of Women Voters does not have a position on immigration rights. We hope to join other states Leagues in formulating a nationwide position on immigration.
Here are some links to information on immigration issues:

"New Jersey Immigration Policy Network

American Friends Service Committee (Immigrants Rights Program)

Pew Hispanic Center

National Immigration Forum

We also continuously monitor and update League members on issues studied in the past, including those affecting the criminal justice system, capital punishment, the medically-uninsured, and the recent changes in Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare and Medicaid
In May 2005 the Social Policy Committee, together with the Montclair Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, held a forum on Changes in Medicare/Medicaid and its impact on health care in New Jersey. Representatives from the State Health Insurance & Assistance Program, the Social Security Administration (Northern Region) and New Jersey Medicaid offered information and advice on the complex changes in Medicare/Medicaid benefits.
Official US government site for people with Medicare
Here are some helpful links to information on the recent changes to Medicare prepared by the American Bar Association:

http://www.abanet.org/aging/medicare/timeline.doc

http://www.abanet.org/aging/medicare/drug_benefit.doc
http://www.abanet.org/aging/medicare/prescription_drug.doc
http://www.abanet.org/aging/medicare/prescription_info.pdf

Capital Punishment
In February 2004, the Social Policy Committee presented information on the social aspects of capital punishment to the Montclair Area League of Women Voters in order to formulate a position on the topic. This position was presented to the League of Women Voters of New Jersey to help form a statewide League position on the death penalty.
Here are some links to information on the Death Penalty in New Jersey:

Report from the New Jersey Commission
See Hot Topics for more information on action on this issue

http://www.lwvnm.org/deathpenalty/NJStudy.pdf

New Jerseyians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Death Penalty Information Center

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