In New Jersey, the public schools are led by local officials known as school board members and charter school trustees. Some elected and some appointed, they serve without compensation to govern the operation of public schools, touching children each day through their decision-making in areas such as policy-setting and planning; hiring of school district leadership; approval of curriculum and selection of professional development opportunities for teachers.
Helping board members and trustees in their work is the New Jersey School Boards Association, a 100-year-old federation of local boards of education, which offers training, advocacy and support for boards. Working within the NJSBA is the Education Leadership Foundation of New Jersey – or ELFNJ. The non-profit arm of the NJSBA, ELFNJ was founded to advance the governance of the state’s public schools, through training and research. It provides a tangible link to schools and students by securing resources that support school board professional training.
As a nonprofit 501c(3), ELFNJ relies on the funding of contributors and grants to help support more than 100 NJSBA training programs annually.
