Asbury Park, NJ: Dominique Faison, Green Party Candidate for Assembly in the Eleventh District, is speaking out on a very important issue in her hometown of Asbury Park. Recently, the College Achieve Charter School was denied its application to extend its enrollment capabilities to allow for grades 10-12. Currently, the school enrolls students from Kindergarten through Ninth grade. Faison has a personal stake in this decision as she has a middle school aged son in CACS and is a few years away from high school. “College Achieve has been a blessing for my son,” says Faison. “My son is excited to go back to school and keep getting a solid education.” The prospect now for families with older students is Asbury Park High School—a school in a district that has been struggling to manage itself while facing steep financial aid cuts as prescribed in S-2 legislation. “CACS did a fantastic job educating children during the height of the pandemic,” praises Faison. “Student daily attendance was at 94% as the children received their technology packages in a timely fashion as other schools struggled to catch up.” The Green Party Candidate also complimented the CACS focus in providing a significant amount of effort in delivering “Social Emotional Learning” that aided students in maintaining the best possible mental health during a difficult academic year. Faison is a true believer this is an important opportunity for Asbury Park to redefine the educational landscape where you can have a solid CACS and a revitalized Asbury Park School District. “There is no reason why we cannot allow College Achieve to expand and deliver a quality education for even more children and fix the issues plaguing the Asbury Park School District,” proclaims Faison. “We have to stop empowering politicians who are playing their political games with our children’s futures and begin to empower our families and community stakeholders…get the politics out of education, period.”