The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 3

sow The Home News Saturday, Nov. 21, 1992. Education commissioner quits I By J. CRAIG SHEARMAN State Education Commissioner John Ellis an- nounced his resignation yesterday, ending a 30- month reign marked by controversy over New Jer- I school-funding law, budget cuts and political "Personally, I am ready for a change in lifestyle from the highly intense, unending work weeks to spending more time with my family." John Ellis, state education commissioner including New Brunswick and Perth Amboy, and to many middle-class districts. However, lawmakers facing pressure from a public angry over taxes took $360 million for property-tax relief over Ellis' objections.

The commissioner later conceded that the law's dream of being able to provide an infusion of dollars to poor districts had been deferred The law was also attacked by lawmakers representing middle-class and wealthy districts. Republican lawmakers accused Ellis of using school-funding numbers to advance the administration's political agenda. The commissioner's promise of more than $1.5 million of "discretionary aid" to the Lyndhurst school district in 1991 a promise Republicans said was made to protect a Democratic lawmaker is being probed by the State Commission on Investigation. There was also considerable staff turnover within the Education Department This year, Ellis complained GOP budget cuts were hurting his department's ability to monitor local school activities. Ellis became commissioner July 3, 1990, coming from Austin, Texas, where he had served for 10 years as the city's school superintendent He cited several achievements during his tenure as commissioner, including the creation of a division of urban education; the establishment of Fa-milyNet to coordinate services with the Departments of Higher Education, Labor, Corrections, and Health and Human Services; the takeover of the Paterson school district "to stop student new tests for eighth- and nth-graders, and the initiation of a curriculum-standards project He acknowledged that "massive problems" remain.

"Overwhelmed families, inequitable resources, dropouts, AIDS, drugs, crime, weapons, poverty, lack of student achievement and inadequate facilities are stark reminder that the battle for excellence is far from won, and that vigorous sustained efforts must be made to correct the deficiencies," Ellis said He is the fifth member of Florio's Cabinet to quit in the past few months. squaDDies. "Clearly, this has been an exciting, contentious, productive period," Ellis said. "But, personally, I am ready for a change in lifestyle from the highly intense, unending work weeks to spending more time with my family." Ellis, 63, of Pennington, said he plans to teach, write and form a business partnership with his soa His resignation is effective Dec. 31.

Gov. Jim Florio has asked the state Board of Education to interview Montclair Schools Superintendent Mary Lee Fitzgerald as a possible replacement for Ellis, board President Anne Dillard said. Dillard, of Perth Amboy, called Fitzgerald "a leading candidate" but said Florio's office indicated others would also be considered. The nomination is up to Florio rather than the board, but is subject to confirmation by the state Senate. Fitzgerald, 56, has been Montclair superintendent for eight years.

She believed there was a "high probability" that she would be nominated and said she was "excited" by the prospect Dillard said Fitzgerald had worked with the state Education Department on a number of projects over the years. "She's one of the leading educators in the state," Dillard said. "She's a team player and interested in and knowledgeable about education in New Jersey." Florio called Ellis "a tireless advocate for the children and the taxpayers of New Jersey." "We have been fortunate to have him with us during this period of trying to reshape the school-funding structure and making sure there is accountability at every level of the educational process," Florio said. "He is a world-class educator. I wish him welL" Ellis' resignation had been rumored for months as squabbles with legislators and Board of Education members increased.

Dillard, however, said she saw no effort to force The Associated Press Former Army drill sergeant Earl Richmond Jr. holds his head down as he is led into the Federal Courthouse in Camden yesterday. Ex-drill sergeant charged in slaying him out "There wasn't as much tension as the papers would lead you to believe," she said "There are always differences of opinions and then you come to a consensus but it was not those kinds of tensions." As education commissioner, Ellis is in charge of public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Chancellor of Higher Education Edward Goldberg, who oversees colleges and universities, said he had "no insight" into why Ellis resigned. "She is one of the best school superintendents in New Jersey," Goldberg said of Fitzgerald.

"If she is the replacement, that is an extraordinarily sound appointment" The resignation comes as lawmakers and the governor huddle on major revisions to the school-funding law, known as the Quality Education Act The law was enacted in response to a state Supreme Court decision that said New Jersey's system of school funding shortchanges the poor. Administration officials said Ellis' departure was imminent Recently, Secretary of State Daniel Dal-ton has become the administration representative in the debate over the school-funding law. Ellis was a strong defender of the law, which was signed at the same ceremony that marked his swearing-in. In its original form, the law was to pump an extra $1.1 billion to public education to boost funding to state's 30 poorest districts, An Associated Press report was incorporated this story. Medical file an issue in Glen Ridge case bolster a death penalty case in North Carolina, Call said.

The victim's family wept during the brief hearing yesterday. Na-deau's parents gained custody of her two young children, who were found unharmed at her townhouse. "We've been waiting 593 days for this day," said Arthur Nadeau, the victim's father. "The hardest part was the waiting." Richmond faces up to life imprisonment and $250,000 in fines. He is being held in the federal prison in Fairton.

"I want him to get what is duly coming to him," Nadeau told reporters outside the courtroom. "I've always placed my faith in the system." Authorities have refused to comment on a possible motive for the slaying. Military officials have said Richmond and the victim knew each other socially. Investigators had speculated that Nadeau may have been killed because she knew too much about a payroll scam in the finance office at Fort Dix. But that theory has been ruled out.

Richmond was stationed at Fort Dix from 1988 until he was administratively discharged from the Army for misconduct in fall 1990. Last month, when federal prosecutors charged Richmond with the Nadeau slaying, they announced that he is also a suspect in a 1989 sexual assault of an Air Force trainee at Fort Dix. CAMDEN (AP) A former Fort Dix drill sergeant, already accused in the murder of a family of three in North Carolina, was ordered held without bail yesterday on murder charges in the beating and strangulation of an Army payroll clerk from Connecticut. U.S. District Judge Joseph Rodriguez set a Jan.

25 trial date for Earl Richmond 29, of Fayette-ville, N.C. Richmond pleaded innocent to the April 5, 1991, murder of Army Spec. Lisa Ann Nadeau. Nadeau, 24, of Plainfield, was found bound, beaten, stabbed and strangled in her townhouse at the Burlington County base. She had also been sexually assaulted, authorities said.

Military investigators identified Richmond as a suspect in the slaying in April. But federal prosecutors did not charge him until a grand jury returned a two-count indictment Oct. 19. Authorities refused to comment on why six months passed charges were filed and Richmond's court-appointed attorney said the delay could be crucial in the case. "When a guy doesn't get arrested right away you know something is missing," said defense attorney John Call.

Although charged first in the North Carolina slayings, Richmond will go on trial first in New Jersey. The trial is expected to last at least two weeks. Prosecutors believe a conviction in New Jersey would NEWARK (AP) Fighting back tears, the mother of the alleged victim in the Glen Ridge rape trial told a packed courtroom yesterday that the family tries to ignore media coverage of the case because it is too painful. "It's the ostrich she said, her voice choked with emotion. "If you don't know what is being written, it doesn't hurt" In her second day of cross-examination by defense counsel, the mother of the alleged victim also said that she and her husband did not realize at first the extent of the alleged sexual assault upon their daughter, who is mentally retarded "Unfortunately, the whole incident was such a bizarre incident we later found out we really didn't believe that such a thing had happened" she said.

Four young men are charged with sexually assaulting the young woman in the basement of a Glen Ridge home on March 1, 1989. The four, Christopher Archer, 20, Bryant Grober, 21, and 21-year-old twins Kyle and Kevin Scherzer face charges of second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual contact; first-degree aggravated sexual assault and third-degree aggravated criminal sexual conduct The young woman was 17 at the questioned the mother about a visit to the girl's gynecologist after the incident Zegas asked her if she recalled that the defense had asked the court for permission to review the girl's medical file. Superior Court Judge R. Benjamin Cohen permitted the defense to review only a small part of the girl's file. Zegas then asked her if she thought the defendants were allowed "to have a fair trial." She said she did but then shot back that "victims" have rights, too.

"One of the rights that you have is privacy," she said. "There is nothing wrong with keeping things private." time of the incident; the boys were aged 16 to 18. The names of the woman and her mother have been ordered withheld by the court to protect the identity of the alleged victim. The alleged victim's mother testified that she first learned of a possible attack on her daughter about a week later. She said her daughter did not like to discuss sexual matters with her parents.

The young woman, apparently disturbed by the incident told her swimming coach several days after it happened The coach informed school authorities, who notified the parents and the police. Alan Zegas, attorney for Grober, Bush winner of uncoveted Doublespeak Award 13 receive governor's award for individual achievement the poor to middle- and upper-class private-school pupils, Lutz said The Democratic and Republican parties shared the second-place award "for claiming they are for reforming the way political campaigns are financed even while they continue to seek and accept large contributions from special-interest groups, corporations and wealthy individuals," Lutz said Third place went to all politicians who exploited the term "family values" this year, he said Recipients of the Orwell Award were Donald Bartlett and James Steele, reporters for The Philadelphia Inquirer. But the Defense Department reversed a 25-year policy and began spending millions of tax dollars on international weapons shows. Lutz cited a statement in Newsweek that the change made the United States "the Middle East's biggest arms merchant" During Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Houston, he pledged that "every parent and child should have a real choice of schools public, private or religious." But Bush's proposed $1,000 voucher plan would not cover tuition for poor children and would redistribute tax dollars from public schools that serve LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) President Bush on arms proliferation, school choice and Bill Clinton earned him top honors yesterday for doublespeak, according to a Rutgers University professor.

The National Council of Teachers of English began Doublespeak Awards in 1974 for public figures "who have perpetrated language that is grossly deceptive, evasive (or) euphemistic," said William Lutz, chairman of the council's Doublespeak Committee. Lutz, an English professor, said Bush expressed hope after the Persian Gulf War for an end to arms proliferation in the Middle East Two held in highway coke bust ypy pers got permission from Guitian, the driver, to search the car and found plastic bags with the cocaine. Both men were charged with drug possession and possession with intent to distribute, and remained in the Essex County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail apiece, Hagerty said velopment Award. Theodore J. LaBrecque of Fair Haven, Charles A.

Lindbergh Transportation Award. Joan McElroy of Montclair, Peter J. McGuire Labor Excellence Award. Mary A. Mulholland of Morris-town, Alice Paul Humanitarian Award William Raftery of West Orange, Amos Alonzo Stagg Award.

Olympia Dukakis of Montclair, Walt Whitman Creative Arts Award. Ruth B. Mandel of Princeton, Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award. Mary Inzana of Trenton, Madeline Worthy Williams Youth Advocacy Award. Candace McKee Ashmun of Far Hills, Hovhaness Heukelekian Environmental Award.

The Governor's Gold Medal Award was presented posthumously to former U.S. Rep. Millicent Fenwick, R-N. who died in mid-September. Each of the annual awards is.

named after an outstanding New NEW BRUNSWICK (AP) Gov. Jim Florio has given 13 professionals the highest honor the state can bestow upon an individual a 1992 Governor's Pride Award. He presented the awards yesterday during ceremonies at the State Theater. "The unique spirit of these awards is that they're much more than prizes for individual achievement," Florio said. "They're a celebration of the best all of us do in our lives, not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors and New Jersey." The 1992 Governor's Pride Award recipients are: Dr.

Lawrence J. Ettinger of Watchung, Clara Barton Medical Science Award. Donald Jankiewicz of Bellmawr, John Basilone Heroism Award. Dr. Allan H.

Conney of Princeton, Thomas Alva Edison Science Award. Dr. Edward Friedman of Hobo-ken, Albert Einstein Education Award. James G. Cullen of New Vernon, Alexander Hamilton Economic De A Large company talcing care of small jobs fast! Quality, professional service Guaranteed! Plumbing, tile, carpentry, wall repair, etc.

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP (AP) A traffic stop along Route 80 ended with the arrest of two men on charges they had 30 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $360,000. The men arrested 11:04 p.m. Thursday were identified as Jose Miguel Guitian, age unavailable, of Allentown, and Roberto Rodriguez Leon, 25, of New York City. State Police spokesman John Hagerty said troopers pulled over the pair's 1985 Buick after they saw the car weaving in and out of traffic and riding on the left shoulder. The troopers said the pair acted nervously when asked what they were doing.

Hagerty said the troo U.S. 1 FLEA MARKET ANTIQUES 500 DEALERS SUN. YEAR ROUND Route 1 New Brunswick, NJ '908-846-0900 KOREAN KARATE CENTERS The Home News Published daily and Sunday by Home News Publishing Co. 12.1 How Lane, P.O. Box 55 1, New Brunswick, N.J.

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