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TURNER SCORES EQUAL PAY VICTORY AS STATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROLLS BACK DOUBLE STANDARD ON LACROSSE OFFICIALS’ PAY SCALES

Senator Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer) testifies during today’s Senate voting session.

TRENTONThe heads of New Jersey’s interscholastic athletic conferences have recommended the roll back of a plan to pay officials for girls’ lacrosse less than their counterparts in boys’ lacrosse in the wake of a State Senate resolution sponsored by Senator Shirley Turner (D-15 Mercer, Hunterdon).

 “The heads of the athletic conferences have reversed their direction and recognized that girls’ lacrosse officials should be paid the same rate as the boys’ lacrosse officials,” said Senator Turner.

 The proposal for the 2014-2017 term had unfairly pegged the pay for girls’ lacrosse officials at $124 per game, while boys’ officials would have gotten $135 per game, Turner noted.

 “With the girls having two more players on the field and a larger playing area, the girls’ officials have just as much, if not more, work to do than their counterparts who officiate boys’ lacrosse games” Turner said. “There was simply no valid reason for the disparity in pay scales.”

 Turner’s resolution, (SR-62), had received unanimous and bipartisan support from her colleagues in the State Senate and called on the state’s interscholastic athletic conferences to adopt equal pay scales for officials of public school girls’ and boys’ lacrosse games.

 Turner noted that the “game still isn’t over,” as the recommendations must now be accepted by each athletic conference in the state.

 “New Jersey’s lacrosse season is about to be in full swing, so this action is very timely,” said Turner. “In addition to the benefit to the officials impacted, this action also sends a message to young lacrosse players of both sexes about the importance of fairness and equal treatment in our society.”

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