school funding – Page 2

Time to move on from Abbott

A state judge has ruled that Gov. Jon Corzine’s school funding reforms, which tie aid to students and not districts, are constitutional — a move that experts say could spell the end of special status for many of the state’s urban school districts.

The Record is reporting that Superior Court Judge Peter E. Doyne in Bergen County issued a 280-page opinion today that the state’s

new method of distributing state aid among New Jersey’s 600-plus school districts secures “the thorough and efficient education so desperately needed for the development of our youth.”

The new school funding formula “represents a thoughtful, progressive attempt to assist at-risk children throughout the State of New Jersey, and not only those who by happenstance reside in Abbott districts,” he wrote.

The decision appears sound, though I admit I have yet to read it (280 pages?!?), because it takes into account all students — giving smaller communities with large populations of poor students a leg up that they otherwise would not get.

That was what Gov. Jim Florio had attempted in 1990, when he pushed his massive income and sales tax increases. That plan included what seemed like a radical redistribution of school aid — not only into Trenton and Newark, but into Manville and other working-class districts, as well.

The decision is likely to create a showdown between advocates for urban districts and others with high concentrations of at-risk students, primarily because the state’s educational funding pie is too small, especially when you consider the non-school problems that urban educators face.

Consider: There is a higher concentration of homelessness and hunger in the state’s cities, a larger number of students who do not speak English, more pollution and crime. These may be outside the purview of the schools, but they have their impact in the classroom.

Rather than reducing aid to urban schools, a new formula should be targeted to address these issues and more general educational concerns. Plus, the pot of money available for school aid needs to grow significantly.

While the governor has increased aid to schools over the last two years, the reality is that the total amount the state spends — as opposed to what is raised locally — does not go far enough. If we are going to spread the money around to more districts, we need more money — money, of course, that does not exist at the moment.

The only way to do that is to shift the responsibility for school taxes from local property taxes to the state.

Memo to the court:Give the school aid plan a chance

I have to agree with The Record on this: It is time for the state Supreme Court to show some deference to the governor and state Legislature before it rules on the constitutionality of the state’s new school funding plan.

I have my criticisms of the plan — I think more money should have been appropriated and distributed more widely, both to improve the state’s schools and to lower local property tax bills. But I also think this plan is likely to be an improvement over what was in place.

Until it can be shown that it will create a negative impact on the urban schools covered by the Abbott v. Burke rulings, I can’t see how it can’t pass constitutional muster.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

A vote to delay?

As of now, it appears that the governor’s school-funding plan is not going to pass in the state Senate. This is not a bad thing — and not because the plan is flawed. It is because the plan is being rushed, because officials from school districts like South Brunswick, which appear to gain new funding, are concerned what will happen down the line. And because the concerns of urban educators need to be addressed — will this plan result in reduced funding?

Should the plan go down, I am hoping the governor will put it back on the table and the state Legislature slows the process down and answer the questions.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Take a breath beforejudging school funding plan

Read these two editorials on the governor’s school aid plan — one in The Star-Ledger and one in the Asbury Park Press.

As expected, the Press takes a pretty dim view of the plan, railing against previous efforts to improve schooling in cities while accusing the governor of not doing enough to help suburban schools. The paper makes some valid points — lower-income districts have been ignored in the past, as have fast-growing districts. But the editorial also hits the governor and the Department of Education for something else, a knee-jerk opposition to spending money on education.

There are other, less parochial, reasons not to like the new school aid formula, beginning with its allocation of an additional $530 million in funding — little of which will be applied to property tax relief — and its failure to offset that increase with improved efficiencies and cost-cutting measures. New Jersey spends more on education than any state. Its deficiencies are related to waste, mismanagement, its profusion of school districts and overly generous employee benefits. New Jersey should be spending less money on education, not more. And it should be allocating it in a way that is fair to all taxpayers and all children in all communities.

Again, there are some valid points here. There is waste and there are too many districts. But spending less money is the wrong prescription. In fact, the state needs to pick up much more of the tab, lessening the need for local property taxes in the process. New Jersey — when all school spending, local and state, is taken into account — spends more on education than any other state; but as the Ledger points out, the state provides less of it than other states.

The issue, unfortunately, has never just been about the formula; rather, it has been the political will of both voters and legislators who have rarely funded school aid formulas to the level necessary. By shorting funding at the same time that the state is forced to meet the court funding mandate for urban schools, the Legislature creates the perceived imbalance, generating resentment among suburban voters.

It is time to take a breath, to slow the process so we can truly understand the ramifications. Jumping to conclusions, as the Press does in its editorial, does little to advance the discussion.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

New formula boosts aid to local schools

The governor has unveiled his new state aid formula and it appears that most districts in the state will be receiving something — at least for now. Beyond that, however, it is unclear what the longterm ramifications of the new aid formula will be.

As the Star-Ledger points out in its brief coverage so far, the formula still has to get through both houses of the state Legislature and then pass muster with the state Supreme Court — by no means a guaranteed outcome.

In the shorterm, however, all four of the districts covered by the South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press will be seeing increases in aid.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.