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Politickernj - Special ed concerns placed before committee... "...Fifty-seven percent of special education costs are borne by taxpayers, he said, while the remainder comes from state and federal aid, but it wasn’t always that way. State funding once covered half of special education’s costs, he said (John Burns, NJ School Boards Assoc)..."
Politickernj - League of Municipalities unveils tax cut proposal
Politickernj - Special ed concerns placed before committee
By Bill Mooney | June 11th, 2013 - 2:02pm
TRENTON – Special education in New Jersey is underfunded, oddly regulated and – according to some – in danger of being dismantled as an effective initiative. That was the testimony provided by some witnesses at today’s Joint Committee on the Public Schools.
Sen. Ron Rice, (D-28), Newark, convened the bipartisan panel to receive testimony from educators about the threats special education faces.
For example, kicking off the hearing was John Burns of the N.J. School Boards Association who said that since 2001, special education’s needs have been increasing while state aid has been decreasing.
Fifty-seven percent of special education costs are borne by taxpayers, he said, while the remainder comes from state and federal aid, but it wasn’t always that way. State funding once covered half of special education’s costs, he said.
Complicated eligibility formulae plus the local levy cap have just exacerbated the financial burden, he explained.
He said his association is conducting a study that among other things will examine issues such as more shared services, reducing out-of-district placements, and implementing better training of personnel.
Representatives of the Education Law Center, the N.J. Education Association and other related groups decried the special education changes the administration is trying to enact.
They cited a litany of concerns, including drawing out time frames for evaluations from 30 days to 90 days while shortening the time frame to report to families and disregarding parental notifications until after some waivers have already been granted.
Marie Blistan, a classroom teacher with more than 30 years in special education, and NJEA secretary-treasurer, used words such as “baffled,’’ “frightened,’’ and “dismayed’’ to describe to lawmakers teachers’ and parents’ emotions about the proposed changes.
She told the panel that although there are reports the changes are postponed, she said they can’t get answers about what their fate will be.
Rice addressed that aspect, regarding changes of such sweeping nature being made by administrative code changes.
“I never really liked changes in codes,’’ he said, “because they come and go. We should go back as legislators and codify,’’ which he said was one of the reasons for the hearing, to collect stakeholders’ input.
Another aspect that frightens parents of special education students is the increased litigious nature of meetings with district officials over a special education student’s program.
Sen. Diane Allen, (R-7), Edgewater Park, said that “We’ve heard more and more that schools bring a lawyer to that meeting. Parents don’t know that’s going to happen. They can’t afford one, and they shouldn’t have to deal with it.”
Burns acknowledged that the focus needs to be less on possible litigation and more on the student’s educational needs.
Politickernj - League of Municipalities unveils tax cut proposal
By Minhaj Hassan | June 11th, 2013 - 1:54pm
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WEST LONG BRANCH – A property tax reform task force of the New Jersey League of Municipalities has come out with a multiyear proposal to cut property taxes by 35 percent by the fourth year by increasing the state income tax rates on all income and expanding the sales tax.
The proposal calls for a maximum $7,000 property tax cut on primary residences over four years. The average family would save $2,700, the task force projects. Tenants would receive a $200 rebate, the League said Tuesday.
The main driver of property taxes is the local school systems, which NJLM has called inequitable.
“School funding using the property tax is regressive and should be replaced by a more progressive method (such as) the ability to pay based upon annual income,” the report said.
The report said that property taxes are higher than income, sales and corporate taxes combined, “so any reform should shift part of the property tax burden to income taxes, sales taxes or both.” The task force also recommended merging the existing direct property tax relief programs – Homestead Rebates and Senior Freeze – into one program.
But the bulk of the property tax cut would be made possible by increasing income tax rates. The proposal calls for paying 2.245 percent on all income between $50,000 and $70,000. As it’s currently structured, a portion of one’s income is taxed at one rate and another portion at a different rate. Generally, the more you make, the higher the portion. In taxation parlance, this is known as “graduated.”
The task force proposes the following income tax rates be applied for the entire income, and not just portions. The rates are: 8.5 percent income tax rate for those earning $500,000 or more; 6 percent for income between $150,000 and $500,000; 5 percent tax rate between $80,000 and $150,000. All these rates would be lowered from the current 8.97 percent, 6.37 percent and 5.525 percent rates, respectively.
The task force projects the shift would generate an additional $3.9 billion in income tax revenue that could go toward decreasing property taxes. By fiscal year 2017, the shift would generate an additional $4.7 billion to $5.1 billion.
Between the higher income tax rates and absorption of the current direct property tax relief programs, property taxes would be cut by nearly $6 billion over the four-year period that it’s phased in, the League says.
