S1701 A99 UPDATE

Major Issues:

S1701 has negative impact on local schools. This funding law requires contextual review of its entirety to understand its consequences.

Surplus reduction: Traditionally used for property tax relief by local districts. This practice allows for a smoother budget process with advantage of foresight. Reasonable surplus tempers emergent situations. The state has no provision for rainy day funds at state level that might provide a safety net. Surplus reduction creates future ‘hole’ in budget that will have to be made up via increase in property taxes.

Second Question Restrictions – (1) Greatly reduces what local schools may place on the ballot (even when local taxpayers must approve, thus holding their local district accountable the through their vote); (2) Inappropriately assigns final control in second question decision-making to county-state administrators.

Administrative Spending Limits: (1) Caps administrative cost growth to 2.5%, regardless of where district spending is lower than the state-defined benchmark for effective/efficient spending in this category; (2) does not take enrollment growth into account; (3) does not take differing needs of student body into account.

Loss of local control: separate questions require county and state approval although it is local decision whether or not to locally support the expenditure required. There is a state-controlled ‘filter’ a district must wade through before even being allowed to formally propose a second question: programs/services in a prior budget are not allowed to be put in a second question at all. Flexibility is curtailed and there is little room to promote improvement needed to maintain quality education. In certain cases, the law permits the state to dictate where a local district may spend its revenue for support and administrative services.

What is GSCS doing about this law, passed in haste last June?

Since July, GSCS Work Groups & members have been meeting with key legislators and staff from both sides of the aisle to impress their concerns about the negative impact of this legislation to Trenton. GSCS believes that the optimum way to deal with school funding issues would be to slow down and hurry up. S1701 was passed in haste, the repeal S1701/A99 [PL2004, c. 73] would buy time to review and really improve school finance in NJ. A3231/Baroni would accomplish that.

Two important meetings are scheduled in the next 2 weeks:

ü      October 12, Marlboro Board of Education [1908 Township Dr.] 1 pm, with Senator Karcher, and Assemblymen Morgan and Panter of the 12^th district/those parents, board members and superintendents whose schools are in the 12^th district are especially encouraged to attend. [See ‘ http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/’ for 12^th district communities].

ü       October 13 at the Paramus School District 7:30 pm [See attached flyer]. This is set to be a large regional meeting where the ‘real culprits’ in school spending will be noted and the need for & whats of “Tools for Schools” will be featured. The meeting is presented by Dollars & Sense, a combined effort of the Demarest, Ramsey and Ridgewood Schools. GSCS’ Lynne Strickland will be a speaker as well as legislative panel moderator. Be among the hundreds of people expected to show…showing up is counts the most.

Future Regional Meetings in the works:     Glen Ridge/ December; Mt Laurel – February; Ewing – Date to be Announced.

GSCS is asking the Legislature to give ‘Schools the Tools’ they need to address cost drivers.

Consider legislative redress and cap waivers for the following/initial examples:

• Health benefit increases/annual growth

• Clarity is needed to understand that when state aid for mandated programs is not distributed by the state, local taxpayers must make up the difference. There is a direct relationship between property tax increases and unfunded state aid. The state should acknowledge this relationship by allowing districts a cap waiver in when already legislated state aid is not given to schools. This underfunding has been occurring for the past several years, especially in mandated programs that experience student enrollments increases, e.g.:

    e.g., Special Education

            Bi-Lingual Education

            Transportation

• There are some mandated programs that not aided being the state: e.g., Professional Development. A cap waiver should be granted in this case.

• Safety busing costs

• Insurance/Utilities increases

• Private Providers: (1) Curb delayed (up to 3 years currently allowed) billing;

           (2) accountability for tuition growth that exceeds same caps applied to local districts.

What can you do?

Contact your local legislators to talk about your concerns about this negative legislation - they need to hear directly from you; set up local meetings with your legislators, GSCS will be glad to facilitate these meetings at your request; stay informed and inform other parents and neighbors in your community .... Call GSCS with any questions.

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FYI – PROPERTY TAX CONVENTION TASK FORCE

The Star Ledger editorial referenced in this EMAILNET pretty much sums up a number of GSCS’ concerns about the frailty of a convention. GSCS has favored a special session of the legislature as the most effective way to deal with property tax overburden. In addition, issues such as school funding are complex and require knowledge, resources, expertise & full staffing in order grapple successfully with the complexity and ramifications involved. The Governor signed the bill effecting The Property Tax Convention Task Force in July. The mission of the Task Force is to address the why, whats, and how-to’s of a possible convention and then to report out its recommendations to Trenton by December 31. The Task Force held its organizing meeting last week and set the following public hearing schedule: 

ü      Monday, October 4, 2004 (Bergen Community College) 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

ü      Wednesday, October 6, 2004 (Mercer Community College) 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

ü      Tuesday, October 19, 2004 (Camden Community College) 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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                                               ‘HEADLINES…..’

Ø      The Star Ledger   “ Major questions about a convention”

              Sunday editorial,9-19-04 [excerpts follow/full article attached]

….Initially we backed the idea of a constitutional convention to accomplish these changes, but it's not our first choice to get the job done. The Legislature is. As the task force begins its job, we ask it to consider a few points.

• Could the Legislature enact property tax reform sooner?...
• Can a convention keep special interests in check? …
• Can convention organizers control the agenda? …

These are questions the task force needs to address in determining whether a convention is the answer. It is if the Legislature continues to dither instead of tackling real property tax reform.

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Ø      NJ Department of Education News re: “No Child Left Behind” Scores Reported….

Commissioner of Education William L. Librera today announced that almost74 percent of New Jersey's public schools have met the federal standards for Adequate Yearly Progress based on their preliminary 2004

standardized test scores, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

http://www.state.nj.us/njded/news/0929ayp.htm

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Ø       Courier News, 9-30-04   “ Demand for new schools may drop”

MOUNT LAUREL -- As state help diminishes for most New Jersey school districts looking to add more classrooms, the demand for more and bigger schools appears to be slowing, too.

…..New U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday show that 11 of the state's 21 counties had fewer children under 5 years old in 2003 than they did three years earlier…