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The best way to tell Trenton how you and your district are impacted is to ' show up' - when events are scheduled are the issue, be there. Make phone calls, send emails. Always have a few specific - and credible - points to make. Your presence at events is a visual aid and will be noticed.
Read GSCS testimony below & attached here (see underlined re:Special Education Categorical Aid loss and "Important Numbers" section where statewide aid loss cited); refer to GSCS Tables on Formula Aid below to find how your district and your county aid loss compares statewide and report that in your communications as well. Let GSCS hear from you about impacts on your district.
Again, make phone calls (emails are okay of course too, but yet phone calls must be recorded)to Trenton folks - not only your local legislators but also Chairs of the Assembly and Senate Budget & Appropriations Committees; Legislative leadership, including Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Oliver; the Administration - Governor Christie and the Commissioner of Education, Bret Schundler.
Stay up-to-date and informed since issues will continue to change and be modified as the Appropriations Act process progresses - check the GSCS website often - the website is updated several times a week. Contact information may be found at the New Jersey Legislature homepage website. For more information & testimony, click here on
For legislators, see left side on homepage for links to "Members" and Committees";
For Administrastion (Governor and Commissioner of Education) click on 'Executive Branch' at top of homepage
Garden State Coalition of Schools/GSCS
204 West States Street. Trenton, N.J. 08608
609 394 2828 732 618 5755
gscs2000@gmail.com www.gscschools.org
Good morning, Chairman and members of the Committee. I am Lynne Strickland, Executive Director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools (GSCS), a statewide association which currently represents 100 school districts from Bergen to Camden counties. GSCS is primarily suburban and member districts’ student population is approximately 350,000.
As you are aware, the Governor’s proposal to cut state school aid for 2011 arrived in school districts just last Thursday. This mid-March plan was fast on the heels of a February cut of $875M in statewide school surplus to help balance this year’s state budget. The extent of the newly-announced aid reduction was a shock to school communities across the state; the timeline remaining to prepare budgets reflecting these reductions has been less than a week. Another surprise was the additional 15% cut to debt service aid, as well as an unprecedented assessment against school construction grants’ principal and interest charges. Grants are only permitted by public referenda. Will the public lose confidence in their own vote when Trenton voids it ten years after the law that called for a public vote to approve local school construction; where the amount of a grant must be printed on the ballot and labeled ‘state share’?
We have attached information sheets that demonstrate the far-reaching impacts of these cuts for districts and to the state’s public education well-being. We are legitimately concerned for the clear negatives these cuts will cause and all of us must recognize that quality education in New Jersey is clearly at risk.
If you review GSCS testimony over the past years (from its existence nearly 18 years ago), GSCS has noted that while schools must be part of the solution, so must be the state’s policies. We have reported on mandates and fixed costs that are beyond local control, such as health benefits, insurances, utilities, scope of negotiations, mediation processes and more. You will also see that GSCS underscores the importance on stability and predictability being cornerstones for good budget building. To date, this 'yo-yo' year re: school aid has had neither and that omission will have to take its toll.
Garden State is pleased that the Governor is taking a lead on mandate relief, as well as promoting legislation that will bring the ‘tools for schools’ that GSCS has so often talked about to a hopeful reality.
GSCS, however, has to take exception to the severe cuts on the table now. Why? Because they will do real harm to our children’s learning. Too much loss, so little time…..
Further, the tools needed for schools to be able to withstand large and deep reductions are needed now. Is that possible? We hope probable. We do wonder if the legislature can rise to the challenge to get policies enacted within the next few months that could cushion the loss of aid…we challenge the legislature to find a way to restore enough aid to keep districts from leveling down quality education in districts where it is has taken so long, and taken such commitment and perseverance to build.
The reduction of special education categorical aid is specifically questionable both in terms of harming both the education for the special needs child but also for the regular education student. There simply is not enough funding, and one program will tug against the other and pit kids and parents against one another more than ever. The mandate of special education is ignored in this reduction and that may have unintended consequences legally as well.
If the legislature does find a way to restore some school aid we urge you to return it to schools for use in programs – special education would be a good place for returned aid – so that it can be put to use in FY’11. GSCS’ institutional memory reminds us that this has been done before (in 2003 when extraordinary aid to special education was increased from $12M to $52M) so there is precedent for plugging aid back into school budgets. Similarly if some of those ‘tools’ become available to schools such as the 1.5% of teacher salaries for health benefits, that money should flow to the school budgets to help stabilize the budgets.
If legislation passes that results in numerous retirements, GSCS recommends that the interim policies be revisited to find a positive way to permit continuity of administrator service to home districts. The supply and demand tension with many likely retirements could cause a real vacuum of talent and availability, another stability issue.
GSCS will be watching the legislature and the Governor find a way meet the challenge to work together to do the right thing - to protect our children, and to bring stability again to quality public education.
Attachments: District Vignettes, Tables - State Aid Loss figures
Important School Aid Reduction Numbers
February 2010 – Immediate aid cut -
Surplus Reduction Statewide = minus $475M
GSCS Surplus Reduction = minus $89M
Governor’s March 16, 2010 Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2011:
State Formula Aid Reduction Statewide = minus $820M
GSCS State Formula Aid Reduction = minus $246M
Special Education Categorical Aid Statewide Reduction =
minus $306,496,252
Special Education Categorical Aid FY10 = $730,145,733
Special Education Categorical Aid FY11 = $423,649,733
Garden State Coalition of Schools State Budget FY ‘11
‘A Snapshot of GSCS Districts in Their Budget Struggles’
Each district starts from a different place as they decide how to cut their spending for FY ’11, but the pattern that emerges shows extensive expected cuts in staffing, supplies, textbooks, student activities, maintenance repairs and professional development. And because of the state’s absorption of surplus funds this spring, another casualty is any tax relief for local communities. The specter haunting all districts is that a failure at the polls will bring even more drastic cuts. These quotes sum up the pain in local communities.
“Funny, as I look at the list the cuts will all lead to higher costs in the long run.”
“We made cuts that will change the quality of education negatively after working for many years to build a level of programming and instruction that we could be proud of.”
“Thousands of people out of work, our students warehoused, an increased burden on those who are left.
“We were just told (Monday,3-22-10, late afternoon) we may not take a waiver that puts us over cap because we are an "over adequacy" district. Must cut another 1.2 million tomorrow. Sick .”
Bergen County
A Pre-K-12 district is cutting
• over 50 positions district-wide in all areas — administration, teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians
• $300,000 from funding for clubs and sports
• 20% of funding for classroom supplies
• technology funding back to repairs only
• textbook replacements
• summer programs
• all professional development other than Title 1 funded
• most field trips
A K-12 district is planning to
• outsource custodial services
• implement activity fees
• freeze central office salarys
• only minimal increase all non-teaching salaries
• reduced funds for supplies and professional development
• make secretarial cuts
• reduce substitute daily pay rates
A regional high school is planning to
• cut 4 teachers, 3.6 office professionals, 2 aides
• reduce speech therapy services
• increase tuition charged for the preschool program that provides child development experience for high school students
• reduce athletic programs
• cut textbook accounts district-wide
• reduce funding for curriculum writing and staff development
• outsource night custodians
A K-12 district, which lost all special education state aid, is considering
• cutting 10 teaching positions
• cutting all sports programs & extracurricular activities, including the band program
A K-12 district plans to implement
• administrative reorganization affecting 5 positions
• cuts in capital improvements, instrumental music program for 5th graders, collaborative teaching positions at the high school and a guidance counselor position
A K-12 district expects to
• cut 28 teaching positions, 32 aide positions (including all kindergarten aides), 9 secretarial positions and 1.5 administrative positions
• freeze maintenance projects
• eliminate stipends for 44 middle school clubs
• eliminate part-time summer work
• institute a fee for summer school
• implement a student activity fee at the high school
Burlington County
A K-8 district with 68% of enrollment qualifying for free- or reduced-price lunch
• is eliminating a planned renovation project to address safety and regulation issues: roof, boiler, windows, electrical service, ADA compliance, etc.
Essex County
A K-12 district has
• requested a one-year salary freeze from teachers and administrators. For the second consecutive year the superintendent is foregoing a salary increase.
• eliminated 5 to 6 teachers (including the Gifted & Talented teacher), the same number of aides, 1 assistant principal, 1 guidance counselor, 1 secretary, 1 buildings & grounds person
• converted all remaining aide positions to part-time
• cut freshman athletics and eliminated or consolidated various high school clubs & activities
• If further cuts are needed, the 25-year-old full-day kindergarten program will be reduced to half-day and the high school scheduled will be reduced from 8 to 7 periods.
A K-12 district is considering
• eliminating positions from all areas
• eliminating non-mandated busing
• reducing all stipends
• adjusting salaries and changing health benefit plans
Mercer County
A K-12 district will be eliminating
• 23 faculty members and 28 support staff
• most after-school and summer programs for struggling learners
• many teacher stipends for curriculum work
• some athletic programs
• some high school science, social studies and English electives and
• cutting back world language, music and art at the elementary level
A K-12 district expects to
• cut 45 full-time and 7 part-time staff positions, including teachers, kindergarten aides, administrators, custodians, secretaries, and child study team / librarian / guidance positions
• cut summer programs for middle & high schoolers, summer enrichment programs and a summer community program
• reduce services in after-school programs for at-risk students
• eliminate most assistant coaches
• reduce funds for transportation and supplies
Middlesex County
A K-12 district was forced to
• cut staffing across all departments and levels
• slash extracurricular activies
• increase parent pay fees
• defer (in other words, deeply cut) textbooks purchases and supplies in all areas
Monmouth County
Before the governor’s budget message a K-12 district adopted a preliminary budget that
• cuts a supervisor, teaching positions, and support personnel
• eliminates athletics, field trips, maintenance of facilities
• cuts supplies, capital projects and technology replacement, and more
A K-8 district is facing the loss of
• 46 employees, including bus drivers because of the need to outsource bus transportation
Sussex County
A K-12 district has proposed eliminating
• 24 teachers, 4 to 5 assistant principals, several secretaries, a child study team
• all sports and co-curriculars at the middle and high school level
• guidance services in all schools but the high school
• activity buses
• textbook replacements
Union County
A K-12 district is forced to cut
• staff positions in all areas
• middle and high school athletics
• classroom and maintenance equipment
• renovation and repairs
