| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Star Ledger - Education department anxious for next boss Long transition a drag on staff and reforms Monday, June 12, 2006
New York Times - Corzine Shifts to Collegiality on the Budget 6-12-06
Star Ledger - Property tax relief is eye of Corzine's budget storm...Lawmakers seek a give & take before they back spending plan Monday, June 12, 2006
Editorial Asbury Park Press - Child placement disparity Saturday, June 10, 2006
Editorial - Crack down on perks Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/12/06
The Record-Preschools fail to clear teachers
Monday, June 12, 2006
June 12 2006
Star Ledger - Education department anxious for next boss
Long transition a drag on staff and reforms
Monday, June 12, 2006
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
On the eve of taking office in January, Gov. Jon Corzine said he would launch a nationwide search for state education commissioner, arguably the highest profile job in his cabinet.
Six months later, the process remains shrouded in secrecy.
While a search committee put forward a list of four finalists two months ago, a final decision now seems likely to go deep into summer, after the budget is passed, officials said.
In the meantime, acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy continues to lead the department and, despite uncertainty about her tenure, is moving forward on issues such as school testing and funding.
The three other finalists are all from academia, including a former federal education official now dean at
On Friday, Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley confirmed "the search process is ongoing, and we should have a decision post-budget."
The uncertainty over the next boss has taken a toll, according to people inside and outside the Department of Education. Several interviewed, who requested anonymity for fear or reprisal, said the extended transition has made it difficult to advance issues like school finance and urban school reform.
One high-ranking department official said the uncertainty has some staff wondering if their work on projects "will be all for nothing." Another said it "affects our ability to get things done, not knowing if it all could be turned upside down."
Others questioned if the salary is an impediment to filling the position. The job pays $141,000, well below what many local superintendents make. Most agreed the governor needs to move soon.
"We've been working in earnest with the commissioner on a number of serious issues," said Edwina Lee, director of the New Jersey School Boards Association. "And we're feeling a little tenuous. ... We need to know who is going to lead."
In addition to Davy, Statehouse and administration officials said the finalists include:
· C. Kent McGuire, a
· Gary Natriello, professor of education at
· Joseph Youngblood II, president of John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy at Thomas Edison State College and a former
Davy repeatedly has refused to comment on the search process and has only said she continues to work as hard as she can.
She took over from former Commissioner William Librera when he left for a job at
Davy has been praised for her energy and ability to move forward several projects, including plans to revamp student testing, school monitoring and school funding. She has been seen as an especially tireless and loyal cheerleader for the governor during the state's tough budget straits.
"She certainly has not been passive in her leadership role, and that has been a positive for the state," said Arnold Hyndman, president of the state Board of Education and a member of the search committee.
Another committee member said she was not troubled by the deliberative process.
"The governor is being thoughtful and diligent on this," said Joyce Powell, president of the New Jersey Education Association, the state's dominant teachers union. "This is a critically important decision."
Among finalists, McGuire most often has been mentioned as the leading candidate, even when Librera first announced his departure.
McGuire, 51, served in former President Bill Clinton's administration as an assistant secretary for educational research and improvement, and in 2003 was named dean at
Reached Friday, McGuire said he remains interested but did not want to comment on specific details of his talks with the governor.
"I have had several good conversations about the job, and I did express interest in it," he said. "There are some really tough issues facing
Natriello is a professor of sociology and education at
A
Natriello said he didn't realize he was still in the mix, saying he was last interviewed in April by both the governor and his staff.
He said despite the state's budget woes, the commissioner post would be an attractive job for those who work closely with schools and education issues.
"There's the reality of available resources everywhere, and the key job of the commissioner is how to get the most of them," he said. "That's always interesting, and anyone involved in thinking about the operation of schools would find that an attractive challenge."
A
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at (973) 392-1548 or jmooney@starledger.com.
June 12, 2006
New York Times - Corzine Shifts to Collegiality on the Budget
By RICHARD G. JONES and DAVID W. CHEN
Almost immediately, legislative leaders complained that they were not being brought into discussions on matters like preparation of the budget, and they questioned whether Mr. Corzine's largely autonomous leadership style as a Wall Street investment banker would ever catch on in
But now, with the Legislature poised to engage more fully in considering the governor's $30.9 billion budget, State House veterans have noticed a significant shift: Mr. Corzine has begun courting the very lawmakers who had felt ignored just a few months ago.
"It hasn't been without its bumps," Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., a Democrat from
On Wednesday, Mr. Corzine began a series of closed-door meetings with his Democratic colleagues, some of whom have differed with him on such important elements of his budget proposal as raising the sales tax to 7 percent from 6 percent and cutting about $169 million in aid for higher education.
Those disagreements have not always been aired discreetly. Some lawmakers have taken turns criticizing Mr. Corzine's budget plan, rolling out their own counterproposals in press releases and news conferences over the past several weeks.
In addition, some Democrats, particularly those from urban districts, were bitterly disappointed when Mr. Corzine sought — and obtained — State Supreme Court approval for freezing $160 million in financing for the neediest school districts because of budgetary constraints.
Political analysts said Mr. Corzine's latest attempts to reach out to lawmakers might be meant to deflect budget dissent in his own party as much as a recognition that the style that succeeded on Wall Street might not win friends in
"Early on, there was some grumbling by Democrats that they had not been as fully consulted as they might have wished, that here was this autonomous figure who was coming in and telling them how things were going to be," said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University. "In more recent times, it seems that he recognizes that he has to work with the Legislature. I think we see more of a conciliatory relationship."
Insiders have also noticed a change.
"He's feeling his way," Mr. Roberts said. "This is a completely different environment for him, a whole new cast of characters. He's a very bright guy, he's determined to make a difference, and I think people want him to succeed and are reaching out to him in a good way."
For his part, Mr. Corzine has played down his recent efforts. At a housing conference on Wednesday, reporters asked the governor repeatedly whether he was intensifying his sales pitch for the budget.
He answered by saying that he had conducted "10, 15 town hall meetings" on the budget.
"When you get closer to the day of reckoning, we have to make sure that there's good discussion about what the options are," Mr. Corzine said. "Most of what we see is exactly what we've been told is general procedure"
He concluded by saying, "I don't think there's too much unusual here."
Still, there can be no denying that as the June 31 deadline for ratifying the budget approaches, his relationship with legislators has reached a more collegial pitch.
Dr. Harrison, recalling that Mr. Corzine was chairman and chief executive at Goldman Sachs, said: "How is this different from his days at Goldman Sachs? What he said, they got done, and sometimes they worked all night to get it done."
A series of disagreements with the Legislature over the past few months — including Mr. Corzine's proposal for a tax on hospital beds and his suggestion to offer self-service gasoline pumps — have "gotten him used to the idea" that he is not the only one involved in decisions, Dr. Harrison said.
That idea has also been reinforced by the sharpness of Democratic legislators' opposition to some of Mr. Corzine's budget plans, which calls for instituting several new taxes that would add $1.5 billion in revenue to help close a $4 billion shortfall.
As recently as May 22, State Senator Wayne R. Bryant, a Democrat of Camden County and the influential chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued a statement calling on Mr. Corzine to continue searching for more cuts. Asked if he would support Mr. Corzine's plan to raise the sales tax, Mr. Bryant replied: "Not today. But we're not voting today."
Early last month, another Senate Democrat, Shirley K. Turner of
Still, although the Democrats' complaints have been pointed, legislators expect that they will be overcome in the consultations over the budget. Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald, a Democrat of Camden County and the chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said such comments were part of the usual vetting process during budget season.
"This is the same process that we go through every year," Mr. Greenwald said.
Moreover, he said the governor's leadership style had not hindered his interaction with legislators. "Everybody obviously has their own unique style," he said. "I've enjoyed working with him and Brad Abelow" — the state treasurer — "very, very much. I think you're going to find it's a very smooth transition through the budget process."
Smooth or not, even Republicans have taken note of the governor's efforts to work with his legislative colleagues.
"This has been a tremendous learning curve for him, even though he's been in politics," said Assemblyman Joseph R. Malone, a Republican from
In that spirit, perhaps, Mr. Malone warned against reading too much into disputes over the budget.
"You're going to start seeing a lot of scrambling and a lot of posturing," he said. "It's not about the people running around at the supermarket. It's what the meal looks like at the end of the cooking."
Star Ledger - Property tax relief is eye of Corzine's budget storm
Lawmakers seek a give and take before they back spending plan
Monday, June 12, 2006
BY JOE DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff
James E. McGreevey's first budget was nearly hijacked by last-minute maneuvering over the
Richard Codey's first budget was the latest ever signed, after Democrats nearly punched each other out in heated back-room talks.
Now comes crunch time for Gov. Jon Corzine's first spending plan. And there is lots to argue about -- most notably the Democratic governor's plan to raise the sales tax, impose a new hospital tax and make major cuts in funding for colleges and universities -- before the budget deadline at the end of this month.
This year, the battle over Corzine's $30.9 billion budget proposal is complicated by an even more vexing struggle: how to reduce property taxes, an issue lawmakers last week announced they will begin work on in July.
Some lawmakers who are jittery about Corzine's plan to raise the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent say they'd sign onto it only if there was a plan to simultaneously reduce property taxes. Last year, homeowners' tax bills averaged nearly $5,900 -- up 29 percent in four years.
"If I've got to do a tax increase, it's going toward tax relief," said Assemblyman Gerald Green (D-Union).
Assembly Democrats soon will propose new spending cuts and revenue sources as an alternative to raising the sales tax, Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) said.
Last year, and earlier this year, there had been some talk among state officials of extending the sales tax to professionals like lawyers, accountants, doctors and others. That could raise as much as $2 billion, according to preliminary estimates.
However, because of the potentially huge payoff, lawmakers would like to keep that option available for property tax relief, Greenwald said. He said that alternative is not receiving serious consideration for the budget at this point.
'While everything is being considered, that is something that as of now is not being researched or discussed," he said. "None of the recurring revenues that are being proposed" would be raised by taxing professionals, he said.
Greenwald said Assembly Democrats also want to get rid of the plan for a tax on hospital beds and restore proposed cuts to higher education.
"Nothing's dead. Everything remains on the table," Greenwald said. "It still comes down to a game of dollars and cents. We have to have enough dollars to satisfy the mandatory programs."
And it all has to be worked out before the new budget year begins July 1.
Last year, Assembly Democrats proposed nearly $500 million in cuts and $550 million in business taxes to persuade Codey to scrap his plan to cut taxpayer rebates. Codey rejected most of the proposals but did find enough money to provide $350 rebates for nearly 1.8 million non-senior homeowners.
Administration officials and some lawmakers privately doubt there is a realistic way to balance the budget without the higher sales tax. Including extensions to currently untaxed services also recommended by Corzine, it would raise about $1.5 billion and cost the average family about $260 annually.
In recent comments, Corzine said he hasn't heard "one question" about the sales tax during several town meetings. "It doesn't mean people are happy about it because they're not."
"But people are concerned about the cuts to the disabled, they're concerned about the cuts to higher education ... they're concerned about things that will impact their ability to take care of their families," he said. "They know we have a problem and it needs to be corrected."
Treasurer Bradley Abelow said one of the administration's main concerns in negotiations with legislators is that nothing be done to make next year's budget hole deeper. Abelow contends even with the sales tax increase, the state will have to close a gap of at least $2 billion next year.
Corzine said in his March budget address that he wants no more than $500 million in "one-shot" revenues. Nor will he consider any additional tax increases, such as an income tax surtax or higher corporate taxes.
Many legislators would like to reduce by half or more the $1.1 billion increase Corzine is seeking for the state's under-funded pension system. The governor recently said he would be extremely reluctant to do so given the fund's dire long-term outlook.
Corzine has dismissed as unrealistic a proposal by Green, Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester) and Sen. Steven Sweeney (D-Gloucester) to reopen state worker contracts and get $700 million in salary and benefit give-backs from the unions.
"He doesn't like my offer? Well, I don't like his," Sweeney said.
Corzine met with legislative leaders last Wednesday to begin seeking compromises, but it was clear they have a long way to go.
"I don't think there's any consensus on anything at this juncture," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) said.
Democrats are feeling heat over the sales tax from Republicans and from groups like Americans for Prosperity. Founded by Bogota Mayor Steven Lonegan, an unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial contender last year, it has begun running $100,000 worth of television and radio ads calling on five Democratic senators from so-called "swing" districts to oppose the tax hike. Lonegan's group plans a Statehouse rally June 24.
Looming in the background is the issue of property taxes. Last Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) and Senate President Codey (D-Essex) announced they will hold a special session this summer and convene several study committees to draw up plans for major property tax reform.
Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex), the Republican chairman in
"You can't pass the buck anymore. You can't point to the past," O'Toole said. "If there isn't significant meaningful property tax reform, you are going to see a lot of incumbent assemblymen and senators lose their elections next year and that's just an inescapable fact."
Josh Margolin contributed to this report. Joe Donohue covers state government and politics. He may be reached at jdonohue@starledger.com or (609) 989-0208.
Editorial 6-10-06
|
|
| |
Asbury Pk Press/Editorial - Child placement disparity Saturday, June 10, 2006 The facts were startlingly simple. White preschoolers with disabilities were sent to a highly re garded private program for special education, while not a single black or Hispanic student was deemed a good candidate for the school, even though these students had virtually identical diagnosis and treatment plans. Worse yet, black and Hispanic students were far more likely to end up in half-day programs or programs that extended over a shorter period of the year, while white students received full-day school for more months out of the year. Alerted to the disturbing pattern in the Under federal law, 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities are entitled to preschool education paid for by the local district. As with older children, the schooling may take place in district or at a private school. Non-public schools are eligible for taxpayer money provided they are willing to take all children regardless of race or religion. Where a child goes is determined by a child study team working with parents. In Even so, it is the obligation of the district to direct children to the most appropriate placement. The disparity in placement suggests that didn't occur, the state investigation concluded. The |
Editorial - Crack down on perks
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 06/12/06
Gov. Corzine last week vetoed the perk-laden contract of
Unfortunately, Corzine has no authority over administrator contracts in districts not subject to direct state control. A state Senate committee cleared a bill Thursday that would provide more transparency and accountability in negotiating contracts with school administrators, but it deferred action on two others. One would cap school administrators' supplemental pay for sick time at $15,000. Another would establish uniform standards for contracts for top administrators and guarantee public access to those contracts. Both should be approved by the Legislature and signed into law.
Many of the provisions in Knox's contract Corzine found to be objectionable are common throughout the state. The compensation abuses of school administrators were well documented in a report released by the State Commission of Investigation in March. The SCI offered several recommendations. Among them: imposing statewide caps on the number of allowable sick and vacation days, restricting how many of these days can be carried over and cashed in, requiring strict adherence to pension calculation rules so extra compensation or extra job titles don't inflate the administrator's salary for pension purposes, and prohibiting reimbursement for opting out of group health insurance.
No one can blame school administrators for trying to negotiate the best possible contract. But taxpayers deserve to have school boards that negotiate hard on their behalf. Too many boards have not. As a consequence, the Legislature must intervene.
The Record-Preschools fail to clear teachers
Monday, June 12, 2006
Teachers and other employees have been allowed to work at state-funded preschools even when no evidence exists that required background checks have been done, The Record has found.
The checks, designed to prevent criminals and child abusers from working with children, are frequently incomplete or missing, according to records provided by the state.
"I've tried to highlight this as an issue that demands immediate attention," said Gordon MacInnes, the assistant education commissioner in charge. "My ideal world is nobody works until the process has run its course and they have a clean sign-off from the fingerprint check. Apparently that's not always possible."
At every licensed day-care center in the state, employees are required to submit their fingerprints for a review by the FBI and New Jersey State Police. Employees are also required to have state child abuse records searched to determine if an incident of abuse or neglect has ever been substantiated.
But at the private centers, audits show, that doesn't always happen. In some cases, auditors found staff never applied for the checks. Other times, employees had submitted paperwork, but background checks were not completed -- sometimes for months.
Last year, proof that every required check had been completed was missing at 24 out of the 31 school districts that are governed by the court order. Audits at the preschools found that 30 of 68 centers were missing checks. The year before, 25 school districts were missing proof of the checks.
The executive director at
And in
"The system is subject to error and appears to be an unreliable source," auditors wrote in April.
MacInnes says his department has stressed the importance of the criminal and child-abuse reviews and is "finding a much lower incidence" of missing checks. He said he had increased monitoring and personally called school superintendents when "I've seen something that really frightened me."
"On this issue we've gone from zero to 80 on a 100-point scale," MacInnes said.
The preschool program has been plagued with management problems at the private day-care centers. An investigation by The Record in April found that centers have flagrantly misspent public money but continue to receive preschool contracts that pay $14,000 per child, on average, per year.
Conflicting rules set by the two state agencies involved -- the departments of Human Services and Education -- have hindered the program's financial accountability. The rules also don't match up when it comes to background checks.
The Human Services Department, which licenses day-care centers, allows employees to work with children while background checks are being processed, as long as another staff member is present. There is no time limit on how long an employee can work without having a completed check.
The Abbott preschool contract, written by the Education Department, requires criminal checks to be completed before the program begins, and states that employees without those checks must be immediately removed. Public school employees also may not begin working until a criminal background check is complete.
However, the contract also says centers must follow the Human Services rules. Education officials said they have met several times with Human Services.
"We are very concerned with any inconsistencies there may be, and we hope to work with the Legislature to assess and identify areas where we may want to enhance the law," said Sue Esterman, spokeswoman for the Human Services Department.
It's up to the day-care centers to ensure that all employees are cleared. Employee files are reviewed for the checks by Human Services every three years when a center's license is renewed; the state child abuse checks are redone for all staff at that time. Last year, 16,820 day-care center employees had criminal history checks and 14 were disqualified, according to the Human Services Department.
School districts contract with private centers to run preschool classes and are supposed to ensure that checks are complete. But district officials said they have contended with widespread confusion.
"They would show us that they had the papers saying there was an appointment [for fingerprinting]," said Pat Bryant, early childhood supervisor for Jersey City Public Schools, which has opted to follow the stricter rule. "But the employee still can't work. You have to have the results."
But many centers didn't follow the rules, or never received final clearance.
"There were long lapses ... in some cases I know it was months," said Bryant.
Four state auditing offices have reviewed select preschools' personnel files in recent years. In a report published last month, New Jersey State Auditor Richard L. Fair wrote that missing background checks were a "common finding" at the private centers.
In a 2003 report, Fair's office sampled 239 employee files and found that one-third had "no evidence" of criminal background checks. The office also reviewed another 167 files for child abuse checks, and found that nearly one in five "lacked evidence" of those checks.
The Record examined internal audits from the 2003-04 school year in
State audits also mentioned instances where preschools were hiring workers by the day for menial jobs. One
At
E-mail: carroll@northjersey.com and rimbach@northjersey.com