| ||||||||||||
Many Morris County residents, board members and school officials are bewildered by the Draconian cuts that have been placed on school aid for 2010/11. What exactly have school districts done; we have done what the law required us to do; constructed budgets, had them approved by the state's agent (county superintendent of schools) and had them approved by the voters.
We did not determine any of the following; that 90
percent or more of the cost of running local schools
come solely from property taxes; that unlike other
states there are no state funds dedicated for
education, but rather those revenues all go into the
same general pot to be spent as the Legislature
determines; did not pass 78 laws that require
schools to provide services to special education
children above and beyond the federal requirements
and we did not enact legislation that requires us to
pay prevailing wages on every school project even
though this increases the cost by at least 30
percent..."
Christie's "slash and burn"
strategy
March 23, 2010
By JIM O'NEILL
Many Morris County residents, board members and
school officials are bewildered by the Draconian
cuts that have been placed on school aid for
2010/11. What exactly have school districts done;
we have done what the law required us to do;
constructed budgets, had them approved by the
state's agent (county superintendent of schools) and
had them approved by the voters.
We did not determine any of the following; that 90
percent or more of the cost of running local schools
come solely from property taxes; that unlike other
states there are no state funds dedicated for
education, but rather those revenues all go into the
same general pot to be spent as the Legislature
determines; did not pass 78 laws that require
schools to provide services to special education
children above and beyond the federal requirements
and we did not enact legislation that requires us to
pay prevailing wages on every school project even
though this increases the cost by at least 30
percent.
We did not create a system that puts boards of
education at a distinct disadvantage during
collective bargaining. We did not create the public
pension system that is now underfunded and the
scapegoat for New Jersey's fiscal woes. We simply
complied with the laws that govern schools as they
existed.
No one questions the fact that Gov. Chris Christie
inherited a fiscal debacle. No one doubts he had
difficult choices but it is fair for us to question the
slash and burn strategy which is purported to be
the only road to solvency. The governor correctly
pointed out that a lot of money has left the state in
recent years, but we would contend that excellent
schools stand as one of the few attractions that
bring families here. California had arguably the
finest public school system in the nation but with
the passage of Proposition 13 soon became one of
the worst.
Consequently, one could conclude that dramatically
reducing aid to schools in one year might not solve
all of our problems. What we did do is offer the
students in New Jersey one of, if not the best,
system of public education in the United States. If
public officials want to decry the poor performance
of U.S. students when compared with those in other
nations they should be careful to look more closely
at the data. Scrutiny of international test scores
actually demonstrates that New Jersey students from
communities with less than 25 percent poverty are
competitive with students from around the world.
Communities with high concentrations of poverty
have unique challenges and issues. New Jersey, like
most states, has not been successful in addressing
those issues. It is also true there are 10 outstanding
public schools in New Jersey for every one high
performing charter school. Inclinations to believe
otherwise are not supported by data.
Along with the great majority of Morris County
residents I voted for Christie. I was
impressed by the efforts of his transition team to
solicit information about regulations, mandates and
an eagerness to give us tools that would allow us to
moderate spending and level the playing field
during collective bargaining. I was also looking
forward to more moderate legislation and never
anticipated that in one year school districts would
be expected to make up for decades of ill conceived
legislation. It is hard to imagine how an
administration would advocate for districts that get
a mere 5 to 15 percent of their budget from the state
to increase their local share up to 100 percent?
Trenton should no longer complain about getting
45 cents back from Washington for every dollar we
send there.
Morris County residents are getting pennies. How
should we plan to use tools that don't exist? How
can we budget for employee contributions to health
benefits if that law has not yet passed or additional
retirements if those incentives are not yet law? Delay
the school budget vote in order for us to get a
chance to grapple with the extent of these cuts and
until we actually know there is legislation that offers
us relief or potential savings.
Finally, I say to the Republican legislators who have
bemoaned how poorly suburbia has been treated by
Democratic majorities in Trenton, step up to the
plate and make good on past promises. Ideally, we
would hope for a restoration of some aid in order to
lessen the impact of the excessive cuts that were
relayed to districts this past week. Spreading these
cuts over two years would even offer some relief. At
the very least, we should be able to secure a delay
in the school budget vote or we will have to
conclude that past expressions of sympathy
and understanding were disingenuous.
Jim O'Neill is superintendent of the School District
of the Chathams and president of the Morris County
Association of School Administrators.