| ||||||||||||
‘N.J. teachers union files suit challenging health benefit contributions’ Statehouse Bureau
‘Parents urge Bernards officials to carefully cut school budget’ Star Ledger
‘Christie claims mandate for school budget reforms’ The Record - "...The administration said it is preparing measures for consideration by the Legislature next month. They will include a constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent annually, a rollback of pension benefits for teachers and other public employees, and a return of the “last, best offer” option for school boards to impose settlements on unions.Christie would also waive certain state mandates for local schools. The administration is reviewing suggestions to relax class size limits in poor districts, loosen requirements for special education services, allow schools to share nurses, and eliminate the mandate for 2.5 hours per week of physical education in elementary school..."
‘N.J. teachers union files suit challenging health benefit contributions’
By Statehouse Bureau Staff , April 28, 2010, 7:00PM
NJEA filed a lawsuit today against the new law requiring state employees to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries toward their health benefits.
TRENTON -- New Jersey's largest teachers' union filed suit today against a new state law requiring all public employees to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health benefits.
In the suit, filed in Mercer County Superior Court, the union claims the law violates teachers’ rights to negotiate their salaries and benefits at the local level.
"We are asking the court to see this for what it is: a tax imposed selectively on public employees only," said New Jersey Education Association President Barbara Keshishian, whose union represents 200,000 teachers and other school employees.
The law was part of a package of pension reforms passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law last month by Gov. Chris Christie. It is scheduled to take effect on May 21, or when current labor contracts expire. Lawmakers project it will save local governments $314 million this year.
The suit claims the new contributions will cause "significant financial hardship" on teachers and school employees "who have provided long-standing, honorable and essential service to the public school students in the state of New Jersey."
The NJEA lawsuit comes less than a week after the state’s police and firefighters unions challenged the 1.5 percent law, plus the two other pension reform bills, on similar grounds.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the governor expects to prevail in court.
"The NJEA is an organization that doesn’t know the meaning of the words fair, reasonable or compromise," he said. "It’s time for change, and everyone but the NJEA seems to recognize that."
Earlier today, when asked about the police and fire lawsuits, Christie said he was confident the pension laws he signed were constitutional and urged the court to allow the changes to go into effect.
"I don't think it'll change reform going forward because, candidly, anybody can file a lawsuit," he said. "Anybody in the world can file a lawsuit, and as a lawyer I know that. So just because a lawsuit's been filed doesn't mean that there's any merit to it. And candidly, I think that it would be better spent time for the unions to be sitting down and trying to figure out how they're going to be part of the shared sacrifice moving forward."
The laws passed last month largely affect future hires but require current workers to put in at least 1.5 percent of their salaries toward health care costs, something state workers already contribute. The payments would not carry into retirement for those already eligible for free health benefits when they leave government service. New proposals discussed by the governor, but not yet detailed, would extend many of the same changes to current employees, though they would have to be approved by the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
"I'm confident that there is a will in the Legislature -- I can tell you there's a will in this governor's office -- to continue to examine all kinds of reforms that will bring the public sector back into line with the private sector during these really difficult economic times," Christie said. "I have confidence that we'll prevail in court. We'll move on from there to discuss a lot of other reforms, pension-related and non-pension related, that need to be done between now and the end of the legislative session on June 30."
By Matt Friedman and Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau
‘Parents urge Bernards officials to carefully cut school budget’
By Stephen Stirling/ The Star-Ledger April 28, 2010, 8:05PM
BERNARDS -- The Bernards Township Committee began discussing the local school district’s defeated budget Tuesday night, and though its members weren’t specific about what they planned to do with it they were unanimous in the use of one word to describe what their action would be: Cut.
About a a dozen parents and supporters of the Bernards School District pleaded with the committee to use a delicate touch when cutting the budget, which was defeated last week by more than 400 votes.
“We need to be directing our anger at Trenton,” said Bernards resident Karen Gray, blaming Gov. Chris Christie for slashing state aid to the district. “We pay our taxes like everyone else, we should be getting more back.”
The Bernards Board of Education presented a school budget that would have raised the tax levy by more than 5 percent, a move that would have increased taxes by about $383 for the average homeowner. Committeeman John Carpenter said the vote demonstrated the public’s clear message that taxes are too high.
“I don’t believe the governor is to blame. I believe we permitted ourselves for too long to be led, quite frankly, by fools,” he said. “I don’t see us getting any more state aid ever so we really have to adjust to a new reality. We’re even more on our own now than ever.”
While some of the 60 people in attendance called for teachers to take a salary freeze, Bernards School District Superintendent Valerie Goger said contract talks were at an impasse. She added that even if a freeze were negotiated, the savings would not be a panacea for the district’s problems.
“That’s simply not true,” she said. “It would help but it certainly wouldn’t solve our problems.”
Goger said a salary freeze would equate to $600,000 in savings for next year while the defeated budget called for $1 million more than the 4 percent state cap on the tax levy.
She said the defeated budget represented the district’s efforts to maintain services while avoiding a potential $3.3 million budget gap for next year.
“We debated about how much above the 4 percent tax cap would be reasonable to bear,” she said. “We developed a ‘shared pain structure,’ as we called it.”
Committeewoman Mary Pavlini said she sympathizes, but it is the committee’s responsibility to act on what the voting public voiced.
“The people have said the increase is too much, they haven’t told us how much is too much,” she said. “We can’t guess it, all we know is that the people said it’s too much, and we need to look at where we can go from here.”
The Bernards Township Committee is expected to take action on the defeated budget at their May 10 meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Bernards Municipal Building.
‘Christie claims mandate for school budget reforms’
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Last updated: Thursday April 22, 2010, 4:11 PM
BY PATRICIA ALEX, LESLIE BRODY AND JOHN REITMEYER
The Record
STAFF WRITERS
Governor Christie said Wednesday that voters statewide were “crystal clear” in their desire to stem the growing cost of New Jersey’s public schools, and that he will move aggressively on reforms to roll back teacher pensions, cap labor costs and aid school boards at the bargaining table.
Record turnout led to school budget defeats in more than 58 percent of districts in the state on Tuesday, the largest proportion in more than three decades. Last year, only about a third of budgets failed.
The results in Bergen County stood in stark contrast to the overall trend: Seventy-three percent of school budgets passed in the most populous of the state’s 21 counties. There were notable exceptions, however, such as Teaneck and Ridgewood, where spending plans were rejected.
School budgets statewide contained deep cuts due to a loss of $820 million in state aid. More than 1,200 school employees are set to lose their jobs in Passaic County, where voters rejected 12 of 18 budgets.
“I see my job as superintendent as keeping the whole thing glued together as best I can,” said Patrick Martin, schools chief in Ringwood, where the budget that was defeated already included the elimination of seven full- and part-time teachers and other staff.
The defeated tax levies will likely be trimmed further as they head to town councils for more cuts.
“Every district is between one big rock and one big hard place,” said Dennis Frohnapfel, business administrator in Garfield, where the budget, which had called for an 8 percent tax hike, failed.
Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, a Democrat running for reelection in the fall, said voters in the county bucked the state trend because “they value the importance of maintaining the greatest countywide education system in the state.”
McNerney said “no amount of public posturing” will negate the impact that the loss of $102 million in state education aid will have on “local property taxes, school programs and classroom sizes.”
Joseph DePierro, dean of the Seton Hall College of Education, said the results statewide were a victory for Christie. He also said, however, that Bergen County residents put their interests above the governor’s advice.
“In Bergen County it seems parents really thought it was very critical for them to support their teachers and their schools to the point where it may cause them some pain in their pocketbooks,” he said. “In other communities … they probably they couldn’t afford to so much.”
Christie has pushed for weeks for spending cuts in the schools, which are among the most expensive in the nation, and urged voters to reject budgets in towns where teachers refused his call for pay freezes. His public pronouncements and clash with the state teachers union gave the school elections a much higher profile this year. About 26 percent of eligible voters came out – double the usual number.
“I think it is crystal clear … in a way that only elections and voters can make things crystal clear. They are tired of higher taxes of any kind,” Christie said in a news conference in Trenton. “They are tired of out-of-control spending. So we will push a reform package aggressively.”
The administration said it is preparing measures for consideration by the Legislature next month. They will include a constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent annually, a rollback of pension benefits for teachers and other public employees, and a return of the “last, best offer” option for school boards to impose settlements on unions.
Christie would also waive certain state mandates for local schools. The administration is reviewing suggestions to relax class size limits in poor districts, loosen requirements for special education services, allow schools to share nurses, and eliminate the mandate for 2.5 hours per week of physical education in elementary school.
Legislative leaders have declined to comment until they see the governor’s formal proposals.
The changes in pension formulas and collective bargaining rules are already setting up the next skirmish in the protracted battle between Christie and the NJEA.
“He just wants to hammer people currently in the system,” said Steve Wollmer, spokesman for the union. The union on Wednesday released a report prepared by the Legislature’s Office of Legislative Services that shows that teacher pay freezes would not come close to making up for state aid cuts, as the administration claims.
Wollmer said Democratic leaders have indicated to the union that they may block Christie’s legislative efforts to curtail pensions and collective bargaining.
“There’s a collision coming on this,” Wollmer said.
But Christie said the election shows that voters support his efforts.
“The voters have spoken loudly and clearly and everyone who is affected by this vote needs to listen.” And the governor said elected officials who ignore the results do so at “their own political peril.”
Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said mayors and councils generally have not shied away from cutting defeated budgets.
“This year I think it’s going to be harder to find the cuts. Many of the budgets are already bare bones,” Belluscio said.
Richard Bozza, head of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, said more cuts and spending caps may be hard to manage. “Tighter caps without increases in state aid are going to cause more of the cuts in personnel, services and programs we’ve seen this year,” he said.
Some of the governor’s proposals will help over time, “but this is a very abrupt change,” he said.
DePierro, the Seton Hall College of Education dean, said the election showed voters are worried about their government going bankrupt.
“It connects with a little bit of the tax rebellion going on in the state and nation,” he said. “Maybe we can’t afford the Cadillac. We have to go back to the Ford version of our education system.”
E-mail: alex@northjersey.com, brody@northjersey.com and reitmeyer@northjersey.com
Voter interest up a lot; opposition just a bit
Governor Christie said Wednesday that voters statewide were “crystal clear” in their desire to stem the growing cost of New Jersey’s public schools, and that he will move aggressively on reforms to roll back teacher pensions, cap labor costs and aid school boards at the bargaining table.
Record turnout led to school budget defeats in more than 58 percent of districts in the state on Tuesday, the largest proportion in more than three decades. Last year, only about a third of budgets failed.
The results in Bergen County stood in stark contrast to the overall trend: Seventy-three percent of school budgets passed in the most populous of the state’s 21 counties. There were notable exceptions, however, such as Teaneck and Ridgewood, where spending plans were rejected.
School budgets statewide contained deep cuts due to a loss of $820 million in state aid. More than 1,200 school employees are set to lose their jobs in Passaic County, where voters rejected 12 of 18 budgets.
“I see my job as superintendent as keeping the whole thing glued together as best I can,” said Patrick Martin, schools chief in Ringwood, where the budget that was defeated already included the elimination of seven full- and part-time teachers and other staff.
The defeated tax levies will likely be trimmed further as they head to town councils for more cuts.
“Every district is between one big rock and one big hard place,” said Dennis Frohnapfel, business administrator in Garfield, where the budget, which had called for an 8 percent tax hike, failed.
Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, a Democrat running for reelection in the fall, said voters in the county bucked the state trend because “they value the importance of maintaining the greatest countywide education system in the state.”
McNerney said “no amount of public posturing” will negate the impact that the loss of $102 million in state education aid will have on “local property taxes, school programs and classroom sizes.”
Joseph DePierro, dean of the Seton Hall College of Education, said the results statewide were a victory for Christie. He also said, however, that Bergen County residents put their interests above the governor’s advice.
“In Bergen County it seems parents really thought it was very critical for them to support their teachers and their schools to the point where it may cause them some pain in their pocketbooks,” he said. “In other communities … they probably they couldn’t afford to so much.”
Christie has pushed for weeks for spending cuts in the schools, which are among the most expensive in the nation, and urged voters to reject budgets in towns where teachers refused his call for pay freezes. His public pronouncements and clash with the state teachers union gave the school elections a much higher profile this year. About 26 percent of eligible voters came out – double the usual number.
“I think it is crystal clear … in a way that only elections and voters can make things crystal clear. They are tired of higher taxes of any kind,” Christie said in a news conference in Trenton. “They are tired of out-of-control spending. So we will push a reform package aggressively.”
The administration said it is preparing measures for consideration by the Legislature next month. They will include a constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent annually, a rollback of pension benefits for teachers and other public employees, and a return of the “last, best offer” option for school boards to impose settlements on unions.
Christie would also waive certain state mandates for local schools. The administration is reviewing suggestions to relax class size limits in poor districts, loosen requirements for special education services, allow schools to share nurses, and eliminate the mandate for 2.5 hours per week of physical education in elementary school.
Legislative leaders have declined to comment until they see the governor’s formal proposals.
The changes in pension formulas and collective bargaining rules are already setting up the next skirmish in the protracted battle between Christie and the NJEA.
“He just wants to hammer people currently in the system,” said Steve Wollmer, spokesman for the union. The union on Wednesday released a report prepared by the Legislature’s Office of Legislative Services that shows that teacher pay freezes would not come close to making up for state aid cuts, as the administration claims.
Wollmer said Democratic leaders have indicated to the union that they may block Christie’s legislative efforts to curtail pensions and collective bargaining.
“There’s a collision coming on this,” Wollmer said.
But Christie said the election shows that voters support his efforts.
“The voters have spoken loudly and clearly and everyone who is affected by this vote needs to listen.” And the governor said elected officials who ignore the results do so at “their own political peril.”
Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said mayors and councils generally have not shied away from cutting defeated budgets.
“This year I think it’s going to be harder to find the cuts. Many of the budgets are already bare bones,” Belluscio said.
Richard Bozza, head of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, said more cuts and spending caps may be hard to manage. “Tighter caps without increases in state aid are going to cause more of the cuts in personnel, services and programs we’ve seen this year,” he said.
Some of the governor’s proposals will help over time, “but this is a very abrupt change,” he said.
DePierro, the Seton Hall College of Education dean, said the election showed voters are worried about their government going bankrupt.
“It connects with a little bit of the tax rebellion going on in the state and nation,” he said. “Maybe we can’t afford the Cadillac. We have to go back to the Ford version of our education system.”
E-mail: alex@northjersey.com, brody@northjersey.com and reitmeyer@northjersey.com
A larger percentage of registered voters turned out for school elections this year than last year in 71 of Bergen County's 73 school districts. But the number of rejected budgets was up only slighly, from 18 to 20. | ||||
|
|
Voter turnout |
Tax levy passed | ||
|
District |
2009 (pct) |
2010 (pct) |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Bergen County |
16.3 |
26.9 |
|
|
|
Allendale |
23.6 |
38.6 |
n |
y |
|
Alpine |
7.8 |
29.1 |
y |
y |
|
Bergenfield |
13.3 |
23.7 |
y |
y |
|
Bogota |
11.3 |
26.2 |
y |
y |
|
Carlstadt |
19.7 |
23.8 |
y |
n |
|
Cliffside Park |
15.9 |
18.7 |
n |
y |
|
Closter |
22.2 |
27.3 |
y |
y |
|
Cresskill |
28 |
34.1 |
y |
y |
|
Demarest |
15.6 |
25.0 |
y |
y |
|
Dumont |
11.9 |
28.2 |
y |
n |
|
East Rutherford |
10.9 |
22.8 |
y |
n |
|
Edgewater |
4.8 |
13.6 |
y |
y |
|
Elmwood Park |
12.7 |
19.9 |
n |
y |
|
Emerson |
15.6 |
29.6 |
y |
n |
|
Englewood |
11 |
22.3 |
y |
n |
|
Englewood Cliffs |
13.5 |
19.5 |
y |
n |
|
Fair Lawn |
20.4 |
28.2 |
y |
y |
|
Fairview |
7.4 |
13.9 |
n |
y |
|
Fort Lee |
10.9 |
14.0 |
y |
y |
|
Franklin Lakes |
18.5 |
26.3 |
y |
y |
|
Garfield |
18.5 |
22.8 |
n |
n |
|
Glen Rock |
22.6 |
42.0 |
n |
y |
|
Hackensack |
10.1 |
14.1 |
y |
y |
|
Harrington Park |
20.8 |
34.8 |
y |
y |
|
Hasbrouck Heights |
21.3 |
32.6 |
y |
y |
|
Haworth |
16.9 |
30.0 |
y |
y |
|
Hillsdale |
22.7 |
35.5 |
y |
n |
|
Ho-Ho-Kus |
28 |
45.5 |
y |
y |
|
Leonia |
10.5 |
25.0 |
y |
y |
|
Little Ferry |
7.3 |
16.3 |
y |
y |
|
Lodi |
16.2 |
20.2 |
n |
n |
|
Lyndhurst |
13.9 |
24.2 |
n |
y |
|
Mahwah |
13.7 |
22.8 |
y |
n |
|
Maywood |
16.3 |
28.9 |
n |
y |
|
Midland Park |
20.2 |
29.3 |
y |
y |
|
Montvale |
24.2 |
35.5 |
y |
y |
|
Moonachie |
9.4 |
22.6 |
y |
n |
|
New Milford |
11.5 |
20.6 |
y |
n |
|
North Arlington |
13.7 |
22.9 |
n |
n |
|
Northvale |
21.8 |
31.0 |
y |
y |
|
Norwood |
17.7 |
26.8 |
y |
y |
|
Oakland |
16.7 |
28.2 |
y |
y |
|
Old Tappan |
17.2 |
27.8 |
y |
n |
|
Oradell |
19.4 |
29.3 |
y |
y |
|
Palisades Park |
22.5 |
12.9 |
y |
y |
|
Paramus |
12.2 |
21.9 |
y |
y |
|
Park Ridge |
16.8 |
32.2 |
y |
y |
|
Ramsey |
33.4 |
39.2 |
n |
y |
|
Ridgefield |
7.9 |
27.9 |
y |
y |
|
Ridgefield Park |
14.3 |
24.2 |
y |
y |
|
Ridgewood |
17.2 |
33.7 |
y |
n |
|
River Edge |
22.8 |
32.1 |
y |
y |
|
River Vale |
19.9 |
33.6 |
y |
y |
|
Rochelle Park |
16 |
29.8 |
y |
n |
|
Rutherford |
13.3 |
30.3 |
y |
y |
|
Saddle Brook |
17.7 |
31.6 |
n |
y |
|
Saddle River |
9.7 |
14.3 |
y |
y |
|
South Hackensack |
37.6 |
28.0 |
n |
n |
|
Teaneck |
18.2 |
39.1 |
n |
n |
|
Tenafly |
24 |
41.2 |
n |
y |
|
Upper Saddle River |
15.3 |
38.4 |
n |
y |
|
Waldwick |
17.3 |
35.1 |
y |
y |
|
Wallington |
8.3 |
21.1 |
n |
y |
|
Woodcliff Lake |
13.3 |
31.5 |
y |
y |
|
Wood-Ridge |
17.1 |
36.9 |
y |
y |
|
Wyckoff |
26.8 |
31.6 |
y |
n |
|
Becton Regional |
14.7 |
23.3 |
y |
n |
|
Northern Highlands Regional |
19 |
38.5 |
n |
y |
|
Northern Valley Regional |
19.1 |
28.7 |
y |
y |
|
Pascack Valley Regional |
20.5 |
34.2 |
y |
y |
|
Ramapo Indian Hills Regional |
21.4 |
29.1 |
y |
y |
|
River Dell Regional |
21.3 |
30.8 |
y |
y |
|
Westwood Regional |
15.2 |
27.9 |
y |
y |
|
Source: Bergen County Clerk | ||||
Tax levies
County results for Tuesday’s vote for municipal school district funding | |||||||
|
|
|
TOTAL |
PASSED |
FAILED |
YES |
NO |
PCT PASS |
|
01 |
ATLANTIC |
18 |
4 |
14 |
15,189 |
18,309 |
22.2 |
|
03 |
BERGEN |
74 |
54 |
20 |
83,550 |
75,811 |
73 |
|
05 |
BURLINGTON |
39 |
5 |
34 |
43,455 |
51,490 |
12.8 |
|
07 |
CAMDEN |
36 |
18 |
18 |
33,470 |
33,306 |
50 |
|
09 |
CAPE MAY |
17 |
11 |
6 |
8,129 |
7,041 |
64.7 |
|
11 |
CUMBERLAND |
14 |
4 |
10 |
5,601 |
5,573 |
28.6 |
|
13 |
ESSEX |
16 |
12 |
4 |
25,062 |
21,572 |
75 |
|
15 |
GLOUCESTER |
27 |
9 |
18 |
24,186 |
25,777 |
33.3 |
|
17 |
HUDSON |
7 |
5 |
2 |
10,990 |
10,712 |
71.4 |
|
19 |
HUNTERDON |
28 |
5 |
23 |
23,335 |
32,097 |
17.9 |
|
21 |
MERCER |
8 |
5 |
3 |
19,419 |
16,561 |
62.5 |
|
23 |
MIDDLESEX |
22 |
7 |
15 |
39,472 |
47,343 |
31.8 |
|
25 |
MONMOUTH |
53 |
15 |
38 |
66,821 |
73,532 |
28.3 |
|
27 |
MORRIS |
38 |
16 |
22 |
55,200 |
56,584 |
42.1 |
|
29 |
OCEAN |
28 |
11 |
17 |
45,963 |
60,843 |
39.3 |
|
31 |
PASSAIC |
18 |
6 |
12 |
23,828 |
25,788 |
33.3 |
|
33 |
SALEM |
13 |
7 |
6 |
4,179 |
3,735 |
53.8 |
|
35 |
SOMERSET |
17 |
2 |
15 |
23,960 |
28,214 |
11.8 |
|
37 |
SUSSEX |
24 |
10 |
14 |
16,392 |
20,352 |
41.7 |
|
39 |
UNION |
19 |
11 |
8 |
24,981 |
24,702 |
57.9 |
|
41 |
WARREN |
22 |
7 |
15 |
8,224 |
9,718 |
31.8 |
|
99 |
NEW JERSEY |
538 |
224 |
314 |
601,406 |
649,060 |
41.6 |
|
Source: N.J. Department of Education | |||||||
