| ||||||||||||
Press of Atlantic City ‘New Jersey bill would provide scholarships to allow students in poor-performing schools to switch to another public or private learning institution’
‘N.J. education chief says pension proposals could prompt fewer than 13,000 teachers to retire early’ Statehouse Bureau (The Record, Star Ledger)
Students attending struggling schools in Atlantic City, Bridgeton, Pleasantville and Wildwood would be among about 80,000 children statewide eligible for scholarships to other public or private schools under a new state bill scheduled to be discussed Thursday in Trenton.
The "Opportunity Scholarship Act" would allow corporations to make tax-deductible contributions to a state scholarship fund that would provide a maximum of $24 million in scholarships its first year then increase annually to as much as $120 million in the fifth year of the five-year pilot project. The total cost over five years could reach $360 million.
Sponsors and supporters call the bill a lifeline for low-income children trapped in failing schools.
"It gives students in the lowest-performing schools a chance to attend better schools," said Derrell Bradford, executive director of the pro-school group Excellent Education for Everyone, or E3.
Opponents said it is an attempt to get back-door vouchers that will take money from the state treasury to help private schools survive at a time when the budgets of public schools and other state-funded agencies are being cut.
"It's a taxpayer-funded bailout for the private schools," said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association.
The bill is revised from an earlier proposal that targeted a half-dozen large urban school districts. The new bill focuses on so-called "chronically failing" schools in which at least 40 percent of the students failed both the math and language portions of state tests in the prior two years, or in which at least 65 percent of the students failed one section of the test.
Statewide, 205 schools meet that definition based on data provided with the bill. They include:
- The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Complex, Uptown Complex, New Jersey Avenue School, New York Avenue School and Texas Avenue School in Atlantic City.
- The Oceanside Charter School in Atlantic City and the PleasanTech Academy Charter School in Pleasantville.
- Pleasantville Middle School and High School in Pleasantville.
- The Broad Street School, Cherry Street School, Indian Avenue School and High School in Bridgeton.
- Wildwood Middle School.
State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, co-sponsor of the bill with Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. R-Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union, said the intent is to focus on children from low-income families and give them an opportunity to attend a better school.
"Without this bill, they have no chance," he said.
Eligible students would have to come from families making lass than 2.5 times the poverty level, or about $55,000 per year for a family of four. The scholarships would be based on public school per-student costs and would average about $6,000 for students in grades K-8 and $9,000 for high schoolers. Parents could choose any other public or nonpublic school that agrees to participate in the program.
The New Jersey Catholic Conference supports the bill, saying nonpublic schools are also struggling and save the state $2 billion per year and that if those schools closed, public schools would be forced to expand to accommodate the extra students.
Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Camden Diocese, said the goal is to improve education for children.
"Our view is that strong public schools are essential," he said. "But all students should have the opportunity to attend a good school, even if they are from low-income families."
The New Jersey School Boards Association opposes any program that uses public money to support private schools. Public school districts would lose state aid for the students who leave, although that aid would be directed into an Educational Innovation Fund to provide competitive grants to the failing schools.
The Education Law Center, which has represented children in the state's poorest urban districts, is concerned about the state taking even more money from struggling urban schools without having any performance criteria for the private schools that get the scholarships.
Students in the private schools would have to take an annual test designated by the state, but as the bill is written now, students would not have to pass the test to continue receiving the scholarship. Lesniak said performance would be part of the review of the program at the end of the pilot.
School officials in the affected districts had mixed reaction. Bridgeton Superintendent H. Victor
Gilson plans to attend the hearing Thursday to oppose the bill. He said test scores show students in the urban schools are making progress.
"It's just bad policy," he said. "Why not take the money and use it to fund the school funding law they already have?"
Atlantic City Superintendent Fredrick Nickles said test scores have been improving there as well but that he would not begrudge any child the opportunity to do better at another school.
"The most important thing is that they get the education they need," he said.
Gladys Lauriello, principal of Wildwood Middle School and Wildwood High School, said getting the best education may mean staying in the public school. She said her schools make a tremendous effort to meet all student needs, from learning English or overcoming learning disabilities to taking Advanced Placement courses. She said she is not sure whether all those students would get a better education at a private school.
"Having options is not a bad thing, but under what criteria?" she said. "Will (private schools) be able to ask students to leave if they have a problem?"
E3 has coordinated a rally Thursday at the Statehouse in Trenton in support of the bill, which will be heard before the Senate Economic Growth Committee, which Lesniak chairs.
Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241 DDamico@pressofac.com
‘N.J. education chief says pension proposals could prompt fewer than 13,000 teachers to retire early’
By Lisa Fleisher/Statehouse Bureau May 12, 2010, 6:40PM
TRENTON -- State proposals that would prompt public teachers to retire early would only have a significant financial impact on those who plan to leave within two years, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said yesterday.
The still-amorphous reforms, which include recalculating the way pensions are calculated for current teachers, could prompt fewer than 13,000 teachers to take the offer — far less than the 30,000 figure the state’s largest teachers union put forth, Schundler said.
"The way these mechanisms would actually function, anybody who is interested in staying for three years or more, there would be no economic interest whatsoever to leave," he said. "Not everybody is looking at it as all in dollars and cents. A lot of people really want to teach for another 24 months, and there’s no reason why they can’t."
Previous coverage:
• N.J. education chief promotes teacher tenure changes, 'merit pay' reforms
• N.J. education chief proposes sweeping school reform, urges NJEA cooperation
• N.J. teachers' union, Schundler cooperate for $400M federal grant
• N.J. education chief warns legislators of voter wrath after school budget defeats
• Gov. Chris Christie's pension, benefits cuts could prompt 29K N.J. teachers to consider retirement
• Complete coverage of the 2010 New Jersey State Budget
The Christie administration has been hinting for months about possible reforms that would prompt older and higher-paid teachers to retire sooner rather than later, giving an Aug. 1 deadline but not offering specifics on what the proposals would entail.
Schundler said yesterday the proposals would include calculating pensions based on a teacher’s last five years of salary instead of three, rolling back a 9 percent increase granted in 2001 and basing health care contributions on a percentage of premium, not salary.
Specific bills, which would need to be passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature, could be released within the next few days, he said.
A union spokesman criticized the proposals, saying they might even be illegal — but it’s impossible to tell without seeing the actual legislation.
"What they’re doing is throwing a lot of dirt in the air and throwing a lot of confusion, but they seem remarkably reticent to put out any actual information, put a legislative proposal on the table," said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association. "Part of what’s going on is either they don’t know or they realize there’s a lot that they’re threatening that they cannot actually do."
Earlier this week, Gov. Chris Christie sent the Legislature dozens of suggested changes to laws and rules governing municipal finances, including moves that would essentially cap employee raises at 2.5 percent — without the bills that would prompt teacher retirements.
The governor on Monday declined to say whether he will propose legislation to encourage veteran teachers to retire. Asked twice about the initiative, Christie said only: "Commissioner Schundler has come forward with many proposals that he thinks are worthy ones. These are the proposals the governor has put forward."
Schundler denied any disagreement, saying the proposals have been delayed by work on an application for federal Race to the Top funding, which has a June 1 deadline.
Proposals could come forth any day now, but they must pass the Legislature before June 30 to give teachers enough time to file for retirement by Aug. 1, Schundler said.
Staff writer Claire Heininger contributed to this report.
