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Teachers ponder meaning of Obama victory for N.J. schools ..........................State's flow of red ink deepens as it runs up $2B in new debt..........................Transit chief taking school-construction reins...Kolluri sees a speeded-up effort
Star Ledger, Teachers ponder meaning of Obama victory for N.J. schools
By John Mooney November 06, 2008
It's the largest teachers convention in the country, a decidedly blue-tinged gathering in one of the nation's bluest states.
But for all the exultant support of Barack Obama's victory at the opening of the New Jersey Education's convention Thursday, teachers on the floor of the vast Atlantic City center also worried about what happens next.
Vincent Blasse, a Trenton middle school teacher, said Obama will inspire teachers and especially students.
But asked how the new president might fix the No Child Left Behind act, Blasse wasn't so sure. And when it came to Obama's support of merit pay for teachers, he was downright troubled.
"It can breed greed and individualism," Blasse said. "They will no longer see themselves as team players."
Thus is the fragile line Obama will need to tread with education, carrying strong union support but also a few positions that would clearly roil the status quo.
On one side, Obama has pledged greater federal support for public schools with additional funding and programs like preschool and after-school services.
He has said he would make changes to the federal No Child Left Behind act, a chief villain to many teachers and their unions.
Yet Obama also has bucked the traditional labor line. In addition to championing merit pay for teachers, he espouses extra incentives for those working in high-need schools, and strongly supports innovations like charter schools.
Joyce Powell, president of the NJEA, praised Obama as "pro-public education" but quickly conceded some tensions.
"We may have our differences of opinion on some things," she said.
Much will rest on whom Obama picks as his education secretary, with a short list of names being bandied about including Colin Powell and New York City Chancellor Joel Klein.
Obama's general support for merit pay -- providing teachers extra money based on their performance -- is the one topic already raising eyebrows. He has yet to unveil any concrete proposal, but considers the idea important enough to mention publicly.
He has said it's a concept best handled at the local bargaining table, and NJEA President Powell said she has already seen it start to creep into negotiations -- if not embraced -- by a handful of New Jersey districts.
She argues it should come as a give-and-take with teachers.
"If they are going to broach that, why not let us also negotiate class sizes or textbook selection?" she said. "They have to understand that when we put an idea like that on the table, other things come with it."
A sampling of her members -- nearly 35,000 of whom attended the first day of the convention -- indicated similar sentiments. The younger teachers were more likely to support merit pay than the veterans, but not exclusively.
Sean Spiller, a 33-year-old science teacher at Wayne Valley High School, said Obama's election and that of a Democratic majority to Congress is good news for teachers who want a softening in No Child Left Behind and more money behind it.
But he said the idea of merit pay for teachers was something he couldn't support.
"You can't have two teachers working next to each other and comparing their test scores," he said. "It doesn't work."
Angela Yelverton, sporting an Obama button, described the spring in her students' steps at Camden's Creative Arts High School on Wednesday; the school's band is vying to get in on the Inaugural festivities.
But she wondered how much will happen to No Child Left Behind, with all the competing points of view. "Hopefully he'll at least listen to us in the trenches," she said.
Yelverton, 36, said while merit pay may benefit her as a teacher, it's a lot trickier than it sounds.
"I'm one of those who go above and beyond," she said, "so in one way I'm for it. But what is the But what is the measuring tool? Is just staying late or working on Saturdays going to tell you that?"
State's flow of red ink deepens as it runs up $2B in new debt
Friday, November 07, 2008
BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL
Star-Ledger Staff
The red ink facing New Jersey taxpayers continued to rise as state officials ran up another $2.1 billion in additional debt in the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state's an nual debt report shows.
During the year, the amount of debt included in the report rose from $29.7 billion in June 2007 to $31.86 billion. The report also noted that since June 30, the state has borrowed another $805 million. The state's debt load is triple what it was a decade ago.
It will cost taxpayers almost $2.9 billion to cover payments on the debt next year, the report shows. That is an increase of $215 million over the repayment costs projected in last year's report.
The higher tab will add strain to the upcoming state budget, which Gov. Jon Corzine has already warned is likely to face a shortfall of up to $4 billion amid declining tax revenues brought on by the col lapsing economy.
The increase in debt occurred even as Corzine has been attempt ing to rein in state borrowing. Cor zine and lawmakers agreed to use $650 million in surplus funds from this year's budget to pay down state debt, but the report makes no mention of that initiative.
Republicans panned the report, saying it is incomplete and leaves out billions of dollars in longterm pension, health benefits and other debt facing taxpayers.
"The draft debt report amounts to little more than the whitewash ing of massive red ink in the state's budget," Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) and Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow (R-Hunter don) wrote in a letter urging members of the Commission on Capital Planning and Budgeting to reject the draft report when it is presented to them today. .
"Our consideration of this report, as though it even comes close to providing an accurate depiction of our debt load, would be nothing more than a dereliction of our responsibility to understand the full debt load in New Jersey," the lawmakers wrote.
According to the report, the new debt came in two areas: bor rowing for transportation projects and the state school construction program.
The vast majority of the debt, more than $27 billion, is so-called "contract debt" that is repaid through annual budget appropria tions by the Legislature. Voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment that will require voter approval for much of that type of debt in the future.
The debt report does not include another $3.6 billion in state bonds that are scheduled to be re paid with receipts from the national lawsuit against cigarette manufacturers.
In addition, state officials already have more than $900 million in new borrowing in the works for the remainder of this year. That includes $750 million in transportation bonds scheduled to be sold next week and $160 million in hospital improvement bonds on tap for December.
Transit chief taking school-construction reins
Kolluri sees a speeded-up effort helping state defy the recession Friday, November 07, 2008 BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL State Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri was approved yesterday to be head of New Jersey's $12.5 billion school construction program. Kolluri, who has been in charge of the state's $5.6 billion-a-year transportation programs since March 2006, is scheduled to start as chief executive officer of the Schools Development Authority on Dec. 1. His appointment to the $195,000-a-year schools post won unanimous approval from the authority's board of directors yesterday. "I'm looking forward to this challenge," said Kolluri. "Infrastructure is going to be a focus under President Obama. From that perspective, I am right in the center." Kolluri will be taking over a program that has been retooled and replenished with $3.9 billion in new funding after a series of scandals and millions of dollars in waste nearly derailed it three years ago. He is taking the reins as Gov. Jon Corzine has directed the agency to speed up construction of billions of dollars in pending school projects to help the state buck the global recession. "That's frankly one of my biggest focuses," he said. "To expedite the construction projects without losing track of the accountability." Kolluri is scheduled to be replaced at the DOT by his top deputy, Stephen Dilts. Dilts, who has overseen the DOT's day-to-day operations as deputy commissioner, worked at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority from 2002 to 2006. "I am truly honored by Governor Corzine's confidence in selecting me to oversee the development and operation of New Jersey's transportation network," Dilts said. "We are entering a critical and exciting time in the state's infrastructure development, and I look forward to the challenge." At the Schools Development Authority, Kolluri will replace Scott Weiner, a former state DEP commissioner who is stepping down after more than two years overseeing the redesign of the construction program. Former governor Christie Whitman launched the school building program in 2000, in the wake of a state Supreme Court order that requires the state to rebuild or replace hundreds of decrepit, overcrowded public schools in 31 of New Jersey's neediest communities. The initiative stalled in 2005, however, after a series of critical audits found the program had wasted tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary professional fees, had purchased millions of dollars worth of homes and property for schools it did not have the funding to build, and had few management controls in place. Under Corzine, the agency's top management was replaced and new standards for budgeting, oversight and accountability of contractors were put in place. Since its establishment, the program has expended $7 billion, including $5 billion in construction work in the 31 needy communities and about $2 billion in grants to suburban communities. Through the program, 85 new schools or school additions have been completed, and hundreds of renovation projects have been carried out. |
