| Property Taxes, School Funding issues | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
New school funding formula stirs criticism before it's even public
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
The president of one
“…The state's Democratic Party chairman was less optimistic about the proposal's short-term prospects following a criticism-filled hearing last night on the state's process. The plan would need to be finalized in time for Gov. Jon Cor zine's budget address in late winter. .."Not a chance," said state Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D- Union).
The school funding change is part of the state's broader effort to ease property taxes and provide aid more equitably…”
__________________________________________________________________________________
The early math on a new school funding formula shows some lower- to middle-class districts getting big state aid increases next year and urban ones receiving little or no increases, according to officials familiar with the work.
But long before the proposal is unveiled, the developing plan is taking hard hits from school officials and interest groups who contend it would shortchange education statewide.
And a few leading legislators yesterday cautioned the plan may not be ready for 2007-08 school budgets.
"That's the goal, but we are going to take our time and do it thoroughly," state Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts (D- Camden) said yesterday. "As everyone knows, this is immensely complicated."
The state's Democratic Party chairman was less optimistic about the proposal's short-term prospects following a criticism-filled hearing last night on the state's process. The plan would need to be finalized in time for Gov. Jon Cor zine's budget address in late winter.
"Not a chance," said state Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D- Union).
The school funding change is part of the state's broader effort to ease property taxes and provide aid more equitably. The New Jersey Department of Education plans to make public its proposed aid for mula after the holidays. Officials continue to estimate it could cost as much as $1 billion more from
Staying mum about the details and how the additional aid would be funded, Corzine and state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy have stressed the new formula would provide aid based on the specific needs within districts. They said it would give extra weight to students in special-education and limited-English programs or living in poverty.
Under early calculations made this fall, several sources who spoke anonymously because the process is ongoing said the formula could mean big winners in middle-income districts like
Urban districts falling under the state's Abbott v. Burke school equity rulings, which have seen the vast bulk of the increases over the last five years, would see little or no additional aid, they said.
Advocates and others have been told the new aid package also would include about $100 million more for expanded preschool programs in non-Abbott districts.
At a recent meeting with child advocates, members of the Corzine administration said the plan would extend the Abbott mandates of two years of preschool to nearly 80 of the state's poorest districts.
"They were very hopeful and excited about it," said Cecilia Zal kind, director of the Association for Children of New Jersey. "I don't know if it would mean all this year or over the next several years. It would take some time to imple ment."
Still, many of the details appear to be in flux, as some legislators say disproportionate increases to individual districts would be a hard sell politically and the new money may need to be phased in.
The biggest money would be to districts bordering the Abbott cities, many of which face the same is sues of poverty as their urban neighbors but have not seen any additional aid for the last several years.
"You need to balance it," said state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex). "The bulk of the increases would go to the rim districts, but to go two or three times more what they're getting now, that leaves a lot of others wanting the money, too."
Also, the formula, based on models still being developed by the state, face tough criticism from school organizations and advocates, including during several hearings held yesterday.
At those hearings at Kean University and Burlington County College, as well as several locations by videoconference, speakers slammed the proposed models that would set a foundation amount for school spending and then add money based on individual children's needs.
At the Kean hearing, the criticisms were echoed among urban and suburban representatives alike.
"These are based on cookie-cutter models that bear little resemblance to any of our communities," said Rosie Grant, program director for the Paterson Education Fund.
The president of one
"Quality is way down the list of priorities as the Legislature rushes to pass bills," said Ann Bushe, president of the
John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
School funding report faulted
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
"I encourage you to ignore what you have done," Taliaferro told Davy, "because it is not worth the paper it is written on.”
UNION – A controversial report to change the way
Speakers from the state's poorest school districts as well as those from more affluent ones agreed that the state Department of Education's report -- which is the basis for a plan to revise how education will be funded -- is fundamentally flawed.
"The bottom line is it costs more to educate the poor," said Rosie Grant, program director at the Paterson Education Fund, a community advocacy organization that promotes improving public education. "We must realize that it costs more to educate children that live in areas of concentrated poverty."
Grant said she was concerned that the per-pupil costs cited in the state Department of Education report will not provide children in low-income communities with sufficient resources to get a high quality education.
"Even a quick look at the costing out report shows the number can't be trusted," she said. "The DOE's estimates are based on cookie-cutter models that bare little to no resemblance to many of our own communities."
Hundreds of people attended three public hearings on Monday held by the DOE at
Many of the critics said because the DOE report was based on model school districts and outdated data from 2004-05 rather than on current student statistics from existing New Jersey districts, the plan does not accurately reflect the real educational needs in some of the state's largest and poorest districts.
The calculation for the per-student expense will be an essential part of the new-school-funding formula the DOE is developing and will submit to the state Legislature next year. The new formula will be included in the legislative effort to reduce the state's property taxes, but the DOE report does not specify how much the state or local taxpayers will each pay for education.
Members of the
"If we are going to have parity, if we are really going to keep children first, we need to do everything possible, to at least maintain the level of funding we have now because we've been playing catch-up all our lives," Fulmore said before the hearing.
State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy explained that the public hearings were primarily a listening session for officials to solicit comment on the DOE report.
"This is just the first step in the process," Davy said, noting that there will be additional hearings scheduled in January.
The DOE began writing the report with education experts in 2003. The model districts were also used to create the state's current funding formula, which the state Supreme Court determined was unconstitutional in 1997 for
Abbott school districts are the state's poorest and receive additional state financial assistance equal to the amount spent on individual students in New Jersey's wealthiest communities. The extra aid was mandated by the state Supreme Court in its series of Abbott v. Burke decisions of the late 1990s.
Many speakers also voiced concerns that the DOE report as a basis for a revised school-funding-formula would reverse the educational improvements made possible in New Jersey's low income districts as a result of the Abbott decisions and the money and extra academic programs and services they required.
Anna Taliaferro , director of the
"I encourage you to ignore what you have done," Taliaferro told Davy, "because it is not worth the paper it is written on.”
Governor 'confident' he will see tax reforms
Corzine gives legislators an extra month to finish
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
BY DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff
“…Corzine said he believes that "some elements" of a measure to encourage shared services between local government entities will survive, but much work remains on the issues of pension and health benefits as well as funding for a 20 percent property tax relief credit. ..”
Gov. Jon Corzine said yesterday he is "confident" the Legislature will meet his revised deadline of Feb. 1 to finish property tax reform, and that the end product will provide "sustainable" relief for residents who pay the highest property taxes in the nation.
"Would I have liked to have had this done by Jan. 1? Yes," Corzine told reporters during a news conference. "Do I think we can accomplish this in the next four to six weeks? I'm confident we can."
In July, Corzine asked lawmakers to come up with a comprehensive property tax relief plan by the end of the year. Kicking off a special legislative session on the issue, the governor threatened to push for property tax reform through a citizens convention if lawmakers couldn't come up with solutions.
After four months of hearings, legislative committees came up with 98 recommendations. However, most of the property tax reform bills stalled in floor votes last week because Democratic legislative leaders couldn't get enough support from their members.
Legislative leaders attributed the delay to Democratic skittishness after Corzine intervened and demanded that many pension and benefit reform ideas be removed from one bill so he could deal with them in ongoing contract negotiations with state worker unions.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts has scheduled a voting session Jan. 8, the day before Corzine delivers his State of the State message, in hopes that some of the difficulties can be ironed out during the break.
"The governor's pushing for reforms to be finalized before he presents his budget, and we obviously agree with that timetable," Roberts said in a statement. "The people aren't obsessed with deadlines -- they just want us to get the job done right, and so do I."
The Senate also will convene that day, Senate President Richard Codey said.
"I'm not in the deadline business," Codey said. But he added, "I'm as optimistic as the governor in terms of getting substantial property tax reform."
Corzine said yesterday he is willing to be patient because he believes progress is being made as lawmakers work through the difficult issues. "I think we are on a pattern to get results," he said.
Corzine said he believes that "some elements" of a measure to encourage shared services between local government entities will survive, but much work remains on the issues of pension and health benefits as well as funding for a 20 percent property tax relief credit.
"We're on the threshold of accomplishing this, but it won't be easy," Corzine said. "I would fully expect we'll be back to work on this in January with very disciplined and steady-paced movement."
Deborah Howlett may be contacted at dhowlett@starledger.com or (609) 989-0273. n on."
Reach Danielle Shapiro at (973) 569-7153 or shapiro@northjersey.com.
