2 articles: LIVE from the Star Ledger on-lineTuesday afternoon, May 09,2006 

(1) Court allows state to freeze aid to poorest districts

The New Jersey Supreme Court today allowed the state to freeze aid to its 31 poorest school districts in order to balance the state budget, but also gave the districts a right to appeal for more funding.

The high court issued its unanimous ruling one week after it heard lawyers for the "special needs" school districts argue that with costs rising, flat state aid would translate into cuts in educational services. Attorney General Zulima Farber countered that given the state's "dire" budgetary circumstances, "we simply don't have the money" to increase educational funding.

The justices gave the special needs districts until May 31 to submit reduced budget requests, as Acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy had ordered in March. In their original requests the 31 districts asked for roughly $500 million more than the $4.25 billion Corzine included in his proposed budget, which is subject to review by state lawmakers.

That much of today's ruling was a victory for Corzine's administration. But in a partial victory for the school districts, the justices gave them a right to appeal "inadequate funding" for "demonstrably needed" school programs. Corzine had proposed a strict budget cap that did not allow poor school districts to appeal the state's funding decisions.

The justices also ordered the Department of Education to go ahead with planned audits of four special needs districts -- Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Camden -- and set a November deadline for their completion. Farber had argued the audits are needed to ensure the poor districts are properly spending billions of dollars in state aid while candidly conceding the state has "neglected its responsibility to provide sufficient fiscal oversight."

David Wald, a spokesman for Farber, said she "believes this is an important decision that will help us to ensure funding is spent wisely and our children receive the education they deserve.''

Contributed by Robert Schwaneberg and Dunstan McNichol

(2)Lawmakers question school perks

Lawmakers considering New Jersey's $10.5 billion budget for the education department lambasted soaring costs for administrators, salaries and perks in the state's poorest communities.

"I'll tell you, people are blistering mad," Assembly Joseph Malone (R-Burlington) said at the start of the Assembly Budget Committee's hearing this morning. "If we don't do something quick, there's going to be blood in the street."

Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), the committee chairman, took particular aim at the contracts with superintendents in three school districts operated by the state -- Newark, Paterson and Jersey City.

He cited salaries of more than $200,000, housing allowances of $1,000 per month and generous retirement provisions. "We shouldn't be looking at decreasing school aid into the classroom because we're paying a $1,000 housing allowance to a person who is being paid more than $200,000 a year."

Acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy agreed with the criticism, saying, "I think some of these clauses go well beyond what is reasonable, particularly in light of our fiscal problems."

The hearing, which began at 10 a.m., continued into the afternoon.

Contributed by Dunstan McNichol