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Property Taxes, School Funding issues
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9-26-06 Special Session news & update

Irate lawmakers yesterday demanded state officials appoint an independent monitor to manage the budget of Camden's failing school district by the end of the week.

 

"This week. Not next week. Find someone competent," Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) told three state Department of Education officials at a special hearing on school funding. "This is a crisis that can't wait."

 

Adler's demand comes three months after Gov. Jon Corzine promised to install a monitor to oversee the handling of Camden's $300 million school budget.

 

The district, in the poorest community in the state, has been embroiled in controversy for months after Corzine vetoed a controversial contract and bonuses for former superintendent Annette Knox.

 

Knox, whose district computers and records have been seized in a state grand jury probe, accepted a $200,000 buyout in June. She will have to repay the buyout if convicted of a crime, the agreement states.

 

Also this year a principal was fired after claiming he had been pressured to cheat on standardized testing to raise the district's scores. A state investigation determined the scores had shown unusual fluctuation at the schools involved, but stopped short of stating that cheating had occurred.

 

At yesterday's hearing Jessica deKoninck, the department's legislative liaison, told Adler the state was already working to reform the troubled district, and said the monitor Corzine promised will be appointed soon.

 

"We do have an intervention team in there now," she said. "We all agree with you it's a matter of deep concern."

 

Adler, co-chairman of the special committee considering changes to school aid as part of an effort to rein in property taxes, has repeatedly said that Camden is in such dire straits it demands separate attention from other school districts.

 

"Somebody has to start screaming about it -- loud and in a consistent basis," Adler said at the hearing. "I guess I'm the one today."

 

Adler's committee is considering a wide range of options for revamping the state's $7 billion per-year school aid package.

 

At yesterday's hearing, state officials said they soon plan to post the salaries of every superintendent on the Internet in the hopes public exposure might help rein in soaring administrative costs.

 

A State Commission of Investigation report this year revealed lucrative bonuses and perks added quietly to school superintendent contracts, and recommended a series of reforms.

 

Yesterday Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen) suggested capping superintendent pay at $127,000, or 90 percent of the state Education Commissioner's salary.

 

"They have become sort of free-agent baseball players," Cardinale complained. "Just running around seeing what they can get offered."

 

Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may be reached at (609) 989-0341 or dmcnichol@starledger.com.