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12-15-11 Education News - November Election bill, School Construction in Suburbs
Courier Post Online – School Elections Bill on the Table "A bill that would reverse more than a century of practice for school districts and voters will be considered today in a state Senate committee..."

NJ Spotlight - Suburban School Construction Hits Lowest Point in Past Decade…In the suburbs, a handful of renovation projects represent the only activity

Courier Post Online – School Elections Bill on the Table

By Jason Method, New Jersey Press Media

TRENTON — A bill that would reverse more than a century of practice for school districts and voters will be considered today in a state Senate committee.

The bill, which would allow school board elections to be moved to November and abolish budget votes if school districts remain at or under the property tax cap, will be take up by the state Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee.

That bill last week passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee, 11-1, as it gathered political support from the state’s largest teachers union and an association that represents school boards.

Incoming Assembly majority leader, Louis D. Greenwald, and state Senator Donald Norcross, both Democrats from Camden County, are sponsors of the legislation. Norcross is a brother to George E. Norcross III, a prominent South Jersey Democratic leader.

Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Republican Gov. Chris Christie, said the administration was still reviewing the measure. State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, D-Essex, both support the bill.

Under the legislation, school board elections may be moved to the November general election if that switch is approved by a school board, municipal governing body or a petition signed by 15 percent of the voters.

Once moved, the school budget would only face voter approval if the fiscal plan exceeds the state's property tax cap, which limits increases in the tax levy to 2 percent, except for health insurance and pension costs.

If it does exceed the cap, votes will decide, in November, whether to approve those extra expenditures.

Legislators and experts have long lamented the low voter turnout during the April school elections and charged that the teachers unions and educational interests are able to control most races.

Defenders of the status quo have warned that if school elections are held with the general election, school boards will come under the heavy influence of political parties and face the same fundraising and patronage pressures.

Meanwhile, school officials have long complained that school budgets often bear the brunt of voter wrath over property taxes, even if large tax increases come from the municipal or county governments.

The bill would strike a compromise, putting the elections on the date most voters will show up, but protecting budgets at or under the cap from residents looking to take out their tax frustrations in one place.

Richard M. Fitzpatrick, superintendent for the Upper Freehold Regional School District, said it would be better for the community if more voters were engaged in educational issues during the November election.

“I think it makes more sense to get a stronger vote so people know who is making decisions,” Fitzpatrick said in an interview. “School board members are making … critical decisions for kids.”

But Wayne Gottlieb, a school board member from West Milford in Passaic County, said he thinks the education establishment is underestimating political parties’ ability to take over local school districts

“If you think moving school board candidates to a partisan ballot will not result in partisan influence, you’re naïve,” Gottlieb said in an interview. “Partisan starts with a p, like two other words: patronage and plunder.”

 

NJ Spotlight - Suburban School Construction Hits Lowest Point in Past Decade…In the suburbs, a handful of renovation projects represent the only activity

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By John Mooney, December 15, 2011 in Education|Post a Comment

2011 did not turn out to be a very good year for school construction in New Jersey.

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On the heels of the Schools Development Authority launching just a single project so far in one of New Jersey's poorest districts, the suburban districts had their slowest year in a decade as well.

On Tuesday, just two of six projects proposed by districts were approved by voters in the referendum votes that take place five times a year. That makes 2011 the lowest year for both the number of projects approved and projects proposed since the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act was signed in 2000.

Only a quarter of the 24 projects proposed overall this year won voter approval, according to the state's School Boards Association, continuing a trend from the middle of the decade when a majority passed. In 2010, only half were approved. The best year was in 2003, when 93 projects were proposed, and voters passed 73 of them.

“It could be a blip on the screen, but if we're seeing any trend, we are definitely in a valley,” said Frank Belluscio, communications director for the association. ”We hope it picks up, especially where districts can show there is a demonstrated need.”

The chief reason for the slowdown is the lagging economy, Belluscio and others said, followed by continuing low expectations that the state will help bear the load of new projects.

“That is a major factor in this,” Belluscio said of the state help. “Without the state money, we also have seen fewer proposals in general. It's a reflection of the economy. Districts know what their taxpayers are facing and don't want to add to the burdens.”

Still, he said the Facilities Act has led to hundreds of projects since 2000, amounting to more than $7 billion in suburban districts that got a jump start from the state.

This comes as criticism mounts that the state has been slow to help poorer districts that the act was meant to address in the first place, as ordered by the state Supreme Court in the Abbott v. Burke school equity rulings. Just one new SDA project has been put out to bid in two years, with a second expected soon.

“From a non-Abbott perspective at least,” Belluscio said. “It has been a success.”

Still, the latest round of votes on Tuesday was pretty typical for the year. Virtually all were building repairs and renovations, since the number of new schools has dwindled statewide with the leveling off in enrollment. Also typical, the smaller projects did better than the big-ticket ones.

The two approved were in Randolph, where voters were asked to vote on $11.6 million in renovations and new turf fields and bleachers, and in Greater Egg Harbor, where voters passed $14.2 million in roof, fire alarm, and heating and air conditioning projects.

The biggest proposal on the ballot was $48 million in Piscataway for the replacement of roofs in 12 schools with solar panel installations. The district made the argument that the projects would pay for themselves in energy savings, but as the solar industry and solar certificates have taken a dive in the state, it became a tougher sell.

“It wasn't a solar referendum but a roofing referendum,” said Robert Copeland, the Piscataway superintendent. “We needed to fix our roofs.”

“But in some ways it was hard for people to believe in good news, not with the distrust in government that is still out there,” he said.