Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     January 2005
EmailNet, January 20, 2005
Senate bill S2248/Ellen Karcher primary sponsor to be introduced formally on Monday

GSCS EMAILNET 1-20-05: ADVOCACY ALERT

Amendment bills on S1701: A3680 & S2248

Garden State Coalition of Schools

210 W STATE STTRENTON NJ  

Phone 609 394 2828               Website ‘www.gscschools.org’        Email ‘gscs@ebnet.org’

Senate bill S2248/Ellen Karcher primary sponsor to be introduced formally on Monday

Comments on A3680 Cryan, before the Assembly Education Committee 1-13-05:

ü     Voted out of Assembly Education Committee 1-14-05

ü     Posted for Assembly floor vote 1-24-05

GSCS appreciates the expeditious vote of the Assembly Education Committee on this bill, and thanks Assembly Speaker Sires for seeing that it was posted for the floor vote this Monday…We also thank our members for taking repeated time & effort to continue to inform Trenton of their concerns… As we informed GSCS just last week, A3680 “… is the Assembly's compromise 'amendment' bill intended to ameliorate some of the more harmful consequences of S1701. Given the extremely tight timelines of the upcoming budget process at the local district level, GSCS believes that it is important to move the bill along so that districts have a chance to gain more budgeting flexibility and relief in FY05-06. It is important that A3680 is supported and gets voted out of committee with due speed….. We also anticipate that the Senate will follow through and introduce a companion amendment bill to S1701 in the immediate future…..”

 

 

Comments on S2248 Primary Sponsor: Senator Ellen Karcher/Monmouth, proposed for introduction, but not formally introduced until next week:

“S2248 Revises per pupil administrative cost limit for public school districts and allows districts to maintain 3% surplus.” In order for school budgets to gain relief in the next budget year, legislation needs to be passed and signed into law very soon. It is hopeful that Karcher’s bill –  while limited  -  has emerged from the Senate because that means there is ‘something to work with’ and move forward. However, there are differences between the Assembly and Senate versions and bills must be identical to become passed into law.

   ADVOCACY ALERT ------  ADVOCACY ALERT--------ADVOCACY ALERT

While many major components of S1701 would still be in place with A3680 & S2248, forward movement will advance the GSCS goal to help stabilize school budgets – while practical – for the next school year. We encourage members to email their local legislators as well as Governor Codey, Senate Budget Chair Wayne Bryant, Senator Bernard Kenny, Senator Leonard Lance, Senator Ellen Karcher, Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, Assemblyman Joe Roberts, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, Assemblyman Alex DeCroce and request that they act to unify bi-partisan legislation to improve the negative impact of S1701 now at: sencodey@njleg.org, senbryant@njleg.org, senkenny@njleg.org, senlance@njleg.org, senkarcher@njleg.org, asmsires@njleg.org, asmroberts@njleg.org, asmcryan@njleg.org, asmgreenstein@njleg.org, asmdecroce@njleg.org, gscs@ebnet.org.  

 

 

gscsemailnet1-20-05

Here are the major differences between S2248 and A3680 as of today:   

 

  • S2248 improves A3680 in that it maintains allowable surplus at 3% for FY0506 and ensuing years. A3680 reduces surplus to 2% for Fy0506 and then returning allowable surplus to 3% for FY0607 and subsequent years.

 

  • S2248 provides  regional cost benchmarks be the ‘cutoff’ before the administrative cap is applied to administrative costs increases from one budget year to the next. A3680 does not allow this. The S2248 approach is more reasonable since districts that come in below that benchmark are penalized for being efficient by S1701.

 

In other words, under S1701 & A3680 a district could be $300 per pupil below the administration’s own definition for the regional benchmark and still be subject to the same restriction as a district that is spending above that benchmark. This is a penalty on those districts that have been able to achieve efficiency in this category.

 

The following improvement to S1701 is embodied in both A3680 and S2248:

 

  • Commissioner flexibility allowed in reviewing district appeals for administrative costs.

 

The following improvements to S1701 are embodied in A3680 and not in S2248:

 

A3680 recognizes some of the costs that are beyond local school district control, A3680:

  • establishes a new spending growth limitation adjustment (SGLA) for utility costs.

 

  • makes permanent the existing, temporary SGLAs for insurance costs and domestic security.

 

  • restores 75% of the budget cap adjustment for hazardous route transportation in 2005-06;   phases down SGLA for courtesy busing at 25% per annum, beginning in 2005-06 and ending in 2008-09.

 

A3680 details some conditions for commissioner review of administrative cost capping:

 

  • [In addition to permitting flexibility for commissioner approval to exceed S-1701's cap limitations as in S2248, ] details certain conditions [yet does not limit review to those conditions only] that the commissioner should consider in reviewing district circumstances.

 

A3680 allows some line item transfer flexibility:

 

  • Allows certain line-item transfers previously restricted by S-1701.

 

GSCS looks forward to working with both Assembly and Senate bill sponsors to continue to improve A3680 & S2248 so that programs and quality education are not diminished.