Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     4-16-06 Sunday NY Times Metro Section, front page
     4-13-06 'Budget cap puts NJ schools on edge'
     3-9-06 Governor speaks to S1701 at town meeting
     EMAILNET 3-9-06 to South Jersey districts
     COFFEE a coalition of families for excellent education
     EMAILNET 3-7-06 S1701 Call to Action at Gov Corzine Public Hearing
     12-8-05 GSCS and Educ community testify together for S1701 amendment bills before Assembly Educa Com
     1-17-06 Asbury Park Press "Viewpoint" letters on S1701
     Op-ed piece written by GSCS Parent Network Regional Representative Kim Newsome published in Monmouth's "Two River Times" July 2005
     LINK to the S1701 Law
     S1701 Summit Board members' report re GSCS 1-11-08 Board mtg
     1-29-06 Asbury Park Press Sunday Front Page Right
     1-24-06 Asbury Park Press 'Funding sparks heated debate'
     FYI - S1701 impacts on local districts - excerpts from NJSBA spring 2005 survey, released 9-27-05
     Posted 1-17-06 December 2005 article from the NewsTranscript of Monmouth County
     1-17-06 Asbury Park Press
     1-12-06 Asbury Park Press letter to the editor
     12-20-05 Star Ledger 'Schools lower the heat and risk a backlash'
     Recap on property tax issues and S1701 - GSCS has been requesting legislative help on school budget cost drivers for a number of years - here is one example from summer 2004
     12-16-05 Star Ledger Schools may end courtesy busing, tied to S1701 budget stressors
     12-16-05 EMAILNET
     12-12-05 EMAILNET Bills move out of Assembly Education Committee
     5-6-05 EMAILNET Important S1701 meeting in Rumson
     UPDATE on 12-8-05 Assembly Education Committee hearing
     12-2-05 Hopewell Valley letter to Senate Education Committee Chair Shirley Turner re: school budget amendment bills & S1701
     EMAILNET 12-3-05 Heads Up!
     11-15-05 EMAILNET
     Parent Letter to Senate Education Committee Chair on S1701 and request to move amendment legislation
     S1701 EMAILNET Alert 11-28-05
     Ridgewood Board of Education member letter to legislators 11-15-05; good example letter with local legislator response
     Parent letter to legislators on S1701 and 'stalled status of amendment bills S2329 and S2278'
     EMAILNET 11-10-05 UPDATE on STATUS of S1701
     10-28-05 EMAILNET S1701 resignation, Gubernatorial election information
     AMEND S1701: GRASSROOTS BUMPER MAGNETS now available at the initiation of GSCS Rumson parent and their networking
     Readington Forum on School Funding & Meet the Assembly Candidates 11-1-05
     Invitation to October 7 Rumson hosts 'Stuff S1701' Party
     October 7 Sample Letter for 'Stuff S1701' Party Rumson area. html
     Parents in Trenton 9-21-05 Press Conference
     Link to The Hub article on Rumson Parent 5-19-05 Meeting Opposing S1701, GSCS and Assemblymen Sean Kean & Steve Coredemus co-hots
     Schools will seek Extra Funding
     Parents Give Codey an Earful
     Courier Post Online
     Bill to loosen school budgets altered
     Educators urge parents to fight school spending cap
     School funding plan gets OK from panel
     Legislature Acts to Revamp School Spending Caps
     Educators to Argue for Repeal of Cap Law
     S1701 One Board Member's Perspective
     Moody's Investment Services School Bond Rating Analysis post S1701 passage (pdf)
     EMAILNET 7-8-05 GSCS Take on Assembly Passage of A3680
     Asbury Park Press-Gannet Bureau 7-2-05 Legislature Passes Aid bill for Districts Near Abbotts
     October 13 2004 School Funding and S1701 Meeting hosted by Bergen County school group 'Dollars & Sense
     Glen Ridge Schools and Garden State Coalition co-host Dec 9 Meeting 'Public Support for Public Education v. Property Tax Stress' plus a focus on new school funding law S1701
     Red Bank Regional High School, Red Bank K-8 Schools, Little Silver, Fair Haven,Rumson-Fair Haven, Rumson K-8, Shrewsbury, and the GArden State Coalition Host December 6, 2004 Forum on the new school funding legislation S1701
     Rumson PTA, Monmouth Parents sponsor S1701 meeting, co-hosted by 11th District Assemblyman Sean Kean & the GSCS May 2005
     040430EMAILNET Govs PTax Proposal - reaction (Word)
     One Board's Example: Glen Ridge Public Schools
     Princeton Public Schools education symposium to explore impact of school cap legislation
     Real Figures and Sound Facts - A Grassroots Rebuttal to Trenton on S1701
     GSCS School Funding and S1701 Power Point - February 2005
     EMAILNET 2-21-05 S1701 and A3680 Still Stalled
     School Funding Presentation December 2004
Educators to Argue for Repeal of Cap Law
1/17/05 from the Daily Record Newsroom
On Wednesday, local educators will take their case to the public, explaining why they believe new spending restrictions on public school budgets will not provide a long-term curb on school taxes.


01/17/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom

Restrictions on school spending

The law known as S1701 calls for new restrictions on school spending:

- The budget cap, or the amount that a district's operating budget can grow in one year, was reduced from 3 percent to 2.5 percent, or the rate of inflation, whichever is larger. (For the 2005-06 budgets being crafted now, the cap will be 3.01 percent, the rate of inflation.)

- The amount of surplus a district can maintain was reduced to 2 percent or $100,000, whichever is greater, for the 2005-06 school year. Previously, districts could keep as much as 6 percent in surplus and no less than 3 percent.

- State approval will be needed for certain line-item transfers within a local school district's budget.

- Districts may not ask voters to support the same program or services in consecutive years through a second ballot question in April school elections.

-Total courtesy busing costs may not be considered outside the cap -- only the increase in the cost of the service can be considered outside the cap. The increase may not exceed 2.5 percent of the rate of inflation, whichever is greater.

 

Educators to argue for repeal of cap law

On Wednesday, local educators will take their case to the public, explaining why they believe new spending restrictions on public school budgets will not provide a long-term curb on school taxes.

A public forum, organized by superintendents, the state teachers' union and school boards association, will be held at Morristown High School at 7 p.m. All three groups are actively working for a repeal of the law known as S1701, which places limits on public school spending.

The forum will consist of a presentation on what school officials consider the harmful consequences of the law, followed by a question and answer period.

The panel answering questions will consist of a local superintendent, business administrator, principal, school board member and teacher.

All of Morris County's area representatives in the New Jersey Senate voted in favor of the law, except for Sen. Robert Martin, R-Morris Plains, who did not cast a vote. All of the county's Assembly representatives voted against the bill.

The law, signed by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey in July, places tighter restrictions on school budgets, beginning with an overall cap on spending of 2.5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater. Districts recently were notified by the state that the cap for next year's budget, the 2005-06 school year, will be based on the rate of inflation, at 3.01 percent.

School officials have said the law will make it impossible to plan for basic school maintenance projects, resulting in higher taxes in the future.

So far, at least nine bills have been introduced to change the law, ranging from repeals to tinkering with certain measures. A compromise bill was approved by the Assembly Education Committee last week that exempts certain costs from the spending limitations, such as utilities, workers' compensation insurance and domestic security.

Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Boonton, has introduced a bill to repeal the law, saying previously that he supported the law because he did not hear any opposition. He has since heard complaints from local educators, prompting him to propose a repeal so the Legislature could take a better look at it, he said.

One former Morris County school board member has asked legislators to stand by the original law. Jerry Cantrell, president of the Silver Brigade, a local property tax reform group, and a former Randolph school board member, said legislators were right the first time.

"Politicians have been tripping over themselves trying to undo this, when what they did was a good thing," Cantrell said.

Cantrell said districts still have plenty of leeway to exceed the cap, with adjustments for enrollment, special education costs, new school start-up costs and an increase in sending-receiving tuition. Many districts regularly exceed the cap from year to year, he said.

For example, in the 2003-04 school year, the latest data available, only one local school district managed to stay under the 3 percent budget cap. The rest all exceeded the cap that year.

Cantrell said he plans to attend the forum to see the information presented and to see the reaction of any local legislators who attend.

Martin, who was absent for the vote on the original bill, said he did not support the legislation. Although he supports caps on school spending, he said several measures within the law were one-shot deals that lowered taxes in one year only.

"I thought it was largely a gimmick developed to give the appearance of property tax reform," Martin said.

Martin pointed to the measure that retroactively required school districts to reduce surplus to no more than 3 percent last school year. It also set the cap on surplus to 2 percent for the 2005-06 school year. Previously, school districts could keep as much as 6 percent, but no less than 3 percent surplus.

"If a district had more than 3 percent in surplus, there would be a one year effect of lowering school taxes in an election year," Martin said.

Martin has supported a new bill that would effectively repeal S1701, but said he would support a measure that sorts through the "good from the bad." He said districts can't control the rising cost of utilities, insurance and mandate programs. Yet, he added, some costs and responsibilities are within the district's control, pointing to salaries.

"I don't think schools should get a free ride," Martin said.

Go to article.