N.J. to new leaders: Fund our schools

Ideas being put beforeObama, Congress, new education secretary

By RAJU CHEBIUM
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey politicians and educators have differing suggestions for President-elect Barack Obama, Education Secretary-designate Arne Duncan and the incoming Congress about how the federal government could help improve the state's K-12 school system.

One item on all their wish lists is money. They all want Congress to adequately fund No Child Left Behind so states can meet the law's myriad mandates.

The landmark 2002 law changed the way students are taught by requiring testing in grades three through eight and once in high school to assess student abilities in math, reading and science.

Few object to the law's key goal of boosting accountability by ensuring all children receive a good education, regardless of their race or economic status.

Critics say the problem lies in President George W. Bush's failure to seek -- and Congress' failure to provide -- enough funding for states to meet the goal of ensuring all students have grade-level proficiency in core subjects by 2014.

"Many of the policy reasons behind NCLB are desirable. But there are pretty significant implementation issues that have to be addressed," Lucille Davy, New Jersey's education commissioner, said in a recent telephone interview. "Will we have 100 percent (proficiency) by 2014? Honestly, I don't know. I don't think so."

She said formulating, administering and scoring the testsis a huge drain on states, and Congress should begin by increasing funding for assessments.

Only 7 percent of New Jersey's annual education budget of $12.4 billion comes from the federal government, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

The state's public schools are considered among the nation's best partly because the Garden State spends a lot -- around $14,000 per child annually, according to Michael Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The high education tab is one reason New Jerseyans pay among the nation's highest property taxes.

About 200 New Jersey school districts pay almost all of their K-12 expenses with state and local money, with some federal help for special education, said Lynne Strickland of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a group of parents, school boards and superintendents. The state has about 600 school districts, some consisting of one school.

As the Obama administration and Congress rework and extend No Child Left Behind in the coming months, they must change the formula used in allocating money to states, Yaple said. New Jersey gets a smaller slice of the federal education pie because it's rich state, he said. Poorer states like Alabama receive more because more of their students are classified as poor.

Changing the funding formula "will require quite a bit of political will," Yaple said. "Usually when you talk about one state getting more, that means another state will get less. It's a tough sell."

Strickland said Congress should at least boost special education funding.

Gov. Jon Corzine is lobbying Congress to increase special education funding and boost school construction spending as part of a broader economic stimulus package Obama wants to enact soon after he's inaugurated Jan. 20.

New Jersey teachers and superintendents also want federal lawmakers to change the way student progress is measured.

Relying solely on standardized test scores is unfair to students who are improving but don't know enough English or enough about a particular subject to ace exams, said Laura Morana, superintendent of Red Bank Borough Public Schools.

Congress also should change No Child Left Behind to track each student's academic progress, instead of tracking scores by grade level, said Ed Westervelt, superintendent of Red Bank Regional High School District, a one-school district.

Lawmakers should solicit the views of teachers in crafting assessment methods such as analyzing a portfolio of students' work in addition to test scores, said Kathy Coulibaly of the New Jersey Education Association, a 200,000-member teacher's union.

Education didn't receive much attention on the presidential campaign trail. In their three debates, Obama and his rival, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were asked one question about the issue.

Obama has pledged to offer pre-K to all children and improve the quality of teachers, and some in Congress are considering lengthening the school day, but it's unclear how lawmakers will pay for the proposals, given the country's economic problems.