NJEA responds to
Governor Corzine's funding proposal

Work to be done to reach accord

 TRENTON - Friday, Dec. 21

Citing "potentially significant negative consequences for all districts," NJEA is unable to support Gov. Jon Corzine's proposed school funding legislation in its current form.

President Joyce Powell, Executive Director Vince Giordano, and Government Relations Director Ginger Gold-Schnitzer, joined by other NJEA staff, met for several hours Friday evening with representatives of the governor's office and the Department of Education in an effort to resolve a number of serious concerns with the funding proposal.

Unless those issues can be resolved, Powell will testify against the proposal at a Dec. 27 State House hearing at the State House in Trenton.

For the past few weeks, the Corzine administration has been rolling out its proposed school funding formula in piecemeal fashion.

On Dec. 20, the final piece was unveiled when the actual legislation - a 106-page bill - was released to the press and the public. NJEA immediately began to analyze the legislation, and quickly discovered a number of troubling sections.

First and foremost is a requirement that considerable amounts of "new school funding" will be used for property tax relief in approximately 122 of New Jersey's school districts.

"This is a school funding formula, and it should be used to fund schools," Powell told the Newark Star-Ledger.

On Friday morning, December 21, NJEA leaders and staff met for several hours to review the legislation in detail, and concluded that it was filled with potentially significant negative consequences for all of New Jersey's school districts. Shortly after noon, Gold-Schnitzer notified the Corzine administration that NJEA would have to oppose the legislation in its current draft.

Later Friday afternoon, the NJEA delegation met with administration officials to discuss the legislation in detail. Discussions are expected to continue through the holiday, as Powell prepares to testify at Thursday's hearing.

It is possible that the Legislature may vote on the Corzine school funding proposal as early as Thursday, Jan. 3. Check njea.org for updates.

Statement by NJEA President Joyce Powell on proposed school funding legislation before the Assembly Education and Budget Committees

December 27, 2007

Two weeks ago, I testified before your Senate counterparts and told them that NJEA supports many provisions of the proposed school funding legislation now before you.

We applaud the expansion of aid to at-risk students in districts across the state, and the broadening of the definition of at-risk to include students who are eligible for both free- and reduced-price lunches.

We also believe that expanding preschool is a wise investment in New Jersey's future - an investment which research tells us will be returned many times over.

The state's decision to make funding for full-day kindergarten available to every district is another positive step.

While we are not certain that we agree entirely with the way the legislation calculates "adequacy," we appreciate that the Department has made a number of adjustments - such as using mean, rather than median teaching salaries - in order to more accurately reflect actual costs.

Over the last several days, we have shared our concerns with the administration, and we appreciate their willingness to listen to them - and to work towards addressing them.

For example, while we fully understand the legitimate desire of the administration and this legislature to address New Jersey's over-reliance on property taxes, we must be assured that all school districts are able to pay for inflationary adjustments to their operating budgets.

We are pleased that a CPI adjustment provision will be added to the school funding formula to allow districts to receive an amount of funding adequate to address inflationary costs.

With respect to special education aid, NJEA has a long-standing policy that it should be categorical.

It is well known that families with a special needs child seek to live in districts which offer high-quality, specialized programs, and those districts' needs must be taken into account.

A census-driven formula that is partially wealth-equalized must provide some built-in protection for districts which cannot fit into a "one size fits all model" because of high-incidence or high-severity special education populations.

We are very concerned about the ability of current Abbott districts to maintain existing programs that have proven to be successful in raising student achievement and in closing the achievement gaps.

Whatever terminology we use to identify these districts in the future, we must never retreat from the educational commitment and social justice that their students - and all students - so genuinely deserve.

The state must continue to fund the costs associated with opening new school buildings in these districts, so that they are not forced to choose between modern, safe facilities, and proven programs for their students.

While we understand that the Commissioner must have the flexibility to adopt regulations quickly in order to implement this formula by September, the authority to do so must be a one-time-only exemption.

Future regulations must be adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.

This draft legislation requires the Commissioner to conduct a review of the special education census funding methodology without establishing a date for its completion.

We believe that study should be completed by June 2010.

This draft legislation also requires that the adequacy amount be reviewed every five years.

Given the concerns we have about the current adequacy figure as it relates to actual costs, we would recommend that it be reviewed after three years.

We certainly hope that this legislation meets the objectives laid out by the administration.

New Jersey has needed an effective school funding formula for a long time.

We must have a formula which provides a rational basis for distributing aid to ensure a thorough and efficient education for all of New Jersey's students, whatever their need, and wherever they live.