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School funding plan details at odds with plan as presented...
GSCCS FYI 12-21-07
ON THE GSCS HOMEPAGE TODAY at www.gscschools.org
12-21-07 Initial reactions to fast-track legislation for school funding...a flip flop provision?
Press articles from the New york Times, the Star Ledger,Gannett State News Bureau, The Press of Atlantic City, The Record... ...................(New York Times) "...As of Thursday evening, few legislators or educators had had enough time to sift through the 106-page bill, which is expected to be filed formally on Jan. 3, when the Legislature is next in session. But Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools...expressed concern that districts receiving the least amount of aid under the plan might be hurt by a provision requiring districts to return some of that aid in property tax relief.
"At first blush it reads as if it's giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other, so a number of districts that thought they would transition to the new school funding formula with some degree of comfort are finding out otherwise," she said..."
(GSCS/see p. 45 of the bill for details on this 'giveback' provision which is triggered if districts are spending above the new 'Adequacy Budget Model' . While various conditions appear to be being developed that indicate that approximately 120 districts could be affected by the provision, it is notable that today about 380 districts are already spending over the DOE-developed model. When CIEFA was put together, approximately 315 districts were spending over the state's T&E model. The evokes a question: Does the state demonstrate a tendency to understimate the actual costs of education in New Jersey, and why? Tieing districts' aid to a model that is under the current costs of education in 60% of the districts brings up another question: Could this new proposal lead to a leveling down of the quality of education is our state? Additionally, there's a Catch 22: many districts have had to resort to increasing property taxes to fund education programs, a number of which are mandated, during the years CEIFA was not implemented. Thus now districts are tax-stressed as a result of the underfunding of education aid, which is provided by states' to help offset local taxpayer burden.)
More...
12-20-07 The draft school funding formula bill is now posted on the DOE's website
A Joint Assembly Budget and Educataion hearing on the bill is being planned; the heating will be held next Thursday, 12-27-07 (to be confirmed/see the New Jersey Legislature website for details and how to sign up to testify).
The draft bill is available at:
http://www.nj.gov/education/sff/leg/
This draft represents the Administration's school funding proposal. The Administration expects that technical changes will be made prior to introduction.
December 21, 2007
NEW YORK TIMES: With Little Time Left, Trenton Lawmakers Weigh New Formula for School Financing
TRENTON — Less than three weeks before the end of the legislative session, state lawmakers began circulating a bill on Thursday that would overhaul the formula New Jersey uses to finance its public schools.
A draft of the proposed legislation, which was posted on the Web site of the State Department of Education, fleshes out a proposal outlined last week by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. The proposal, which would increase overall spending by $532.8 million the first year, would funnel more money to poor and disadvantaged children who live outside the state’s so-called Abbott districts, which now receive more than half of all state aid. The new approach would also apportion money to schools based on student demographics, like income, language ability and special academic needs.
Mr. Corzine wants the Legislature to pass his formula by the end of the lame-duck session on Jan. 7. His education commissioner, Lucille E. Davy, is even scheduled to testify before the Assembly’s budget and education committees next Thursday — despite the fact that many legislators and Mr. Corzine himself will be away on vacation. She has already testified before the corresponding Senate committees.
At a year-end news conference at the governor’s mansion in Princeton, Mr. Corzine said, “I want to see the school funding formula passed in time that budgets will be able to be put together by school boards.”
As of Thursday evening, few legislators or educators had had enough time to sift through the 106-page bill, which is expected to be filed formally on Jan. 3, when the Legislature is next in session. But Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an advocacy group that represents primarily suburban districts, expressed concern that districts receiving the least amount of aid under the plan might be hurt by a provision requiring districts to return some of that aid in property tax relief.
“At first blush it reads as if it’s giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other, so a number of districts that thought they would transition to the new school funding formula with some degree of comfort are finding out otherwise,” she said.
Assemblyman David W. Wolfe of the Education Committee, a Republican, said he was troubled not by the formula’s concept, but by the haste the governor wanted on a bill “so complicated and so technical.”
“If this was a governor delivering his budget message,” Mr. Wolfe said, “we’d have maybe two and a half or three months to dissect it, but this is basically take it or leave it.”
The chairman of the Education Committee, Assemblyman Craig Stanley, a Democrat, said he had not had a chance to look at the bill. But he added that given its complexity and its importance, he wanted to take as much time as possible to review the bill, as well as the numerous amendments that are likely to be filed.
“Even under the best circumstances it’s not an easy process, even if you have the greatest school funding formula in the world,” he said. “So I don’t anticipate a quick process. I would imagine it would go to the end.”
School aid plan orders refunds for taxpayers
Newly emerging details bound to upset districts
Friday, December 21, 2007
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
More than half the school districts in New Jersey are spending too much to educate their children, according to Gov. Jon Corzine's new school funding plan, so upwards of 100 could be forced to pass much of their projected state aid increases directly to local taxpayers.
Those details and others emerged yesterday in a draft bill that would usher in a sweeping reform of the way the state funds public education. Corzine and legislative leaders want the $7.8 billion funding plan approved in the current session, which ends in two weeks.
The plan includes $532.8 million in new spending, but the new details had school officials rethinking its implications. Lobbyists getting their first look at the 106-page draft said scores of school districts could be in a tougher bind than initially thought when the conceptual plan was unveiled by Corzine last week.
"When districts figure this out, they won't be as happy as they were when they first saw these increases," said Michael Vrancik, chief lobbyist for the state's school boards association.
Lynne Strickland, director of a suburban schools coalition that would be most affected by the provision, put it more succinctly: "There could be hell to pay."
Getting their dander up was the tax-relief provision of the bill. It says all districts spending more than deemed "adequate" under the state's new formula -- and also receiving more than the minimum 2 percent aid increase next year -- must return the difference to taxpayers.
More than 150 districts fall into that category, according to a Star-Ledger analysis, although state officials said yesterday the number would drop as exceptions are made for large enrollment gains, other extraordinary costs and districts spending close to the new adequacy line. Those officials said 100 to 120 districts would eventually be sending money back to their taxpayers.
In Metuchen, for example, the rule could mean $134,000 of the district's projected $167,000 increase could go to paying off the tax levy, according to the analysis. That would leave a state-aid increase of less than $33,000 for educating children.
The list facing the tax-relief provision is entirely suburban, with more than 30 from Bergen County alone and 17 from Morris County. Many are smaller districts, running up against a model looking to press for consolidation or shared services to rein in costs.
"The rationale is that if you are over adequacy, you should be providing your taxpayers some relief," said state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy.
The new funding law spells out what the state thinks local districts should be spending to educate a child. The formula starts with a baseline of $9,649 per elementary school student and rises as children age. The number also rises for children with special needs, developmental disabilities, low-income backgrounds or limited proficiency in English.
The draft bill also would rewrite the specifics of how school construction money is distributed to districts when, and if, additional funds are provided by the state. An $8.6 billion pot of money approved for school construction in 2000 has all been spoken for, with at least some of it disappearing amid allegations of waste.
Some lobbyists and local educators said the breadth of the changes emerging for the first time are a good reason not to rush the bill through by Jan. 7, the last day of the current session.
"They're like a used car salesman," said Tom Dunn, a lobbyist for the state superintendents association. "They want to sell it to you at night. They figure they'll pass it between Christmas and New Year's so no one will see the dings and scratches in the formula."
But neither the Corzine administration nor the Legislature's leadership appears to be slowing down, with the Assembly budget and education committees planning a joint hearing on the measure two days after Christmas in what is traditionally a holiday week.
The Assembly education committee chairman said he was forced to cancel a trip to California. Another assemblyman said he'll have to miss the hearing due to previous plans, but agreed that it needs to be thoroughly reviewed before a vote.
"I think everybody wants to see more information and wants to see how it's going to be sustained," said Assemblyman Joseph Vas (D-Union), a member of the budget committee.
"Everybody in our caucus is desirous of taking careful steps and vetting this proposal," he said. "I think there's a reluctance to try to consider it in the eleventh hour."
Staff writer Dunstan McNichol also contributed to this article. John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
GANNETT STATE BUREAU –
Draft bill of Corzine's school aid plan released
Posted 12/20/2007 1:34 PM EST on Asbury Park Press
The details that lawmakers and education lobbyists have been longing for about Gov. Jon Corzine's school funding plan are now released. Light holiday reading of about 47,000 words. If you're interested, click here to read it, though you can only open it if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader. (Michael Symons)
Plan calls for tax relief, not necessarily tax rollback
By JONATHAN TAMARI
GANNETT STATE BUREAU
Some school districts in line to receive significant infusions of state dollars may be required to use much of that money to hold down property taxes, not fund education.
Meanwhile, an estimated eight to 10 of the poor, urban, so-called Abbott districts may be forced to raise taxes to put more local money toward their schools.
Both of those provisions were included in a draft of the legislation that would make Gov. Jon S. Corzine's new school funding formula law. The bill was unveiled for the first time Thursday.
"We're providing significant additional aid to a lot of these communities. ... The assumption, therefore, is that some of this aid has to be used to relieve the taxpayers," said Education Commissioner Lucille Davy.
Property tax "relief" doesn't necessarily mean taxes will drop. All schools, even those currently spending more than the state deems "adequate," can still raise taxes by at least 4 percent each year. The aid increases would, in many cases, be used to lessen the tax hikes.
Districts that the state deems are overspending on schools and still receiving state aid increases would have to apply all but 2 percent of those bumps to offsetting property taxes. (The most an overspending district can receive is a 10 percent aid hike.) Davy said those schools could still increase spending on their own with local referenda.
The provision means roughly 100 school districts deemed to be overspending could be barred from using much of their increased support to add programs.
"It's a real concern because districts have increased costs and state aid for education should be designed to help and build programs," said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.
School districts such as East Brunswick, Howell and Cherry Hill, all of which are spending
Press of Atlantic Cty: School-aid plan requires some tax relief
Few districts in region meet criteria to trigger mandate
By DIANE D'AMICO Educat ion Writer, 609-272-7241
(Published: December 21, 2007)
TRENTON - The proposed new school funding law will require some school districts to use a portion of their state aid as property-tax relief.
But the criteria for that relief does not appear to include any districts in Atlantic and Cape May counties. Two districts that might be eligible are Deerfield Township in Cumberland County and Stafford Township in southern Ocean County.
The 106-page proposed legislation was released by the state Department of Education on Thursday and generally repeats information Education Commission Lucille Davy presented earlier this month in announcing the new funding formula.
The bill does clarify some points, one of which is property-tax relief.
Under the bill, districts that get between 3 percent and 10 percent increases in their state aid for 2008-09 might be required to return some of that aid to property tax payers as a tax cut on their school tax rate.
Applicable districts would have to be both spending more than their so-called "adequacy" budget under the new formula and taxing higher than the state calculated minimum local tax levy.
Statewide, 380 districts are spending over adequacy. State officials said more than 100 districts might be eligible for the property-tax relief.
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said many of the districts spending over adequacy are small K-8 districts. The state model is based on a K-12 system of about 5,000 students and is designed to urge districts to consider more sharing or consolidation.
"The legislative goal is to work toward a K-12 model," Davy said.
Both Deerfield and Stafford currently spend more than their adequacy budgets. Deerfield would get a 10 percent aid increase and Stafford 8 percent under the formula, and might be required to use some of the those funds for tax relief.
The exact figures won't be known until the actual budgets and tax levies are calculated, and some waivers are allowed for issues such as enrollment increases and health-insurance costs.
None of the districts getting more than 10 percent aid increases would be expected to use funds for tax relief because all are currently spending less than their adequacy budget, and will have to use the funds for education purposes. But the additional funds may mean the districts won't have to raise taxes next year.
About 10 districts, including some urban Abbott districts, may also be required to raise their local property-tax levies. The law sets a minimum local share each town must contribute toward its school budget, and those that are not taxing at that level might have to raise taxes. Those districts have not yet been identified.
State officials also clarified that the two percent "hold harmless" aid would continue for three years, then aid would begin to decrease if the district had at least a five percent decrease in enrollment during that time.
"This is a transition," Davy said. "Right now the aid will be kept at two percent, but going forward, we will also have to look at spending."
State Sen.-elect Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, said he is concerned about the impact of the two percent aid, especially in Cape May County, where every district got the minimum two percent increase, and many districts have been losing enrollment.
Van Drew, Assemblyman Nelson Albano and Assemblyman-elect Matthew Milam wrote a letter to Davy asking her to come to Cape May County. He said many residents are struggling, and the formula could make it even harder for families to afford to live in the county, which would further decrease school enrollment.
The bill, called the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, does not yet have a sponsor, but Davy said she expects it to be introduced soon and is still hoping for some action during the lame-duck Legislative session.
To e-mail Diane D'Amico at The Press:
The RECORD: Corzine plots ambitious course for new year
Friday, December 21, 2007
By JOHN REITMEYER
TRENTON BUREAU
Governor Corzine is looking at 2008 to, at long last, win over the public on his plan to cut state debt by leveraging toll-road revenue.
The governor is also going to overhaul public school funding in the name of tax relief, send out big rebate checks again and take on new energy initiatives in the new year, he said.
Corzine -- whose life-threatening accident gave him "a greater sense of enthusiasm" -- spoke during a wide-ranging news conference Thursday morning inside Drumthwacket, the governor's official mansion in Princeton. He defended the work his administration did in 2007, including the recent repeal of the death penalty and extension of low-cost health coverage to uninsured children from middle-income families.
He cited this year's record property tax rebate checks, a new law that bans future dual-office holding by lawmakers and efforts to combat global warming among his other accomplishments.
"We didn't promise miracles, we promised progress," Corzine said. "I think that is exactly what we're delivering."
Governors traditionally meet one-on-one with reporters at the end of a year to reflect on the past 12 months and also to take questions about what's in store for the new year. Corzine, however, chose to address those issues this year in a free-for-all session with television, print and radio reporters, all crowded into a wood-paneled library adorned with books, china and wooden duck decoys.
Corzine said the debate on his plan to raise money to pay down the state's more than $30 billion of debt by leveraging and possibly increasing tolls on state highways such as the New Jersey Turnpike will begin in a few weeks. More details of the plan will come out during the Jan. 8 State of the State address, he said.
The governor has been talking about the plan -- previously referred to as asset monetization, but now as financial restructuring -- since the beginning of the year, but only in generic terms. He again said Thursday he doesn't want to rush out all the details of the plan until "we can look the public in the eye [and know] we've dotted all the I's and crossed the T's."
"My point on this is we're going to do it right," the governor said.
A key holdup is whether the new public benefits corporation he wants to create to run the toll roads using predictable toll increases would get tax-exempt status from the federal government. That status is important because it would allow the agency to sell tax-exempt bonds. Corzine said he is confident he will know enough about that issue by Jan. 8.
One alternative, if the toll-road plan isn't approved by the Legislature in 2008, is an increase of the state's gas tax, he said.
Either way, the state will need more money for overdue infrastructure improvements, a topic that received more attention than usual this year after the August bridge collapse in Minnesota.
"And our bridges and roads are older," he said.
Also on the agenda for 2008 is carrying over the $2.2 billion property tax relief program that sent average rebate checks of more than $1,000 to North Jersey residents this year.
The governor conceded he doesn't know where the money will come from in the next budget for the rebates, but said they remain a top priority.
"I ran on a platform of rebates when I ran for governor," he said.
Included in the tax relief picture is the school funding formula Corzine proposed earlier this month. It was spelled out in detail in a piece of draft legislation released Thursday.
The formula scraps the existing system of sending substantial sums of special aid to the poorest districts for one that allocates state aid based on the specific needs of a district's students.
The new formula will help taxpayers in districts that aren't the poorest, but still have significant needs, Corzine said.
Most North Jersey school districts will receive at least 10 percent more state funding under the new formula.
While there was a lot of policy talk, the governor referred to his motorcade accident in April many times during the news conference.
He said the crash near Atlantic City, in which he suffered more than a dozen broken bones and nearly died, did not prevent him from meeting his goals for the year.
"I don't think the accident set me back any more than temporarily and I think it has energized me to make up for whatever lost time," Corzine said.
He also said the accident gave him a renewed joy for life and appreciation of what he has that he will carry into 2008.
"I think this is the most joyful year I've ever had, other than about 30 minutes of it," the governor said.
"I have a greater sense of enthusiasm, purpose and a good feeling about being alive."
E-mail: reitmeyer@northjersey.com
