School
officials told of the hard lessons in the next
budget
Tuesday, March 07, 2006 • BY
TOM HESTER • Star-Ledger Staff
In the face of a $4.5billion budget
deficit, Gov. Jon Corzine yesterday told school officials
they shouldn't expect any increase in state aid and that he
would try to keep it at about the same level as in the
current spending plan.
"We all know that our state faces serious
financial challenges that must be addressed -- and addressed
now," Corzine told more than 100 superintendents, board
members and other school officials at the Statehouse.
"Passing our problems on to the next generation is not an
option. We must find ways to do more with less, and we will
have to live with cuts in many of our programs."
The current state budget sends more than
$9.5billion to public schools. Corzine said he would attempt
to "hold harmless" -- or not reduce -- state aid for
education as he and lawmakers shape the budget for the
fiscal year that begins July 1. However, the governor said
the budget gap is a major obstacle to maintaining school aid
and that all areas of state spending must be
addressed.
"This will require fiscal responsibility
from all of us," he said. "But we are not going to balance
this budget on the backs of our children."
School board members and school
superintendents at the Statehouse to lobby legislators on
education issues said they are willing to accept level
funding but stressed that there have been no state aid
increases for six years.
They said that if they get the same state
aid, many districts may still order layoffs and program
cutbacks because enrollments are growing and there are
increased costs for construction, salaries and
benefits.
"I hope his proposed budget keeps us
harmless (with no reduction in aid) and the Legislature
complies with that," said School Boards Association
president Edwina Lee. "The hard conversation will be about
cuts elsewhere. Cuts in state aid to local budgets would
raise property taxes."
"It would be nice if he could do that
(maintain level aid)," said Bedminster Superintendent Andrew
Rinko, "but the jury is still out and we have a long way to
go before that comes to fruition."
Franklin (Somerset) school board
president Eva M. Nagy said she spoke to legislators about a
School Boards Association proposal to fund schools by
relying less on property taxes and increasing income taxes
based on the ability to pay. She said school officials would
like to see state education funding raised from 38 percent
to 50 percent, a percentage provided in more 40
states.
© 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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