Corzine:
School program 'a disgrace'
Candidate would ask voters to
approve more funding for construction
Friday, September 09, 2005 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
Calling the ongoing problems in New
Jersey's school construction program a "disgrace," Jon
Corzine said yesterday that if elected governor he would ask
voters to approve additional funding.
Corzine, the U.S. senator and Democratic
candidate, said he believed voters would approve funds when
needed financial reforms were made in the scandal-plagued
Schools Construction Corp.
The SCC oversees $6 billion worth of
construction in the state's neediest districts ordered under
the state Supreme Court's landmark Abbott v. Burke
rulings.
But echoing what some Republicans have
championed, Corzine said a public vote of confidence was
critical for the program to move forward.
Virtually all of the SCC's $6 billion
funding for the poorer districts -- as well as another $2.6
billion for suburban districts -- has been depleted with
less than one-third of the projects completed that districts
say they need.
"We have to have the public believe we
can actually spend the dollars appropriately to accomplish
what I think everyone agrees in concept is necessary,"
Corzine said.
"If we can't convince the public that
we'll do it right," he added later, "I think we end up with
a tension that's unacceptable."
Corzine's comments overshadowed his
speech at the College of New Jersey in which he outlined his
education plan for the state if he wins in
November.
Beyond the SCC reforms, he said he would
provide an additional $25 million in funding and incentives
for districts to provide preschool and full-day
kindergarten. In the older grades, he would require four
years of math in high school and more rigor in math and
science instruction.
Corzine described much of his platform in
broader terms, saving his harshest words for the ongoing
crisis in the state's school facilities program. Many
districts have been left in the lurch as they await schools
they thought were coming under the Abbott
rulings.
The SCC has been under fire since
February, when an article in The Star-Ledger raised issues
of mismanagement and documented higher costs for
state-overseen projects than those being built in the
suburbs.
"The cost overruns and mismanagement of
the school construction program has been a disgrace,"
Corzine said. "To say that this is a tragedy for our
children -- really stealing from our schoolchildren and
their dreams -- is a gross, gross
understatement."
Republican candidate Doug Forrester has
been equally critical of the program and its problems,
calling for the dissolution of the SCC.
Campaign spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester
said yesterday that Forrester would not support any
additional funding without clear answers about what led to
the problems. She pointed out that for years Republicans
have called for public referendums on state
borrowing.
That, in part, is what made Corzine's
comments so notable yesterday, as he has said in the past
that he would support additional funds for school
construction once reforms were made.
The new condition of a public vote raised
some concerns among school advocates who are pressing the
state to immediately replenish the state's program to cover
at least pending projects.
"If it helps to get voter approval and
that can be done in a way that doesn't stop or delay these
projects, that's an entirely appropriate decision for the
governor to make," said David Sciarra, director of the
Education Law Center, which filed the lawsuit that led to
the Supreme Court's decision.
"But you also have to have a backup
plan," he said. "The obligation under the court to move
forward is irrespective of whether the voters approve it or
not."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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