Codey won't act on SCC funding bill Educators want $2 billion more to finish projects Friday, December 23, 2005 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff Despite pleas from lawmakers at a Statehouse rally yesterday, acting Gov. Richard Codey said he does not expect any action on a bill that would pump $2 billion into the state's troubled school construction program during the lame-duck legislative session. Codey, who sets the Senate schedule as Senate president, said through a spokesman the proposal is "best left to the next administration." That stance likely means disappointment for the 150 parents, teachers and school administrators who braved cold weather for two hours to hear a parade of speakers denounce mismanagement and delays in the stalled program. "The fact is this is criminal," Assemblyman William Payne (D-Essex) said in an address that was typical of the remarks made during the morning rally. "We continue to sacrifice our children on the altar of indifference." The rally was organized by Assemblyman Craig Stanley (D-Essex), sponsor of the bill (A3665) that would allocate $2 billion more dollars to the school construction program. The state agency running the program, the Schools Construction Corp., suspended work on hundreds of school projects in July after determining the $6 billion allocated in 2000 had run out. Yesterday, parents of school children from Newark, Paterson and other communities brought pictures and stories of SCC miscues, such as portable classrooms parked on playgrounds but never opened for use, or neighborhoods bought up for schools no longer scheduled to be built to the Statehouse rally. "It is our obligation, the obligation of this legislature, to build schools," Stanley said. "What has been taking place in Newark, Irvington, Camden and Paterson is a travesty." After the rally, Stanley said he thought there was a "better than fifty-fifty chance" lawmakers will take up the construction funding bill during one of the two legislative sessions scheduled before the end of the current term Jan. 10. Codey has other plans. "Given the amount of appropriation this would require and the current fiscal situation, the governor feels this is an issue best left to the next administration," said Codey's spokeswoman, Kelley Heck. The construction program has been in disarray for most of this year. In February, after a Star-Ledger report showed the six schools built by the SCC had cost, on average, 45 percent more than schools built without the state's involvement at the same time, Codey ordered an Inspector General's review of the program. That review found pervasive management and oversight flaws left the $6 billion program open to fraud and waste. It prompted sweeping reforms, which are ongoing, at the corporation. This past Monday, the State Supreme Court ordered the Department of Education to supply an estimate of future costs for the cash-strapped program by Feb. 15. Dunstan McNichol covers state government issues. He may be reached at dmcnichol@starledger.com or (609) 989-0341. © 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.