Public school safety and quality threatened by A-10

On May 19, the New Jersey State Assembly considered further reducing administrative spending in our public schools. Before you say, “About time!” consider that New Jersey’s administrative costs are already below national levels, capped at the state level and under annual scrutiny.

According to recent, independent sources, New Jersey school administrative costs rank 40th in the nation as a percentage of expenditures. We fall well below the national average of 10.8 percent – New Jersey’s administrative costs are only 9.7 percent. Furthermore, our building-level principals, vice principals, and other supervisors make up less of the total school staff than our peers in other states. The national average of building-based leaders as a percentage of school staff is 2.76 percent, but in New Jersey it is only 1.86 percent.

New Jersey law already caps administrative spending and limits the overall school budget. State law requires administrative efficiencies and cost containment as a precondition for the approval of a school budget and the presentation of any second questions to the voters.

A-10 would require another arbitrary 10 percent cut in administrative costs. This additional cut amounts to one too many and would directly threaten both school safety and quality. It would undercut the leaders who are charged with keeping public schools safe and secure and who create disciplined and supportive learning environments. If school leaders become the target of yet another major reduction, we target the very people we count on for safe and disciplined schools.

In recent years, gangs have become a growing presence in many communities. Electronic social networking has made the Internet a more serious threat to students’ safety. And we have seen a trend nationwide in isolated but extremely violent episodes. As these events and developments have unfolded, school leaders have had to make sure that highly sophisticated and effective emergency plans are in place, staff is trained, and drills are practiced. They have had to create systems to share information with law enforcement. And they have led the development of gang prevention and Internet safety programs. All in all, it has become increasingly challenging to keep schools safe, disciplined and focused on learning, but principals and supervisors have met the challenge.

Good leaders are essential to keeping schools safe and disciplined in an increasingly dangerous world. School administrative costs are already low. Now is exactly the wrong time to reduce school leadership – again.
JoAnn Bartoletti
Executive Director
New Jersey Principals and
Supervisors Association
Monroe Township