The state budget deficit and probable cuts to state aid for school districts were the focus of a public forum on the changes anticipated for New Jersey schools under new Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.
Local legislators and school administrators took part in the forum on Jan. 27. Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools (GSCS), hosted the event, which took place Jan. 27 at the Shrewsbury School on Obre Place.
GSCS is a statewide, grassroots volunteers association composed of parents, Board of Education members and school administrators that represents 115 primarily suburban New Jersey school districts and their communities.
“We promote quality education for all,” Strickland said of GSCS, whose primary focus is on interrelated issues of academic achievement, educational practices and school finance.
The panel, made up of legislators and local superintendents, discussed issues found in Christie’s transition-team reports that came from the education subcommittee on Jan. 16.
“They’re from a group of people who came up with bold ideas for change. We have reason to be optimistic,” Strickland said.
Although Christie will stick to full-day pre-K within the formerly designated Abbott districts, it is uncertain if funding will be eliminated for non-Abbott districts like the Red Bank Borough schools.
“This is something we’ve been very concerned about,” Red Bank Schools Superintendent Laura C. Morana said. “Research clearly shows the benefits of the high-quality pre-K education we offer here,” she said.
Red Bank Borough schools are Title 1 schools, meaning that more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches.
According to the subcommittee report, the state has made a significant investment in preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in former Abbott districts, and that investment has had a positive impact on later student achievement in these urban districts, with both private and public providers having equally good outcomes.
“Not receiving funding would be a huge loss to the middle school, high school and even beyond to the college level,” Morana said.
Morana remains optimistic, stating that she hopes to maintain the program currently under way.
“The best we can hope for is to maintain what we have, but expanding would be amazing,” Morana said. “We’re a true model here.”
Strickland said New Jersey currently spends more per student on pre-K-through- 12 education than 48 of the 50 states.
Given the amount of these expenditures, Christie’s education subcommittee is identifying immediate opportunities to eliminate waste and to reclaim expenditures from practices and purposes that are low priority or making no, or only limited, contribution to the quality of education provided.
Strickland said the cost of living is expected to increase 1.7 percent this year, and with the 4 percent budget cap in place, schools are feeling the bind.
“Programs, class size and staffing are all impacted. We wish to remain pragmatic until the amount of state aid is known on March 16,” she said. “Everything is speculative until then.”
Shrewsbury Borough School District Superintendent Brent MacConnell said the district currently receives less than 1 percent in federal funding.
Red Bank Regional High School District Superintendent Dr. Howard Lucks said he has seen a 25 percent increase in health care bills.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon explained that this year’s options for filling the hole left by the state budget deficit are limited.
“Most of this year’s line items are already out the door,” he said. “It’s extreme, and it’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
Beck said everything in the budget is being examined and that newly appointed Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said he will review the high cost of the former Abbott schools and the overwhelming excesses found in those districts.
“He’ll start there, not in the districts that have been financially responsible, like we are here,” Beck said. “There’s obvious abuse that they should go after there before they take your little $11,000 surplus,” Beck said to MacConnell.
Casagrande explained that in future years there would be more-effective methods in place.
“What Christie intends to do will give us more tools. There will be a new committee designed to limit excess spending,” she said. “His aggressive deregulatory agenda is a good fit for smaller municipalities.
“It will take some waste and mandates away. It won’t take all the problems away, but these are the solutions,” Casagrande continued.
Little Silver Schools Superintendent Dr. Carolyn Kossack said the potential threat for her district is that the district could lose the $500,000 it receives each year in state aid.
Kossack explained they might have to give up three to four months’ worth of state aid.
“We always hope to offset the tax levy to help the taxpayers. This would affect the money we use to offset the tax levy,” Kossack said.
“Cuts should be spread evenly and fairly, with small cuts seen in each line item. Cuts and freezes should be broadly applied,” O’Scanlon said.
Morana, who was formerly the principal of a large urban Abbott school in Elizabeth, said that in that district she had to justify every single line item in the budget and was required to work directly with the State Department of Education.
“There were mechanisms in place for accountability,” Morana said, adding that Christie’s agenda is a “really great step in the right direction.”
“Schundler has been more responsive than anything we’ve seen in the last 20 years,” O’Scanlon said.
“There’s reason to be concerned but still understanding with what’s happening in Trenton. The level of state aid and support will change,” Strickland said.
The four superintendents collectively expect a 10 to 25 percent reduction in state aid.
According to the reports, Strickland stated that Christie believes in giving parents options on how to educate their children.
“It’s a bad economy, but there’s a lot of good coming out of this administration,” she said. According to the report, families should have choices in the education of their children and have access to a full range of high-quality educational opportunities, including a traditional public education, charter schools, and private school options.
“It’s a big step in the right direction,” said Casagrande.
Currently, the only barometer of a school’s success is the results of a single test at various grade levels.
“The high- and low-performance standards are to change,” said Casagrande.
According to Christie’s subcommittee report, other critical factors related to the educational progress made by children in school, their overall development, the efforts made by the school to address socio-economic factors beyond the child’s or the school’s control, and the general safety and well-being of the children in the school are not part of the judgment.
“We’ve come a long way since last year. There’s a lot of good things on the horizon,” Casagrande said.
Strickland added that the Christie administration has plans to ease mandates.
“The Christie administration is calling for the state to move away from a one-size-fitsall approach to governing local districts,” explained Strickland. “The subcommittee reports call for allowing well-performing districts to be released from “burdensome central controls and oversight.”
Casagrande explained that Christie’s subcommittee recommends the expansion of charter schools in failing districts.
“They want to open five to 10 new charter schools in high-need, low-performing districts in time for fall 2010. They want to expand the successful charters,” she said.
Simultaneously, Casagrande said, the subcommittee recommends that the charters of the lowest performing schools be rescinded to demonstrate commitment to high standards for existing and new charter schools.
Other topics of discussion included tenure, school consolidation, teacher certification and salary, and special education.
Strickland said Christie’s educational transition team took the GSCS suggestions into consideration when crafting their report.
“There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the change that happened in Trenton,” Casagrande repeated.