Is
school belt being cinched too tight?
Districts
insist cap law will spur severe cutbacks
Friday, September 03, 2004 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
After some pretty tight
years, New Jersey school districts will start the new year
with a little more state aid on their books, but also new
rules that have left some districts wondering if the extra
money is worth it.
Gov. James E. McGreevey
and the Legislature began the summer with a state budget
that boosted aid by at least 3 percent for each district, by
far the biggest increase in three years.
But with summer now
ebbing, districts say they are feeling the pinch from new
caps on spending, administrative costs and even budget
surpluses that came with the state budget. The most onerous
apply to next year's local budgets, they said, but are
starting to hurt already.
"This is horrible
legislation," said Thomas M. Venanzi, business administrator
of Hillsborough schools. "This will only make a lot of
parents upset, because under this law, they won't get the
same level of programs and education, no doubt about it,
whether it be in Hillsborough or any other
district."
Added Walter Mahler,
superintendent of Bridgewater-Raritan schools: "Eventually,
this will be disastrous."
Education lobbyists have
been in full gear over the last few weeks fighting the
measure, and the state's school boards association has
called for a repeal of the law. Others have asked for at
least a moratorium.
In an association survey,
Roxbury and South Plainfield were among several districts
that said courtesy busing would be one of the first victims.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood said extracurricular programs would be
likely targets. Chatham and Wharton officials warned that
class sizes eventually will have to rise.
"Once the Legislature sees
the consequences of this, they'll think seriously about what
they've done," said James J. Dougherty Jr., president of the
school boards association and a board member in Lindenwold.
"Cuts in programs are inevitable."
The law, S1701, came out
of McGreevey's pledge that he would boost state help to
local schools but also hold them more accountable for their
spending, with an eye toward property tax
relief.
Among the measures
included in the law are a new 2.5 percent cap on spending
increases, down from the current 3 percent, and a
requirement that budget surpluses be reduced to no more than
3 percent of the overall spending this year and 2 percent
the next.
In addition, spending for
school administration must be limited to no more than
regional averages, and even those below average cannot
increase spending more than 2.5 percent a year. Schools also
are restricted in transferring funds within the budget,
without first asking for state approval.
State education officials
maintain that the rules are reasonable and districts are
overreacting to the impact, especially as they apply to
budgets that haven't even been drawn up yet.
"The intent of this is a
time out in spending and rethinking for districts in the
direction they are going," said Richard Rosenberg, an
assistant state education commissioner. "At this point, we
don't know what the impact will be. I know people are making
statements to what will happen, but we can only
surmise."
That sentiment from the
state has only frustrated school officials, with several
traveling to Trenton in the last week to meet with
legislative leaders and their staffs. Among them were
officials from Glen Ridge schools, who said the new law
already is having an impact.
Under the surplus rules,
the district had to return $278,000 to local property
taxpayers this summer, reducing the average tax bill by
about $120 this year. That's not much on a typical bill that
tops $12,000, officials said, especially with a state aid
increase of less than $30,000.
But the reduction of the
surplus also has made it harder to deal with the unforeseen
expenses that have since piled up. In just the last month,
the district added a special education student who will
require private schooling, saw a water line burst, and even
suffered a lightning strike.
"That fried all of our
phones," said Superintendent Daniel Fishbein. "These are
things you can never plan for, and we are already looking at
how we will pay for them before kids come back for school.
Last year at this time, it would not have even raised a
concern."
John Mooney covers education. He can be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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