Corzine: County districts could diversify schools Governor links property tax relief to less segregation Thursday, October 05, 2006 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff Consolidating New Jersey's 600-plus public school systems into fewer, larger districts to reduce costs could have the added effect of diversifying the state's schools. Gov. Jon Corzine offered the insight during a question-and-answer session yesterday at the studios of New Jersey Network in Trenton as he addressed the Leadership New Jersey Graduate Organization. He was asked about segregation in New Jersey. "The problem is real," Corzine said. "We have re-segregated our schools. I hope that people will recognize it and be willing to take steps to combat those problems." Corzine said proposals to reduce property taxes could be part of the solution. He said consolidation to make government more efficient could produce "a more natural sharing of both responsibilities and mixing of our children." By combining many small districts into fewer larger ones, "you end up having greater diversity in your school system," Corzine said. "If you went to a county system, you'd have a much broader, diverse community." Corzine said he is not supporting local government or school district consolidation as a way to confront segregation in New Jersey schools, but he sees it as a side benefit of consolidation in the interest of property tax relief. Asked later in the day if Corzine was hinting at moving students, Anthony Coley, a spokesman, said, "We feel that is not the Legislature's intent and we are okay with that." A half-century after Brown vs. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court case that ended school segregation, New Jersey has predominantly black school districts and predominantly white school districts, mainly based on the ethnic character of the towns. Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) is co-chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation, one of four special panels examining ways to ease property taxes. As Corzine spoke at NJN, Smith discussed two proposals that will be offered as key legislation to combat property taxes. One would reduce the number of New Jersey school districts from more than 600 to 21 countywide districts; the other would create a state commission to recommend the merger of towns or public services. Told of Corzine's comments and asked if consolidating school districts could include shifting students, Smith said, "No, schools would maintain their identity. I see no children being moved, I see no principals being moved. The only thing that happens is that all administration goes under one county school board." Under the two proposals, voters would have the final word on creating county-wide districts or merging local governments or services, such as police departments. "The principle here is that citizens should have the ability to tell the government what they are willing to pay for," Smith said. "Put the decision in the hands of the citizens and let them pull the trigger." Corzine said it will be hard to persuade people to look beyond their own interest to the common good. "We have taken 'all politics is local' to the point of fragmentation," he said. "We're all taxpayers. We're all people who have families. We all want the same things, but we have to do it as a 'we' rather than an 'I.'" Smith said he also foresees his committee proposing functions like tax collection, property assessment, public health and animal control in the hands of county government. He said a proposal to move the election of officers and approval of budgets for New Jersey's 186 fire districts from February to the November general election can also be expected. Smith said he expects the committee, which held its sixth hearing on property tax reduction yesterday, to propose that the state Public Employee Relations Commission play a role in settling personnel disputes that emerge during efforts to merge local governments or public safety operations. The Consolidation and Shared Services panel is one of four special committees attempting to come up with methods to ease the New Jersey property tax burden. They have until Nov. 15 to offer proposals to legislative leaders and Corzine. Smith said he expects the countywide school district proposal to be a hot topic when leaders of New Jersey's teachers union, the school boards, school administrators and principals' organizations appear before the Consolidation and Shared Services Committee on Oct. 18. "That's when the real fireworks will begin," he said. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.