Gov. Jon S. Corzine and state lawmakers
this week began pushing for an additional $2.5 billion to replenish
New Jersey's school construction program, enough to pay for about
47 new schools, according to the program's top official.
Scott Weiner, chief executive officer
of the Schools Development Authority, said the new money is sorely
needed but will barely put a dent in the roster of 398 schools
awaiting construction in Newark and other communities, where the
state is under court order to repair or replace decrepit public
schools.
"That $2.5 billion won't even address
the tip of the iceberg," said Weiner. "$2.5 billion will allow
us to address the point of the tip of the iceberg."
Lawmakers authorized spending up
to $8.6 billion on the program when they set it up eight years
ago, but that funding has all been committed to ongoing projects
and will run out by 2010, Weiner said.
Earlier this year, Corzine promised
the Supreme Court he would introduce and promote legislation to
authorize an additional $2.5 billion for the program in February.
But lawmakers have been reluctant to take up that proposal, saying
they are concerned over a history of waste and mismanagement that
dogged the early years of the program.
Earlier this week, two Newark Assembly
members introduced legislation that would authorize the $2.5 billion
in additional funding Corzine promised.
With another $2.5 billion, Weiner
said, officials could begin working on 27 school projects that
were suspended last year for lack of funding. The new funding
would also allow the authority to begin building the first 20
of 371 new schools local officials say their districts need the
state to build.
Weiner encouraged superintendents
to lobby for the new funding.
"Invite legislators to hold hearings
in your auditoriums, if you have auditoriums," he said. "Let your
legislators see what facilities your kids have to sit in."
Weiner said the authority is also
working on plans to generate additional funding for schools by
incorporating them into broader development projects or by selling
development rights atop new school buildings.
Weiner insisted the revamped Schools
Development Authority has eliminated the management problems that
hampered the early years of the program and called on superintendents
to challenge critics who imply the program is still mismanaged.
"We need to be able to call them
out on it and say that's simply not true," he said. "They provide
convenient opportunities for decision-makers not to make decisions."