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Administrators react to funding plan
(by Megan Burrow - January 30, 2008)
In a landmark decision, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a bill Sunday Jan. 13 changing the formula the state uses to award aid to fund
New Jersey public schools. The bill revamps the previous formula and raises the amount of aid given, anywhere from two to 20 percent, depending on the district and its needs.
The new formula would replace the existing one based on the Abbott decision, which allocates a hefty portion of state aid to the 31 poorest districts in the state. The bill, however, still needs the approval of the State Supreme Court under the Abbott rulings.
If approved, the state would give more money to suburban districts faced with increased enrollment and higher numbers of low-income students, special-needs students, and students with limited English language skills. The state is altering the formula to direct funding to where it is most needed outside of the Abbott districts, in an attempt to ensure both urban and suburban districts get their fair share of funding.
In an effort to see how this decision will impact schools in the
Pascack
Valley area, Community Life discussed the changes with school administrators from each of the local districts.
Montvale
Marian Latz, the school business administrator in Montvale, estimates the extra money her district receives will not make a large impact on the budget for next year. The school aid the district gets from the state is expected to go up by 2.89 percent, Latz said, giving the district approximately $20,000 next year in state aid. “With a $12 million budget, it’s not really going to make much of an impact,” Latz commented. “Every little bit helps, but the increase isn’t very significant.”
Because of the town’s wealth and the average earnings of its residents, Montvale typically receives little state aid each year, leaving the town’s taxpayers to foot the bill for the majority of education costs. Latz said the increased aid would help offset taxes by going towards the general operating expenses of the district, which will most likely increase. Latz pointed to higher gas prices and increased salaries as two additional expenses the new aid could help offset in the upcoming year.
Park Ridge
Bob Wright, the
Park Ridge business administrator and board secretary, said he has some concerns about the bill. “The numbers the state gave at first were misleading,” Wright said. Initially the state informed the borough it would receive a 10 percent increase in aid. Now the state has altered that amount, restricting the money available for educational spending to 2.89 percent, with the rest of the money going towards tax relief. Wright described the bill as “a rebate check the state is pushing through the school district.”
The state has determined
Park Ridge to be one of the districts that is “above adequacy” based on the income level of the town. Any town they consider to be above adequacy is only allowed to retain 2.89 percent. In
Park Ridge that translates into about $25,000, or Wright says, “barely half a teacher.”
Wright fears the new formula may actually harm the district in the future. He said, “The problem is the formula weighs heavier against districts in
North Jersey . It doesn’t resolve the problem in
Bergen
County . The cost of living is higher and you can’t make generic decisions based on income alone. Did the formula need changing? Yes. Is it a step in the right direction? Yes. Did they go far enough? No.”
Wright said the additional aid will give him the ability to increase the budget cap by $25,000 and offset tax increases by up to $66,000, but probably won’t be enough to fund any new programs or hires.
Hillsdale
Hillsdale is set to receive an additional 20 percent in state aid. Lirca Garcia, the business administrator, said the money will help pay for costs associated with the district’s growing enrollment. For years, the district has been struggling with increased enrollment and flat state aid.
She said she is still waiting to hear whether the district will be restricted on how they can use the money. The budget will be done by mid-February, when it must be submitted to the county office.
Woodcliff
Lake
Peter Lisi, the
Woodcliff
Lake superintendent, is expecting an increase of $15,000.
When applied to the overall increase in cost the district is expecting, Lisi said the amount would have a minimal effect. “In these difficult economic times, when the cost of living has gone way up, and when you’re looking at a budget of $14 million, $15,000 isn’t going to go very far.”
Emerson
Emerson Assistant Superintendent Phil Nisonoff, said it is too soon to “assess the full impact” of the additional 10 percent the district will receive.
He said he will have a better idea when the district approves the tentative budget in February.
Pascack
Valley Regional H.S.
Business Administrator Dr. Vincent Occhino described the change as just one of the many major impacts he has seen during his long career in the business. “Education is the only entity in government that has this many constraints on its budget, and you have to be able to work around them.” He said his district has “a lot of innovative programs in place already, and as of now we are not looking to add any more.”
The school hopes to make improvements in technology and purchase new computers with the additional 10 percent in aid it is expecting to receive. “I am very comfortable with where we are now,” said Occhino. “We are helping the kids maximize their abilities and have support within the community.”
Westwood
Westwood Regional Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller called the funding increase his district is set to receive “so negligible, it will have virtually no impact on the budget.”
“We’re not getting a lot of state aid to begin with,” Zoeller said, “the two percent increase is not two percent on the entire budget, but two percent on what the state is already giving me. I wish I could say how it’s really going to help kids, but I can’t.”
Zoeller said he has talked to legislators, officials from the state Department of Education, advocacy groups, and other superintendents in the area about his unhappiness with the new formula. He says the additional money will not be enough to cover the expected rise in energy and heating costs.
“The
Bergen
County school districts have been so remarkably, unconscionably under-funded for years, the increase is almost meaningless,” Zoeller said. “This increase represents .14 percent of my budget. If your boss gave you a .14 percent raise, would you feel appreciated? People need to look beyond the smoke and mirrors to what this bill really means.”
The
River
Vale
School District did not return phone calls.
Megan Burrow's e-mail address is burrow@northjersey.com.
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