TRENTON — Leaders of New Jersey’s colleges and universities had hoped to hear about new plans to fund campus construction and renovation projects from Gov. Chris Christie in his State of the State address Tuesday.
They heard it, but not from Christie.
Instead, Senate President Stephen Sweeney picked up the cause, pitching the idea of putting a bond referendum on the ballot in November.
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Private urban charter schools OK’d
Jason Method, Statehouse Bureau
TRENTON — Two Democratic proposals for education reform overwhelmingly passed the Legislature late Monday, heralding what could become a spring full of new initiatives aimed at changing public education.
State Sen. Donald Norcross, D-Camden, brother of longtime South Jersey Democratic boss George E. Norcross III, sponsored both bills.
The first would eliminate school budget votes for any school districts that have their annual elections moved to November and if the district’s budget does not exceed the state’s property tax cap.
Ending statewide school budget elections would end what has been a political tradition in New Jersey for more than a century. The bill passed with a 34-3 vote in the state Senate and a 62-11 vote, with two abstentions, in the state Assembly.
Gov. Chris Christie had not taken a position on the school elections bill by late Monday.
The second measure, called the Urban Hope Act, allows for up to four privately operated public schools to be authorized and built each in Newark, Trenton and Camden. In Camden, officials are specifically targeting the new Lanning Square School, to fall under the program.
The bill permits school districts to allow a nonprofit to build and operate schools. The nonprofit will be paid nearly all of the per-student costs associated with each student.
The Urban Hope Act passed the Senate on a 35-3 vote and the Assembly 56-17 on Monday night. Christie is expected to sign it.
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Bob Ingle
An Assembly committee has approved legislation to allow school elections to be moved from April to November. “Politicians and pundits have talked about doing this for years, but special interests and inertia have prevented progress on this important issue—until today,” said Assemblyman Lou Greenwald. There are two ways to do it, by a ballot decision or resolution adopted by a school board or municipality. If a district moves its election to November voters would not be required to vote on the district’s base budget, or a budget with a proposed tax levy that does not exceed the 2 percent levy cap. Any requests for spending above the district’s tax levy cap would be presented to the voters in November. The problem with April elections is so few people vote then. It’s usually folks with a vested interest in the outcome. By putting them on the general election ballot in November, more people will take part.
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by Jason Method
TRENTON — A proposed law that would allow for private-public schools to be built and operated is awaiting action at this hour in the Assembly Budget Committee.
A leading advocate for low-income students threatened a lawsuit over the bill.
The bill, called the Urban Hope Act, would allow for the privately operated public schools to be authorized and built in Newark, Jersey City and Camden.
South Jersey Democratic leader George E. Norcross has been pushing for the bill, particularly because he wants to see a new private-public school in the Lanning Square section in the center of Camden. Gov. Chris Christie had indicated he would support it.
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Elaine Bobrove
This seems to be the same message we are getting from Gov. Chris Christie. He seems to believe that teachers are solely responsible for putting New Jersey into a financial hole. I’m hearing the message repeated by strangers when I’m in line at the supermarket and even had one of my offspring (definitely one who should know better) saying that teachers are both overpaid and unsuccessful in what we do.
There seems to be a universal perspective that maybe there was some validity to the work of unions back in the day of the sweatshops, but that things have gone too far in the other direction. The unions, this line of thinking goes, have betrayed the public trust by negotiating outrageous contracts.
I have also heard it said that the reason people cannot get jobs is that the unions have made it too expensive to hire American workers.
Let’s look at the facts. When I started teaching as a community college adjunct in 1982, we earned $800 to teach a three-credit course. Before we voted to form a union in 1995, salaries had only risen to between $950 and $1,000 for a three-credit course. That would be $10,000 per year if we were allowed to teach a full academic load of 10 courses per year.
In 1995, when we began negotiating our own contracts, the poverty threshold for a four-person family was $15,568. Our most recent contract in 2010 started at $670 per credit hour — the equivalent of $2,010 for a three-credit course. Are we abusing the system now?
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The recent debt crisis is likely to make it even more difficult for college students to pay for their education, according to officials at several New Jersey universities.
For instance, as of next July the government is eliminating subsidies to graduate and professional students as one way of cutting spending. That savings will be used to help preserve the Pell grant program, which provides help for low-income students.
Even so, those subsidized federal loans keep the cost of borrowing in check, because the government doesn’t charge interest while students are in school. That can have a big impact on how much is owed upon graduation.
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