Annual Report, 2001-02
New Jersey School Boards Association
In 1914, the New Jersey Legislature created the organization that would become known as the New Jersey School Boards Association. The purpose of this non-partisan federation of local boards of education would be to “encourage and aid all movements for the improvement of the educational affairs” of New Jersey’s public schools.
School governance became an increasingly complex endeavor during the past century. Although our core mission as advocate for the state’s local boards of education has remained unchanged, the services required by school districts have grown exponentially. Today, local boards of education need an organization that speaks out in Trenton and Washington on behalf of their students and which provides training and assistance in a wide variety of areas, ranging from collective bargaining to school law, from policy to school-community relations, from running effective meetings to hiring and evaluating the chief school administrator.
The Challenges
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NJSBA as Advocate
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NJSBA: In Person, In Print and on the Internet
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NJSBA: Training School Board Members
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Stability and Strength
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Financial Statements
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2001-02 was a difficult year for our state and nation. Local school districts were particularly affected by the traumatic events of September 11. Boards of education and their administrators had to grapple with the effects that the nearby attacks had on their children, staff, and families. They considered rescheduling academic and social events; they reexamined school security and emergency preparedness; and they brought to all school activities an added sensitivity to the emotional security of our children.
A downturn in the regional economy, exacerbated by 9/11, translated into in a decline in state revenues and resulted in “flat” education aid—at a time when increased enrollment and surges in fixed costs, like insurance, strained school budgets.
Through it all, the New Jersey School Boards Association stood as a partner with local school districts, offering direct assistance, advocacy and training to help local boards weather the adversity.
Similarly, NJSBA squarely addressed its own financial challenges in 2001-02. Facing declining surplus, the Association formulated a balanced fiscal plan for 2002-03 that maintained services, yet did not require an increase in dues. In fact, 2002-03 will mark the ninth consecutive year that the Association has not had a dues increase. But the change did not come without strong fiscal medicine—including the elimination of 18% of the Association’s staff positions through attrition and reductions in force; significant changes in employee health, dental and retirement benefits; and the transferring of Association meetings to less-expensive facilities or to NJSBA headquarters.
On January 6, 2002, New Jersey’s local boards of education attained a major goal that promises to help them meet the growing costs of state and federally mandated special education programming. A new law (Chapter 356 of the Public Laws of 2001) establishes a remedy for the “extraordinary” costs often incurred by local school boards through the specialized placement outside the school district of students with disabilities.
Enactment of the new law was no simple task. Thanks to NJSBA, skillful lobbying and the development of a creative compromise rescued the measure from a legislative morass.
In December of 2001, the enabling legislation—a few steps away from final legislative approval—was in danger of dying on the vine as the state’s budget crisis placed all proposals for additional expenditures on hold. NJSBA proposed a compromise under which the bill would be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, but would not go into effect until the 2003-04 school year. At that point, a phase-in of additional state aid to cover extraordinary special education costs would begin. By 2006-07, the legislation will pay 100% of school district special education costs in excess of $40,000.
The new law will ensure that students with disabilities receive the education they are guaranteed without placing an undue financial burden on communities.
Since 2000, New Jersey voters have approved more than $6.2 billion in school construction and renovation plans. Approximately 30% of these project costs will be underwritten by grants provided through the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act. For the first time, a large portion of New Jersey’s school districts are eligible for state aid for school construction. The act has been instrumental in gaining voter approval at the local district level for needed school construction.
Additionally, the $8.6-billion act—financed primarily through bonds floated by the state’s Economic Development Authority—will fully underwrite construction of new schools in New Jersey’s 30 poorest (“Abbott”) school districts.
A troubling development facing all New Jersey school districts in 2001-02 came from Lonegan vs. the State of New Jersey, a case contending that the facilities act is unconstitutional because it uses a state agency to issue bonds without voter approval. A court ruling in favor of the challengers would severely disrupt communities where school construction had gained local voter approval and/or was already underway.
On behalf of its members, NJSBA successfully argued as amicus before the Appellate Division of Superior Court that precedent existed for the funding mechanism used in the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act and that the courts had previously approved its use as constitutional. In spite of the victory at the appeals level, the challengers were pressing their case to the state Supreme Court where NJSBA was prepared to act again in support of its members during the fall of 2002.
During 2001-02, NJSBA joined five other state-level education organizations to form CREATE—the Coalition for Responsible Educational Assessment, Testing and Evaluation. This coalition formed an unprecedented alliance with the state’s business community (the state Chamber of Commerce’s Business Coalition for Educational Excellence), a major proponent of the state’s academic standards and an assessment system to measure student progress. The two coalitions called on the state to move toward a broader, more balanced approach to student assessment—one that would not rely exclusively on pencil-and-paper standardized tests.
The proposal, “A Call to Action for Testing Reform,” stressed that the primary purpose of the state’s assessment program should be diagnostic. That is, assessment should measure individual academic progress and identify where a student would need assistance to meet the state’s standards. The groups proposed to Governor McGreevey and Commissioner of Education William Librera the creation of a pilot program to validate a statewide performance-based assessment system to complement traditional paper-and-pencil standardized tests. Such a system would enable teachers to evaluating certain academic tasks and projects with the use of consistent, statewide criteria.
Some of NJSBA’s advocacy efforts are designed to stave off legislation that would undermine effective school governance. In June 2002, the Association organized education management, business and local government organizations to make a statement against union-backed legislation that would effectively prevent school boards from privatizing non-instruction services, such as cafeteria, maintenance and transportation. The subcontracting of services has enabled many school boards to direct their limited funding to the classroom to benefit students’ education or to control local property taxes. During a news conference, the Association cited its research, which shows that public schools have saved more than $40 million by subcontracting services—an option that NJSBA believes should remain in place.
The 2001-02 fiscal year marked a decade of NJSBA’s successful efforts in holding off legislative approval of anti-subcontracting legislation in the face of strident union support of such measures.
NJSBA’s mission focuses strongly on helping school boards with the legal, negotiations and policy issues they face every day. In 2001-02, the Association’s legal staff received as many as 550 calls a month for information on laws, regulations, court cases and administrative decisions affecting school operations. Our Field Service Representatives responded to as many as 1,000 requests a month for direct assistance—providing a wide range of on-site consultation and workshops in the areas of superintendent evaluation, board self-evaluation and effectiveness training, conflict resolution, and preparation for school construction bond elections.
Whether it was a teacher strike in Monmouth County or advice on a troubling negotiations issue in numerous school districts across the state, NJSBA Labor Relations experts stood ready with telephone and in-person consultation. These efforts represent the type of service that is priceless during troubling times for school districts, and they truly reflect the value of membership in the New Jersey School Boards Association.
NJSBA’s policy specialists, meanwhile, kept school boards up to date on the changing educational landscape of 2001-02. Responses to policy information requests addressed school safety, bullying and school violence; the use of defibrillators and the administration of medication to students; homework and student backpacks; hazing; smoking on school grounds; teacher mentoring and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Boards also reached out to NJSBA to help them deal with numerous issues related to 9/11, such as crisis intervention, students’ freedom of speech, and class field trips to other states and countries.
With a leaner staff, NJSBA was determined to deliver services more efficiently…to do more with less. An effective approach has been to use technology to rapidly deliver essential information. NJSBA’s Web site, www.njsba.org, provided boards with a “Budget Crunch 2002” section to help school officials withstand the state’s fiscal crisis. And the Association’s policy staff prepared information, resources and analyses to help boards deal with the requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The Association’s homepage was redesigned to give readers breaking news, legislative alerts, and notices of upcoming programs. The Field Services and Legal sections of the Web site were redesigned, the Negotiations section offered updates and analyses of administrators’ contracts, and NJSBA created a Web-based Consultant Registry referral service listing experts in a wide variety of areas related to school operations. NJSBA also placed daily electronic news clippings—from the region’s daily newspapers—on the site. It has proved to be one of the most popular features on the home page.
During 2001-02, school officials began receiving more information electronically. Members received e-mail updates such as the Washington Monthly Review, State Board Highlights, Code Alerts and the State Legislative Report. The Association has received positive feedback for its e-mail newsletter, Funding Opportunities for Schools, which helps school officials who want to tap into grants and other non-tax revenue sources. The weekly School Board Notes, still available through the mail, went online for those who preferred to receive their news electronically.
Completing its tenth year of operation, NJSBA’s Board Member Academy provided a wide range of training programs to help board members carry out their responsibilities. The Academy Course Catalog lists more than 20 training programs in the areas of school law, negotiations, public relations and school construction. Moreover, more than 300 of the in-district visits by NJSBA field staff included training that led to Academy credits.
New Jersey’s 21 county school boards associations and Urban Boards Committee continued to serve as vital links between NJSBA and local boards of education—as well as excellent forums for training, with program on special education, facilities, negotiations, and school law.
Board members who earn 20 credits and complete three years of service receive the designation of “Certificated Board Member.” The Academy also offers the advanced designation of “Master Board Member” for those who earn at least 40 credits and pass a written exam. Sixteen board members attained this rank in 2001-02. Since the inception of the Academy nine years ago, 109 members have achieved this status.
In 2001-02, 19 boards of education were named “Certified Boards” by the NJSBA Academy. Provided to individual school boards through specially designed on-site training, the Board Certification program focuses on mastery of group processes, such as conflict resolution, board-superintendent relations, strategic planning, goal setting, self-evaluations and conducting effective meetings.
The Association sponsored specialty programs like the Statewide Summit on School Leadership, and a program for charter school administrators and trustees on charter school governance.
Workshop 2001 in Atlantic City provided more than 9,000 school officials and educators the opportunity to attend 160 seminars and informational programs. Key speakers included Andrew Cuomo, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton Administration; Dr. Barbara Sizemore, dean of the DePaul University School of Education; New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education; political entertainer Mark Russell; and members of the Senate and Assembly Education Committees.
A changing world confronted local boards of education and their Association during 2001-02. But NJSBA provided stability for its members, helping them serve their students in difficult times while meting its own financial challenges.
In the brave new world of 2002-03, the financial, academic and societal challenges facing our schools will not abate. The New Jersey School Boards Association remains committed to providing the training, advocacy, information and direct services local school board members need.