A Voice for Public Education

Annual Report, 2002-03

New Jersey School Boards Association

In 1914, the year the State Legislature created the New Jersey School Boards Association, local boards of education struggled with school taxes, personnel matters, and the quality of instruction. 

The issues may sound familiar.  And, in fact, the basic role of the local board of education has not changed: School boards represent their communities’ interests in the operation of the public schools; they do this by setting educational goals and policies.  Yet, previous generations of school board members probably could not imagine the complexity of the challenges their colleagues would face nearly a century later.

Consider school year 2002-03:

• Local boards of education faced difficult negotiations with well-funded organized labor

• With enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, they experienced unprecedented federal involvement in public education

• The public schools were called upon to a host of functions that, 90 years ago, were within the realm of church and family: pre-school education; substance abuse education, character education, family life education.

 Just as issues and responsibilities have evolved, so has the New Jersey School Boards Association.  From our mission first set in 1914—“To encourage and aid all movements for the improvement of the educational affairs of New Jersey”—has evolved a wide range of services and effective advocacy designed to help our members meet the growing challenges of public school governance.

NJSBA:  Advocacy for Public Education

Citizen Action  During 2002-03, NJSBA supported local school boards before the courts, the state Legislature and state Board of Education on a wide range of issues affecting student health and safety and the quality of the education they received.  A new initiative—the NJSBA Citizens Action Project—became a key element to support advocacy of the public schools.  This grassroots program has engaged countless citizens who might not have children in public school, but whose views are aligned with those of the Association.

The project’s goal is to keep citizens informed of developments in Trenton and Washington via e-mail, so they can raise their voices in shaping the course of events.

‘Put Children First!’  In 2002-03, New Jersey experienced a massive revenue shortfall estimated at $5 billion.  The revenue situation led to a second year of flat funding for education in a state that already relies too heavily on property taxes to fund its public schools.

NJSBA’s message was simple, yet direct: “Put Children First!” The three words became the rallying cry in a campaign that included a statewide petition drive urging the Legislature to give priority to education funding. In May 2003, the campaign culminated with a press conference and rally at the State House, where NJSBA President Glenn B. Ewan presented Governor McGreevey with petitions bearing the signatures of 20,000 New Jerseyans demanding full funding of public education.

Special education funding  As a result of NJSBA’s efforts during the annual battle of the budget, the state Legislature added an additional $100 million in aid to public schools. Approximately $52 million of that amount represented an increase in state funding for extraordinary special education costs—the result of groundwork laid a year earlier by NJSBA.  In 2002, the Association brokered the passage of the bill phasing in state aid payments to ultimately cover all special education costs over $40,000 per student.

Because the Legislature appropriated the special education funds after school district tax rates were struck, the $52 million had to go toward reducing the school property taxes.  Nonetheless, it will serve as the base for special education funding in the next year’s budget.

School construction  During 2002-03, a court challenge threatened to undermine the $8.6 billion in state grants available to school districts under the 2000 Education Facilities Construction and Financing Act.  The suit, Lonegan vs. the State of New Jersey, disputed the constitutionality of the act because it uses a state agency to issue bonds without voter approval.

NJSBA entered the case as amicus, or “friend of the court,” arguing that the state constitution does not prohibit the Legislature from authorizing independent state authorities to issue bonds—in this case, the state Economic Development Authority. In August, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Act and preserved the crucial funding for school construction.

The courts were not the only forums where NJSBA provided support for local school boards’ efforts to provide their students with safe and modern school facilities.  In July 2002, NJSBA testified before Assembly committee, urging the state to eliminate the delays and red tape plaguing the state’s $8.6 billion effort to build new schools and renovate aging facilities.

By enabling communities to reduce bonded indebtedness, the Education Facility Construction and Financing Act of 2000 has had a positive effect on voter support for school construction.  During 2002-03, voters approved 73 of 94 construction proposals, totaling $1.18 billion. That 78% voter-approval rate was the highest recorded since NJSBA began tracking bond referendums in 1997.

No Child Left Behind  The Elementary and Secondary Education Act—originally passed in 1965, as the federal government’s mechanism to fund Kindergarten through 12th grade public education—must be reauthorized by Congress every five years. The 2002 reauthorization, called the No Child Left Behind Act, posed unprecedented federal involvement in the nation’s local school districts:

• States were required to create standards for math, science and literacy.
• Regular assessment of student progress was mandated.
• Every school had to employ “highly qualified” teachers.

Schools that fell short of NCLB requirements would have to provide students with certain services such as tutoring, or they would need to give students a choice of attending another school.

How the new law would affect New Jersey was unclear at first.  But as the federal Department of Education and state began drafting regulations and implementation plans, the New Jersey School Boards Association began a plan of advocacy, assistance and training. The Association established an internal staff task force in the spring of 2002; it sponsored training workshops; it posted a Web page devoted to the new law; and, most significantly, the Association forged alliances with other education organizations to seek changes to the most rigid aspects of No Child Left Behind.

In addition, NJSBA’s policy experts updated 43 different sections of the Critical Policy Reference Manual affected by the new law.

NJ SMART  Students frequently changing schools in mid-year—often an indicator of poverty and family instability—has been linked to poor academic achievement and makes it difficult for the public schools to provide an appropriate academic program.  In 2000, NJSBA’s members called for the state to develop a comprehensive system to address student mobility.  In 2002-03, the State Department of Education began working on a system that would compile each student’s academic record at the state level and would track students as they moved within the state. NJSBA participated in the state task force on implementation of the program, called NJ SMART, which will be piloted in 12 districts.

Preserving school boards’ authority…

• To protect education funds  As the 210^th session of the New Jersey Legislature drew to a close in January 2003, NJSBA found that it had again succeeded in stopping a union-backed proposal to prevent school boards from subcontracting non-instructional services, such as transportation, cafeteria and maintenance.  Association surveys show that the state’s local boards of education have saved more than $28 million through the privatization of non-instructional services.  Boards have directed the savings toward instruction, educational equipment and materials and property tax relief.
• To protect student health and safety  In Joye v. Hunterdon Central Regional Board of Education, NJSBA argued in support of a local school board’s authority to extend random drug testing to students who did not participate in athletic programs.  In the end, both the Appellate Division and the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a district policy allowing random drug testing of students involved in clubs, activities, or who parked on school grounds.
• To reflect and represent the community  NJSBA also entered a court battle against the “Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act,” which in essence represented a de facto state takeover of Camden. The legislation, approved in late 2002, enabled the governor and mayor to appoint members to the board of education rather than having them elected. It also gave the Governor veto powers over board actions.  NJSBA joined the Camden Board of Education in the ongoing legal challenge of the measure.

Last, best offer  NJSBA’s legislative advancements were accompanied by one setback.  The Association and local boards of education launched a valiant campaign to retain an essential component of school board strength in collective bargaining: the seldom-used principle of “last, best offer.”   Public sector labor law has generally upheld a public employer’s right to implement its last, best offer when negotiations are fully exhausted.  In reality, the concept of “last, best offer” serves as a tool for school boards to counter unions’ threats of illegal strikes.  Without “last, best offer” the bargaining table is tilted further toward the union side.

Unfortunately, strong arguments by school boards, supported by editorial commentary by major daily newspapers, did not dissuade the lawmakers.  They eliminated “last, best offer” in 2003 and, in its place, designated a third level of impasse proceedings, called “super-conciliation.” That process would be used if mediation and fact-finding fail to break a deadlock in negotiations.

A force for children   Victories in the areas of construction and special education funding, subcontracting, assessment and tracking mobile students overshadowed the rare defeat.  NJSBA’s major achievements were accompanied by smaller, but important advancements on behalf of our children:

• NJSBA supported legislation to help school districts protect students from harassment, intimidation or bullying on school property and at school functions.  Association efforts made the law’s policy requirements less burdensome, bureaucratically, for school boards.  The Association also supported the law’s focus on the important element of staff training.  After enactment of the law, NJSBA policy staff worked with officials of the state Departments of Education and Law and Public Safety to develop a model anti-bullying policy for school districts to adopt in meeting the law’s requirements.

• The Association successfully supported stiffer fines and penalties in the growing cases of “sports rage,” where adult spectators or coaches turned to violence during youth athletic programs.

• The Association supported a new law requiring the state Department of Education to notify local school districts and other local public officials upon receipt of an application for a charter school.

• NJSBA supported legislation that requires the NJDOE to coordinate sharing of textbooks among schools by creating a “textbook bank.” Each of these bills was ultimately signed into law.

Student assessment  In November, the governor and education commissioner announced a major shift in the state’s perspective on student testing.  They endorsed a five-year, nine-district pilot program to explore the use of “performance-based assessments” to complement traditional standardized tests.  Performance-based assessments move away from pencil-and-paper tests, and can include student projects, demonstrations, competitions and problem-solving tasks.

Here too, NJSBA had a role as part of the Coalition for Responsible Educational Assessment, Testing and Evaluation (CREATE). First-year funding for the pilot program will include $750,000 from the state, $100,000 from a coalition of the state’s business leaders and in-kind support from CREATE.

NJSBA: The Source for Training

A core mission  At the core of NJSBA’s mission is to provide board members with quality instruction.  NJSBA meets this goal with training that ranges from the New Board Member Orientation to in-depth programs on negotiations and school board leadership and specialized training in the myriad of issues affecting public schools—including alternative funding sources for public schools, technology and school construction.

Computer-based training  After more than two years of development, NJSBA’s first computer-based training program—a course on conducting effective meetings—became available to members.  The effort recognized the growing time constraints facing New Jersey’s school board members—unpaid officials who must balance home, family and jobs with growing school district governance responsibilities.  In designing the program, NJSBA recognized another factor: varying capabilities of home computers.  Although some organizations use the Internet for computer-based training, NJSBA instead chose a CD-Rom format to reach members whose home computers might not be able to process an entire seminar over the Internet.

NJSBA Board Member Academy  For 11 years, the NJSBA Board Member Academy has provided a wide range of training in the areas essential to effective school board governance—including school law, negotiations, school-community relations, school finance, policy-setting, and evaluating and working with the chief school administrator.  In addition to traditional conferences and seminars, more than 330 of the in-district visits by NJSBA Field Service staff provided Academy training. And New Jersey’s 21 county school boards associations and the Urban Boards Committee—essential links between NJSBA and local boards of education—also served as training forums.

The NJSBA Board Member Academy offers three levels of certificates: Certificated Board Member; Master Board Member; and Board Certification.

• Certificated Board Member  Board members, who earn 20 Academy Credits in seven core topic areas (board-superintendent, board-community, board/board; Policy; Curriculum; School Finance; School Law; Labor Relations; and Board Operations), earn the designation of “Certificated Board Member.” In 2002-03, 125 board members became Certificated Board Members.

• Master Board Member  The Academy also offers the advanced designation of “Master Board Member,” designed to enhance interpersonal skills, strategic planning, negotiations and leadership skills.  Eligible for the Master designation are Certificated Board Members who earn an additional 20 Academy Credits in the core areas of Leadership; School/Community Relations, Effective Meetings, Strategic Planning, Group Dynamics, Board Member Ethics, School Finance, Labor Relations, and School Law.  Master Board Members must also pass a written exam.  In 2002-03, 19 of the state’s 4,800 local board of education members attained the distinction of Master Board Member.

• Board Certification  In 2002-03, nine local boards of education received “Board Certification,” an NJSBA Board Member Academy track that stresses mastery of the unique aspects of group process. The Board Certification provides rigorous, on-site training by NJSBA experts to help school boards master conflict resolution, board-superintendent relations, strategic planning, goal setting, self-evaluation and conducting effective meetings.

Workshop at 50  In October 2002, NJSBA conducted the 50^th Annual Workshop in Atlantic City. In 1953, the major issues facing school boards included the crushing need for new classrooms created by the post-war baby boom; staff-management relations; industry’s role in education; and the education of the “mentally handicapped.” Workshop1953 attracted 588 participants with a total of 11 sessions.

In contrast, 10,000 local school board members, administrators and other officials attended Workshop 2002. Many of the 160 training and information sessions at Workshop 2002 dealt with issues similar to those addressed in 1953: school construction, labor relations, school-business partnerships, and special education. But those issues have grown in complexity and have been joined by new concerns, including teacher training and development, administrative leadership, the achievement gap, technology in the classroom, school budgeting and school law.

Presenters included New Jersey Education Commissioner Dr. William L. Librera, and Harry K. Wong, nationally recognized expert in classroom management and student motivation.

Legislative Conference Governor James E. McGreevey served as guest speaker at the NJSBA Legislative Conference in March. Key members of the state Legislature, officials of the state Department of Education, and former Governor James J. Florio also weighed in on the pressing education issues of the day.

NJSBA: The Source for Information

In person   NJSBA’s Field Service staff saw a marked increase from 2001-02 in several core areas of direct service to local boards of education. Goal-setting sessions increased from 77 to 101; superintendent evaluations increased from 78 to 88; and county school boards association programs, which are planned through the Field Service offices—increased from 85 to 160.

The 853 service activities provided by NJSBA Field Service staff to local boards of education also included 56 superintendent searches, 64 board self-evaluations, 15 district long-range plans, and 57 board retreats.

NJSBA Labor Relations experts, meanwhile, stood ready with in-district and telephone consultation on numerous issues—whether they involved a teacher strike or difficult negotiations. These efforts represent a vital lifeline to local school boards, particularly in the current times when finances are constricted.

In print, on line The Association’s regular publications—the weekly School Board Notes and bimonthly School Leader magazine—are offered online as well as in print. While Notes provides information on breaking news, School Leader took a deeper look at issues such as the achievement gap, public relations, vocational-technical schools, and education funding.

A new edition of Basic School Law, NJSBA’s comprehensive guide to statute, regulation and court decisions affecting the operation of public schools, hit the bookstands in 2002.  To accommodate future updates, NJSBA issued the new Basic School Law in a three-ring binder, rather than traditional bound, format.    

NJSBA’s Policy and Library Services Department meanwhile developed new model policies for the Critical Policy Reference Manual on a wide range of subjects, including the state’s anti-bullying initiative and the federal No Child Left Behind Act.   The CPRM and policy updates are available on line, at www.njsba.org, to help school districts deal with emergent issues.

Continual revision of www.njsba.org makes the Web site more comprehensive, dynamic and user-friendly. For example, the Governmental Relations page established on online Legislative Action Center to help visitors obtain details of vital education issues. The system allows citizens to locate and send e-mail messages to their legislators just by typing in a ZIP code.  It also enables them to send copies of their messages to local newspapers.

Recognizing innovation  During 2002-03, NJSBA sponsored several programs to recognize the achievements of the state’s public school districts and the contributions of local school board members.  These efforts included—

• The 18^th Annual School Leader Award, which recognized 11 public school districts for outstanding educational programming.
• Innovations in Special Education, part of the annual celebration of Special Education Week in New Jersey.  The program is designed to let New Jerseyans know about creative, effective programming designed to help special needs students achieve.
• The second annual School Board Recognition Month (January 2003), which recognizes the contributions of local school board members to the success of public education.  The initiative included a proclamation from Governor McGreevey and adoption of a resolution and ceremony during a state Board of Education meeting. The Architect’s Competition and Awards program at Annual Workshop.
• The School Communications Competition, held in conjunction with Workshop, to recognize outstanding efforts to reach and engage parents, staff, students and the community through publications, Web sites or other media.

NJSBA: Into the Future

No one can say exactly what the future holds for school boards, but one can expect that local school officials will continue to grapple with the issues of staffing, resources and the quality of instruction.  Going forward, the New Jersey School Boards Association will stand ready with the advocacy, direct assistance and training that local boards of education will need to fulfill their mission.

Financial Statements, 2002-03 (pdf)