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Corzine Is Positive on Education in 'State of State'

TRENTON, January 19, 2008 — In an effort to boost New Jerseyans’ confidence during the current economic crisis, Gov. Jon S. Corzine used his Jan. 13 State of the State address to highlight a series of achievements, indicate the administration’s future direction and, in the process, give public education a pat on the back.

“We are grateful that Governor Corzine dedicated sections of his address to painting a realistic picture of the achievements of New Jersey’s public school students, the quality of our education programs and the fiscal responsibility of school boards,” said Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA executive director. “We also appreciate the governor’s expression of commitment to our state’s public schools.”

Next Year In his annual report to the Legislature on Tuesday, Corzine briefly referenced his upcoming March 10 budget address.

“I will undoubtedly propose additional, painful cuts,” he said. “Even with these harsh realities, we must continue to do everything we can to limit the impact of budget cuts on the state’s most vulnerable citizens, our children’s education, and public safety.”

Corzine noted that one of the state’s fiscal strategies would involve the Department of Community Affairs holding municipal governments to the 4 percent tax levy cap on next year’s budgets.

“Last year, we saw 80 percent of reporting municipalities come in over the cap,” the governor said. “In fact, 30% came in with increases of 10 percent or more.

“As an aside, only 2.2 percent of school districts came in over [the same 4 percent] cap,” he added.

Funding Formula Corzine mentioned two of his administration’s major education initiatives—the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 and universal preschool. However, the governor did not indicate whether or not the economic crisis would affect next year’s funding levels under the new formula or the administration’s plans to begin implementing pre-school expansion.

“The new school funding formula, for which we now are seeking court approval, will only strengthen our commitment to success,” said the governor. “That formula recognizes that 50 percent of disadvantaged students live beyond the borders of Abbott districts.

“In fact, even though we cut the overall state budget by $1.4 billion, we've held firm in increasing total spending on education by nearly $500 million. Beyond our financial commitment, we're also working to upgrade standards, curricula, and graduation requirements in all of our schools.”

Quality Education The governor also referenced New Jersey public schools’ outstanding performance in the recent Education Week Quality 2009 report.

“Test scores across the state reinforce their conclusion,” he said. “While there are clear exceptions, New Jersey schools give most of our children an exceptional opportunity to build a bright future.”

As an example of the schools’ success, Corzine introduced a Union City High School 12th grader, Kamaris Loor, who emigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador in 1995. The student has earned a 4.2 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and is heading to Brown University for a joint undergraduate/medical degree program. He also commended Union City’s performance in New Jersey’s standardized testing program, which exceeded statewide averages.

Additionally, the governor touted passage of an additional $3.9 billion in state school construction funding, which would be leveraged into $5.4 billion in investments. The school construction program is a critical part of the state’s economic recovery plan, which will create and/or preserve some 4,200 jobs, according to Corzine.

Current Agenda The governor also cited the following items, among others, as immediate goals for the near future:

• A March 31 report on municipal consolidation and shared services from a commission, created as a result of the Legislature’s 2006 special session on property tax reform. (Although the commission would not address school district regionalization directly, combining of municipalities could affect school district boundaries.)
• Passage of legislation to permit municipalities to defer payment of employers’ contributions to the Public Employee Retirement System. (Corzine’s speech did not reference his planned $75 million deferral of the state’s contribution to the Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund, which was announced as part of the $812 million in mid-year spending cuts needed to help close a gap in the current-year budget.)

To view the governor’s address, go to www.nj.gov/sos2009.

The New Jersey School Boards Association, a federation of district boards of education, advocates the interests of school districts, trains local school board members, and provides resources for the advancement of public education.