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P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI |
NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Frank Belluscio (fbelluscio@njsba.org) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Table County Pilot Plan – NJSBA TRENTON, January 16, 2007 - The New Jersey School Boards Association today urged the legislative leadership to table bills that would create a single pilot county administrative school district, noting that the legislation would do nothing to reduce property taxes and could wipe out savings already achieved by local school districts. The comments, by Edwina M. Lee, the association’s executive director, came in response to the governor’s first State of the State message today. The legislation also sharply conflicts with the sentiments expressed this weekend by a key state Senator in an open letter to Gloucester County citizens. The proposal, reflected in three bills (A-8 and S-7), will be the subject of an open forum tonight at 7 p.m. at Washington Township High School in Sewell. The meeting is being organized by the township’s board of education. No Input from Voters Both bills would lead to creation of single county administrative school district that would be piloted for five years. Boards of freeholders in 11 counties, including Gloucester, would be eligible to apply for participation. As now written, the legislation does not provide for any input from voters or from local boards of education into the decision to apply. The freeholders of the selected county would appoint a county board of education. Existing local boards of education would become advisory bodies. “We urge Sen. Sweeney to attend tonight’s meeting in Washington Township. It can provide an opportunity for clarification of his position, which is markedly different from the provisions of the legislation,” said Edwina M. Lee, NJSBA executive director. “We also urge the Senate leadership to hold off action on this legislation. It is raising serious concerns in communities and has lead to conflicting interpretations by lawmakers.” The bills could be placed on the state Senate’s agenda for Jan. 22 or 25. Conflicting Interpretation In a message sent by email to Gloucester County residents this weekend, Sen. Sweeney, who also serves as director of the county’s freeholders, stated that no decision has been made by the Gloucester County freeholders on the pilot project. He also said that, the pilot program would not reduce the current authority of local school districts. “School districts need to be more than ‘advisory’ bodies,” stated Sweeney. “They need to retain all and complete control over education, curriculum, and policy decisions,” he said. That statement, however, does not reflect the current provisions of the legislation. Low Administrative Cost in N.J. Sweeney’s message noted the need to control administrative costs, which he said are among the nation’s highest. However, comparative data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that New Jersey’s public schools rank 37th among the states in the percentage of school spending directed to administration. New Jersey’s level of administrative spending (9.9%) is lower than that of Pennsylvania (10.8%) or Delaware (12.7%) and below the national average (11%), according to the data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Will Not Reduce Property Taxes “The county pilot district proposal will do nothing to resolve our property tax problem,” said NJSBA’s Lee. “By concentrating business decisions at the county level, it could wipe out savings in staffing, benefits and purchasing that have been achieved by local school districts. And in the process, it would distance educational policy from the community.”
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