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NJSBA Participation in PERS
TRENTON, November 19, 2009 — Recent news articles have focused on the participation of the New Jersey School Boards Association and two other organizations in the state’s Public Employees Retirement System.
NJSBA’s annual financial audits, which are accessible to the public, have consistently cited the organization’s participation in PERS. In addition, the Association makes note of the benefit in its employment advertisements, which have appeared in New Jersey newspapers.
The following information is related to the Association’s eligibility for participation in PERS:
- NJSBA was created by the state Legislature in 1914. The Association was authorized to participate in PERS as a result of a 1960 determination by the state Attorney General.
The Association, he wrote, “should be permitted to participate in the Retirement System. The Public Employees’ Retirement Systems Statute provides that a public agency or organization means one which is engaged in service to the public for one or more municipalities. The Statute establishing the [Association] actually comprises it of representatives of each of the State’s school districts and gives it the power to investigate subjects relating to the education and to encourage and aid all movements which might improve educational affairs in the State.
“I feel that there is no question that if the organization services a purpose for which it is established, it would be rendering services to all municipalities of the State through rendition of services to their school districts.”
The position was affirmed by the state Division of Pensions in 1972.
- NJSBA is considered a “local public employer” under PERS. Therefore, the employer’s contribution to retirement benefits is made by the Association and does not come from the state’s annual operating budget.
- In opinions spanning 1954 through 1992, several federal and state agencies have identified NJSBA as a "government body,” “political subdivision” or “representative of political subdivisions.”
- More recently, the Legislature has designated NJSBA as the provider of state-required training under the School District Accountability Act and the School Ethics Act. The training addresses school finance, school law, ethics, the school district monitoring process and superintendent evaluation, among other topics. These training programs are developed and delivered by NJSBA, which provides them through regional programs at no additional charge.
- In addition, statute designates NJSBA as the “government aggregator,” or coordinator, of statewide cooperative energy purchasing by school districts. (Just one of the Alliance for Competitive Energy’s programs will save school district $36 million in electricity costs over the next two years.)
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For additional information, contact NJSBA Communications Director Frank Belluscio at fbelluscio@njsba.org.
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