P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI

OP-ED

Note: U.S. 1 publications asked NJSBA executive director Marie Bilik and other statewide leaders to pen a guest editorial with recommendations as to what Gov.-elect Chris Christie should do when he takes office in January. Below is her op-ed.

NJSBA Recommends Strategies to Governor-Elect Christie

By Marie S. Bilik, Executive Director
New Jersey School Boards Association

In the coming weeks, Governor-elect Christie will hear plenty of advice about ways to rein in taxes and run government. Our state’s future depends on two interrelated goals: Improving the state’s economy, while maintaining quality public education.

Here are some ideas from the New Jersey School Boards Association, a non-partisan organization with a membership of 588 boards of education and 37 charter schools, on how to advance those goals.

Break the mold. Governor-elect Christie has called for expansion of charter schools. But his administration also needs to break the mold in the so-called “regular public schools” by advancing merit pay, the elimination of lifetime tenure (essentially, a job protection), and further strengthening academic standards. These efforts will improve the quality of instruction and student achievement.

Strengthen school boards in contract negotiations. New Jersey school boards negotiate with affiliates of one of the best financed and most powerful public employee unions in the nation. Current bargaining laws work to the unions’ advantage. Here are three ways to balance the process: Support strong anti-strike penalties; when negotiations become deadlocked, focus fact-finders’ recommendations more on communities’ ability to pay and less on other districts’ settlements; and restore school boards’ ability to implement their last best offer when negotiations are fully exhausted.

Promote shared services. A 2007 Rutgers-Newark study, commissioned by the New Jersey School Boards Association, documented numerous examples of shared services, ranging from joint banking to shared business office functions. That same study identified legal obstacles to sharing services. School districts share services when they identify two outcomes: cost-savings and improved delivery. The new administration should give priority to the concept.

Reduce reliance on property taxes. New Jersey state government supports less than 40 percent of public school costs. Local property taxes cover close to 60 percent. That ratio has not changed much over three decades. Nationwide, the state tax vs. local property tax split tax is roughly 50-50. New Jersey’s low level of state support is a major cause of its high property tax bills. A revenue-neutral tax shift could lower property taxes without increasing spending.

Reduce unfunded mandates. A plethora of requirements come from Washington and Trenton without the dollars to back them up. Common complaints are paperwork and administrative regulations that take up valuable time. For school districts, state- and federally required special education remains one of the major cost drivers. Certainly, special education is one of the success stories of our schools. And full state funding for required special education programming would retain these programs, while reducing property taxes in virtually every New Jersey community.

New Jersey’s public schools rank among the top on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the most reputable apples-to-apples comparison of student achievement among the states. Despite the red tape from the state and federal governments, New Jersey spends a smaller share of its education budget on administration than do 40 other states, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Our state also spends below the nationwide average on school and central office administration.

Neither school boards nor the incoming governor would want our schools to backslide. Ultimately, the quality of public education is a key element in making New Jersey a desirable place to live and operate a business.

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.