More than 150 people called on New Jersey leaders to replenish the state’s depleted school construction fund during a December 22 rally at the State House in Trenton. Led by Assembly Education Committee Chairman Craig Stanley, the rally took place during a week when the state Supreme Court, Acting Governor Codey, and the Inspector General weighed in on critical aspects of the school construction funding issue.

The December 22 rally called on the Legislature to pass S-2294/A-3665 (Rice, Girgenti/Stanley,Cruz-Perez).  The legislation would replenish the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act of 2000 (EFCFA) by providing funds for Abbott and non-Abbott districts, totaling $2 billion and $1.166 billion respectively.  The funding would enable districts to complete emergency and priority projects that are stalled due to depletion of EFCFA funds. It would also restore a grant program that has enabled non-Abbott districts to reduce the borrowing—and property taxes—necessary for new schools.

NJSBA has strongly advocated replenishment of the EFCFA funding.

The Association is also a member of Building Our Children’s Future, a coalition of education and business organizations that believes restoration of EFCFA funding should be a top priority for the administration and the Legislature.

It’s Corzine’s Decision A solution to the construction funding issue, however, will not come until after the new governor and Legislature take office. “Given the amount of appropriation that S-2294/A-3665 would require and the current situation, the governor feels this is an issue best left to the next administration,” Acting Governor Codey’s spokeswoman, Kelly Heck, told the Star-Ledger after the December 22 rally.

Assess Abbott Costs Earlier in the week, the state Supreme Court, addressing a motion by the Education Law Center, declined to order an immediate injection of new funds into the Abbott facilities program. The court’s decision essentially removed any pressure the Legislature might have felt to act on the school construction issue during the lame-duck session, which concludes on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the court did order the state Department of Education to estimate—by February 15—the future costs of the Abbott school construction program.

SCC Reorganization Urged  On December 21, meanwhile, state Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper issued a report detailing weaknesses in the infrastructure of the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation, Design and Construction Division.

Inefficiency in the SCC–the agency created by the McGreevey administration to oversee construction in the Abbotts and other poor school districts–has been blamed in part for the rapid depletion of the $6 billion originally set aside by EFCFA for Abbott school construction.

This summer, the state stopped work on more than 200 necessary projects in the 31 Abbott districts. No completion date is in sight.

The Inspector General found a lack of clearly defined authority and appropriate supervision in the SCC’s Design and Construction Division. The shortcomings resulted in extreme differences of work practices. In addition, her investigation indicated that the technical skills of staff in critical positions were insufficient.

Cooper recommended a reorganization of the SCC’s management and operating divisions, determination of SCC staffing in light of current construction projects and amount of work to be completed, and the implementation of an information management system to streamline financial and project-status reporting.