“Education Is My Number One Priority”

An Interview with New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine

By Ray Pinney

In late January, I attended the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s “Walk to Washington” event, which included a train trip from Trenton to Washington, DC. I happened to spy Gov. Jon Corzine on the train and, at that moment, there was not much of a crowd surrounding him. I took the opportunity to introduce myself and to talk about education issues. During the conversation, he mentioned that he hoped our membership knew that he has made education a top priority.  “Why don’t you tell them yourself?” I responded, and asked if he would agree to an interview for School Leader magazine. I met with him in May in his State House office. Prior to the meeting, NJSBA submitted a list of written questions to the governor; he also provided written answers to the questions. Below are excerpts from both our conversation and his written answers. Comments have been condensed and edited for space.

When we spoke on the train, you mentioned that education is a priority for you. How do you think you’ve demonstrated that?

It is my number one priority. If there’s anything I’m passionate about, it is recognizing that my own public education has provided the framework for the opportunities I’ve had in my own life. What’s remarkable is that if we do a good job on education, not only is the quality of life better now, but it will be better in the future.

A simple way to show my commitment to education is to say the budget that is on the table today is $1 billion lower than the budget I submitted my first year in office, but funding for education is $1 billion more.

That’s not even half the story. We have a commitment to raising the standards for high school education, aligning our curriculum, making sure we are doing more about drop-out rates, and closing the learning gaps that exist in our communities. We started a tracking system for every child (NJ Smart) which would actually measure individual student performance and give us a real understanding of what is going on in our communities. We raised our standards on testing as opposed to lowering them, as a lot of states have. We have in place a new funding formula that I think will bring a greater sense of commitment to all children appropriately and particularly our at-risk kids wherever they live.

What would the state of public education be in New Jersey this year without President Obama’s stimulus funding?

The stimulus funding helped increase direct school aid that reaches classrooms by $300 million this year. As a result, 171 districts received an increase of up to 5 percent and the rest of the districts received the same amount of direct aid that they received last year. I think that is quite an accomplishment in these tough economic times.

The last state aid payment to school districts, which would have been sent in June, is going to be delayed until July. Why is that?

These are tough but necessary choices. We are experiencing a national economic crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in generations. We must live up to our fiscal responsibility.

Judge Doyne has recently found that the School Funding Reform Act is constitutional.  If the state Supreme Court agrees*, you will have won a significant legal battle. Why is this legal victory so important? 

It’s important because it will mean that for the first time in 35 years, New Jersey will have a funding formula that actually works and that is constitutional in the eyes of the court. It will allow us to help districts meet the educational needs of at-risk children throughout the state, not just children who live in select zip codes. It will bring stability and predictability to the process.

Just as important, though, is that fact that the new formula establishes a method to determine what the state’s fair share is when it comes to the cost of educating New Jersey’s children. For too long, taxpayers in many municipalities have been overburdened in the struggle to pay for their schools. As the new funding formula is phased in and equity is restored to the process, that will be mitigated. 

In fact, during the last three and half years, we have begun to see signs that the new formula, additional state aid for schools, and the tax levy cap appear to be leading to decreases in school tax rates state wide. For the 2008-09 school year, the increase in the school tax levy statewide was 2.65 percent compared to 4.45 percent in 2007-2008 and 6.6 percent in the 2006-2007. The 2.65 percent increase for the 2008-2009 school year is the lowest increase in over ten years.

Editor’s Note: As School Leader went to press, the NJ Supreme Court issued its opinion declaring that the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 is constitutional as applied to the state’s 31 Abbott districts.

Many parents and school board members in the Abbott districts opposed your position on this issue.  What would you say to alleviate their fears that their children’s education will be harmed?

Former Abbott districts will receive the same amount of aid that they received in the 2008-2009 school year for the next two years. After that, they will be held harmless unless they experience a significant (25 percent or more) drop in enrollment. Abbott districts will receive the same per-pupil amounts for at-risk students that neighboring districts receive, plus additional funding if they have higher concentrations of children eligible for free and reduced lunch. These state aid levels, coupled with a fair contribution from the taxpayers of the community, should provide these districts with the resources they need to provide a quality education to the children they serve. I think the real question is not how much money the former Abbott districts get but what they do with the money they have. It is important to note that in the past few years, thanks to our administration’s emphasis on accountability, many of the former Abbott districts have made significant improvements in the way they run their financial operations. They have worked to eliminate waste and excess, and get the most out of every dollar they have.

Most governors have looked at regionalization and consolidation of school districts and municipalities as a way of reducing property taxes.  While there have been numerous proposals to force regionalization, they all pretty much fell by the wayside.  Why do you think they have failed to move forward?

We really haven’t seen “forced regionalization” here in New Jersey. What we have seen are districts unable to disentangle themselves from established relationships that no longer work for their children or their taxpayers. And that is one of the reasons that other districts are reluctant to enter into these regionalizations or consolidations in the first place.

As the executive county superintendents have been meeting with their regional task forces, it has become very clear that there are obstacles to regionalization in law and regulation that have to be addressed before people are willing to consider it as an option. Each district is different, but there are taxation issues, debt service issues, personnel retention issues, governance issues and educational continuity issues that have to be considered. And we are committed to doing what we can to remove those obstacles.

Let me add that despite the conventional wisdom that regionalization is the third rail in New Jersey education policy because of our strong home rule tradition, we have found over the past year that there are many people out there who are expressing a willingness to at least take a look at these proposals. In these tough economic times and with the tax burdens families face, people are starting to ask whether a one-school district with 100 students makes sense from an educational or an economic perspective.

I’m not saying it’s going to happen everywhere, but I think you are going to see small districts coming together in very creative ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the education services they provide to their children. And of course, nothing is going to happen without the approval of the voters.

The next governor will be the first in NJ history to have a lieutenant governor. How do you envision the role of that person in your administration?

I look forward to having the help! I think the model is built on the fact that the person you choose for lieutenant governor could be governor if something happened. I’ve learned – more than most people have – that things can happen. I’ve had a near-death experience. I would also like to assign this person a particular central focus. Whether it is education or transportation or whatever will certainly depend on the skills and backgrounds, but I intend for the person to have a role not only in the overall governing of the state, but to take on a very specific task. I would like nothing better than to pick a person with an educational background.

Many times people can look to a specific teacher who inspired them or made a difference in their lives. Is there someone like that for you when you were in public schools?

My mom was a school teacher for 30 or 35 years. She taught mostly kindergarten, first and second grades but would be rotated around. She was, and is, totally committed to the concept of education being the basis of how you learn the skills and the disciplines needed in life and learn how to enjoy life.  

For more from Ray Pinney's interview with Gov. Corzine see related article.

Ray Pinney is grassroots coordinator/lobbyist for NJSBA. He can be reached at rpinney@njsba.org.

Navigating the Storm: Support for Boards in Difficult Times

By Harry J. Delgado

It has never been easy to serve as a school board member, but anyone on a board today knows that these are especially challenging times. 

In the midst of the worst economic recession in decades, school districts are facing flat state aid and decreased revenues and overtaxed residents who are resistant to further property tax increases. School boards face the prospect of continued difficult labor negotiations. The issue of regionalization of school districts is on the agenda again; the state will be releasing its plan to consolidate districts in the spring of 2010. In the regulatory arena, districts are grappling with the newly enacted accountability regulations, expanded oversight by the executive county superintendents, and the completion of the phase-in of the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) regulations.

In this issue of School Leader magazine, we are providing a guide to surviving these difficult times. We are featuring an article on the Association’s new strategic plan, its blueprint of goals for the next three years; and reports from each department director on what his or her department is doing to help districts. Our hope is that readers can use these reports as a reminder of the services that are available from NJSBA. 

NJSBA’s executive officers weigh in with their insights and views in a roundtable discussion that begins on page 25. Three of our “sister” organizations, the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the Alliance for Competitive Energy Services, have contributed articles that describe initiatives they have undertaken to aid public education. The chairman of the newly created Education Leadership Foundation of New Jersey, an independent non-profit foundation established by NJSBA, introduces the new organization in his article.  

Because this is an election year, we are also pleased to feature an exclusive interview with Governor Jon S. Corzine. With one-third of the state’s budget going to public education, the state’s fortunes are inextricably tied to those of New Jersey school districts. The governor’s support for education was pivotal in making our 2009-2010 budgets less painful than they otherwise would have been. Don’t miss reading about Jon Corzine’s vision for the future of public education in New Jersey in “Education is My Number One Priority” on page 6.

Yes, New Jersey school districts are going through tough times. There will be an opportunity and a need for school boards to show leadership, and to stay focused on improving student achievement. But the tough times won’t last forever. When they have passed, I am confident that we will be able to look back and know that school districts didn’t just survive, they thrived. 

Harry J. Delgado is NJSBA’s president.

The Importance of Long Distance Vision

By Marie S. Bilik

New jersey school boards association has been in operation since 1914. Our predecessors on school boards have dealt with challenges like the Great Depression, two World Wars and countless other difficulties. We are clearly in one of those tough times now. As I write, the state’s current year budget deficit seems to be revised—downward—almost every week. Boards are still grappling with the 200 plus pages of regulations that were enacted in 2008, and the implementation of the final stages of NJQSAC.

But it is important to take a deep breath and remember what is important: focusing on your mission. Any organization can survive tough times if it has identified its purpose. At NJSBA we have a clear set of beliefs, and a well thought-out mission statement that helps to foster a common understanding among our members and our staff.  We also have a carefully crafted strategic plan that allows us to focus on the future and keep our goals in sight. One of the advantages of having a strategic plan is that it provides a road map that keeps an organization from losing sight of how best to accomplish its goals. In difficult times, it may be necessary to accelerate, delay or alter parts of the strategic plan; an effective organization has the flexibility to do that.

As the executive director, I believe it’s my job to focus on where NJSBA is going to be in 12 to 24 months.  In order to be prepared for whatever circumstances might bring us, I try to plan for various possible scenarios, anticipate the needs of our members, and evaluate our resources so that we can be prepared for whatever comes our way. For example, when we started discussing the 2009-2010 budget about 10 months ago, I knew then it was imperative that the mandatory training we deliver be dues-based, not fee-based. One reason I can spend time thinking about what might happen a year or two in the future is that I can trust my staff to take care of what’s happening today and next week at NJSBA.

School board members need to play a similar role. It is the job of your superintendent and administrators to manage the day-to-day operations of your district. The board should be forward-thinking and focus on setting the district’s goals, drafting on a strategic plan, and providing the vision for your school district.

Another key to thriving in difficult times is remembering that collaboration will produce excellence. Your district’s strategic plan (like the Association’s) needs to include the input and the ideas of all your stakeholders.

In the pages that follow, each of our department directors speaks directly to the question of what NJSBA is doing to help members. We also consider that we are collaborators with other New Jersey educational organizations in our shared goal of advancing public education. That’s why we invited the New Jersey Association of School Business Officers, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the management of ACES, our cooperative energy buying organization, to contribute articles to this issue of School Leader. It’s more important than ever to come together, pool resources and share services and ideas.

I’ve sometimes heard it said that hard times don’t build character—they reveal it.  I believe they also reveal the trait of leadership. The school board members I encounter have an ample supply of both traits, and I am certain that the next few months and years will prove how important each is to the future of public education. 

Marie S. Bilik is NJSBA’s executive director. She can be reached at mbilik@njsba.org.

With You on the Frontlines

As the educational landscape changes, NJSBAs Field Services staff stands ready to provide boards with essential support 

By Jane Kershner

The most direct connection that many board members have with NJSBA is through their field service representative (FSR). Those reps have always assisted boards with a variety of tasks, including a board’s strategic or long term planning, superintendent evaluations, helping in a superintendent search, and working with a board to improve its effectiveness. FSRs also can provide boards with information on the full range of issues that they confront.

Those needs have escalated in recent years because of the increased regulatory burdens of NJQSAC, and the state’s push toward districts sharing services and regionalizing.

Each of NJSBA’s nine field service representatives are assigned to specific boards of education and each provides direct assistance whenever needed.

Here is how NJSBA’s Field Services department has responded to provide essential services to boards.

New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) Mandated three years ago, NJQSAC is a New Jersey Department of Education monitoring system which takes place in each school district every three years. One of the major differences between NJQSAC and other monitoring systems used previously is a specific section on Board Governance. NJQSAC requires boards to have completed a board self-evaluation, a professional improvement plan, a superintendent evaluation with a focus on student achievement, an ethics discussion based on the Code of Ethics for Board Members, and a variety of policies based on legal requirements. Meeting the requirements of the indicators within the governance section is difficult and time consuming at best; failure to meet the NJQSAC indicators on any of the items mentioned decreases the entire grade significantly and could ultimately result in NJDOE intervening in a district. Your FSR can help a board navigate the NJQSAC experience.

We have covered NJQSAC as a topic in mandatory training, presented materials at county meetings throughout the state, and assisted boards with information regarding the NJQSAC process in many of our direct service programs. Our goal is the same as your goal: to be proficient in the area of governance to increase student achievement. The field service department has developed a number of materials to assist boards in meeting the NJQSAC monitoring regulations.

Shared Services Either with other school districts or with your own municipality, sharing services is a way of increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. It has been a major topic of conversation and study for the past few years. Field Services has compiled a list of shared services options and opportunities, along with a process and procedures for implementationwhich can be delivered to boards as a direct service by your FSR. While you may have instituted some shared services, it would undoubtedly be beneficial to review our list and perhaps find additional ideas. NJSBA published an extensive study on best practices in shared services in late 2007 that is an excellent resource, as well as an article in School Leader on the topic. (To read the shared services report, visit www.njsba.org/sharedservices.)

Regionalization/Consolidation Another hot topic right now is regionalization and consolidation. NJSBA has always taken the position that regionalization is fine if it is voluntary, not mandatory. Since the executive county superintendents have been directed by Education Commissioner Lucille Davy to produce plans to regionalize districts in their respective counties by March 2010, this has become an issue of intense interest by boards. In response, Field Services and other departments have been active in developing programs to get information on the subject to all board members in districts, and through county or regional programs. Typical questions addressed at these forums include: will districts be forced to regionalize; what happens to boards in a regionalization; will children remain in their own schools; what is involved in the regionalization process; and what can we, as board members, do to be proactive and choose our district’s direction before we have no choice.

The department developed a search model for districts interested in entering into a shared superintendent agreement with another district. The department has also generated a job description for a joint position of superintendent/principal for districts interested in that option. These items are available by request.

At right is a list of the Field Service Representatives, along with their county assignments. We are here. We are ready to help.

Jane Kershner is the director of the Field Services Department. She can be reached at jkershner@njsba.org.

Realities of a New Era

Now more than ever, information, resources and training help boards to shape the discussion at the bargaining table 

By Curt Wary

Boards are facing unprecedented challenges in coping with the current economic environment. While these economic pressures impact every aspect of school operations, the pressure may be felt most acutely in a school district’s labor negotiations. Public schools are a tremendously labor intensive industry with labor contracts forming the largest single component of the school budget. Tough economic times have certainly made the negotiations process an increasingly difficult, and crucial, undertaking.

In order to meet these difficult negotiations challenges, boards need, more than ever, information, resources and training to shape the discussion at the bargaining table and, if necessary, during impasse resolution. Over the last several months, the NJSBA Labor Relations Department has added a number of new and expanded resources to assist boards cope with the new realities of bargaining.

New Critical Issue Pages On the Labor Relations Page (NJSBA home page, drop down under “Services”), the following new Critical Issue pages have been added. Each of these pages will be continuously updated to reflect the latest information on the particular topic.

• Current Economic Environment A compilation of national and statewide statistics on unemployment rates, cost of living, job losses and more. This resource contains information that will help boards provide the larger context to negotiations and impasse resolution.

• Recent Settlements of Interest (password required for some features) This site focuses on recent teacher salary settlements where at least one reported salary settlement year is at 4% or less. Other interesting aspects of recent settlements with teachers and other education groups are also included.

• Cases Impacting Health Benefit Changes This site addresses all of the recent litigation involving insurance changes including coverage issues under reforms to the State Health Benefits/School Employee Health Benefits Plan.

• Regionalization and Labor Relations Information and discussion on the labor relations implications of regionalization and consolidation.

• Merit Pay and Alternative Compensation Systems A collection of articles, examples, advice and considerations on alternative pay approaches for teachers and administrators from around the state and the nation.

Online Resource Services The following resources can be accessed from the Labor Relations Page but require that board members use their password.

• Current Negotiations Data: An extensive source of information on teacher contract data: salary settlements, board achievements, health insurance cost containment and more. This database also features the ability to develop customized reports. Upon request, salary and benefit information is also available on superintendent and other non-organized administrative positions.

• Significant Labor Relations Cases A newly updated catalogue of the latest decisions on a wide range of labor topics including employee discipline.

• The Negotiations Advisor Online This is a subscription-based service with more than 70 informative articles on every aspect of the negotiations process including two all-new articles on controlling the cost of insurances.

• Index and Analysis of PERC Decisions A subscription service with summaries and indices of Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) decisions involving the scope of negotiations and unfair practices.

Boards that are interested in subscribing to The Negotiations Advisor and the Index and Analysis of PERC Decisions can find out more by contacting the Labor Relations Department.

In-District Services Upon appointment, Labor Relations staff members will meet, in-district, with a board, or the board’s negotiations team, and provide an analysis of the district’s negotiated agreement(s) and identify provisions that are beneficial to the board as well as those that are ill-advised. Staff is also available to provide in-district consultations on specific topics such as preparing for bargaining, impasse procedures, negotiations strategy, salary guide issues and job actions or strikes.

Salary Guide Services As a membership service, staff can provide an analysis of the district’s expiring salary guide (teachers or other employee groups) as well as an analysis of one set of proposed guides. Subsequent analyses of proposed guides, guide construction and negotiations of successor guides are services available on a fee basis. Please contact the Labor Relations Department for further information on fees and services.

Statewide Training Programs

• Preparing for Bargaining A one-day program focusing on the basic knowledge and preparation that is critical to effective bargaining. Topics addressed include: legal requirements; responsibilities of the bargaining team; costing; and developing and writing proposals.

• Intermediate Bargaining A one-day program building on the Preparing for Bargaining seminar that provides information on what happens at the bargaining table – how to begin, what to expect and how to respond. Topics include: the first meeting; use of comparative data; analyzing union proposals and developing counter-proposals; bargaining tactics and techniques; and, impasse procedures.

• Advanced Bargaining A two-day hands-on conference where participants are placed in an education bargaining simulation and allowed to bargain under the guidance of a professional negotiator. The professional negotiator evaluates each team’s progress and offers feedback and advice that will be invaluable to the participants in their district’s actual negotiations. (This course is subject to being granted a waiver from the NJDOE.)

• Analyzing and Constructing Salary Guides A one-day seminar where participants learn how to analyze and develop salary guides that meet district staffing and compensation goals.

• Workshop On the first day of NJSBA’s Workshop, the Labor Relations Mini-Workshop devotes a morning to emerging topics of interest (e.g., insurance cost containment, bargaining trends) and features leading management advocates providing information and guidance. Action labs and clinics are also provided on specific subjects such as salary guides.

Publications A series of publications to assist board members, administrators and board advocates with their labor relations responsibilities is also available. Of special note is Collective Negotiations which offers a complete picture of the procedures and techniques of collective bargaining. Other, soon to be available, publications include revised versions of Costing Out the Labor Agreement and Administering the Negotiated Agreement.

In addition to all of these new, revised and existing resources and services, perhaps the quickest and easiest way to obtain assistance is by telephone or by e-mail. Staff is available to answer your phone calls or e-mails on any aspect of the negotiations process.

Curt Wary is director of NJSBA’s Labor Relations Department. He can be reached at cwary@njsba.org.

More than Communicating

Data collection and analysis is a key element of NJSBA’s public relations outreach 

By Frank Belluscio

“Leadership is the only ship that doesn’t pull into a safe port during a storm.” A former NJSBA president used that quote (source unknown) recently when addressing a challenge facing his school district. The local school board, he wrote, neither caused the storm, nor could the board control it. However, the board could – and should – navigate the district through the problem.

Collectively, New Jersey’s local boards of education are in the midst of a storm they did not create – a swirling sea of regulation, financial obstacles and unwarranted criticism. They look to the New Jersey School Boards Association for information, training and support. In turn, NJSBA relies on the skills of its trainers, governmental relations staff, attorneys, labor relations experts and policy consultants to help school boards navigate the troubled waters.

But the Association also needs to communicate with and about its members as the storm rages on.

“We’re not your father’s PR department” has always been my unofficial motto for the NJSBA Communications Department. Sure, we do all the things that people normally associate with corporate communications. We talk to reporters – often “running interference” for local districts by providing information and perspective not available from anyplace else at the state level. We publish news reports, write speeches, edit and design magazines, plan special events.

Our work, however, has a dimension not usually found in government or association public relations: data collection and interpretation that debunks myths and supports advocacy for school districts and schoolchildren, a critical part of the Association’s mission. It represents a type of “leadership,” which recognizes that initiative and creativity contribute to the work of the entire Association team.

We began taking this approach over a decade ago when the Association decided to fill an information gap concerning school bond elections. Until 1997, no one in New Jersey collected statewide data on school bond referendum results. It was a void that, if filled, could help NJSBA successfully advocate in favor of increased state financial support for school construction. The Communications Department developed a series of reports covering 1997, 1998, 1999—the years leading up to the signing of the 2000 Education Facilities Construction and Financing Act. We analyzed the results according to enrollment, geographical location and demographics. The conclusion: the need for greater capacity, health and safety repairs and system renovations existed in districts across the economic spectrum. The information helped NJSBA’s Governmental Relations Department secure amendments to the facilities legislation, making state construction funds available to school districts that had never received it before (more than one-quarter of the state’s total).

Today, NJSBA remains the only organization that collects and reports statewide construction bond election results. Since 2002, we have also been the only organization to track school districts’ use of second ballot questions that seek voter approval for expenditures above the budget cap and, now, the tax levy cap.

Over the years, NJSBA Communications has undertaken other “research-type” activities. In 2007, we oversaw a major report on special education funding, identifying the forces that are increasing special education costs for local school districts. More recently, we reviewed news reports on proposed school district budgets for 2009-2010, finding that most reflected only modest increases in tax levies. The information was conveyed to reporters preparing statewide stories on the elections, resulting in balanced news report about this year’s Annual School Election that accurately described the statewide impact on tax levies.

Currently, the department is overseeing a survey of school business officials to identify financial and administrative burdens imposed by the state’s Accountability Regulations.

NJSBA’s 2006 membership survey showed that over 55 percent of board members look to newspapers for education news about their communities. Yet, it’s no secret that the newspaper industry has been going through a period of consolidation: fewer newspapers, shorter stories, less coverage of education-related issues. So clearly, communicating with members – always part of our mission – has grown in significance and is becoming more challenging.

Not only is the “news hole” of the traditional media shrinking, but the issues at hand are becoming increasingly complex. Filling the gap requires judgment calls (a leadership function), which in turn involves identifying the information that our members need, as well as the best method to convey it.

Our members’ needs in this area are varied indeed. A growing segment of the membership obtains information on computer screens or through hand-held devices, such as BlackBerrys. While at work, however, many do not have access to personal email accounts or online publications. Moreover, because of the volume of materials they must read as part of local school board responsibilities, they have limited time to review print publications. For the Association to reach its members, it must use a variety of techniques.

Print publications remain a viable option. Earlier this year, we used them effectively to inform the members of two critical political issues: regionalization and school budget development.

Detecting a void in knowledge among local school districts about the breadth and potential impact of the state’s regionalization proposal, the Communications Department planned, designed and published the January/February issue of School Leader magazine. The issue focused on the very complicated topic of regionalization and the state’s current program to develop proposals to merge school districts. We complemented the special issue with a pull-out section in School Board Notes that featured frequently asked questions and concise answers about the state’s regionalization plan.

This spring, we used the same approach to provide information about the impact of recent state law and regulations.

An increasing number of our publications – including School Board Notes – are distributed electronically via email and posted on our Web site at www.njsba.org. NJSBA uses Web posting to meet the need for instant access to information about critical issues. For example, a special Web page informs members about the American Recovery and Reconstruction Act of 2009 – the federal stimulus act – at www.njsba.org/stimulus. We also established an electronic Voter Information Center to reach citizens and school board candidates with important information about the Annual School Election (www.njsba.org/elections).

Using electronic technology, we spearheaded the creation of CD/DVDs on major advocacy issues – property tax reform and changes in budget caps – as well as to promote attendance at the NJSBA Delegate Assembly.

Our communications efforts today are collaborative in content and execution. Members learn of the county school boards association activities through electronic forms developed by the Communications Department, in collaboration with the Information Technology Department and NJSBA’s county programmers/trainers. Commentaries on political and legislative issues are posted regularly on the NJSBA Boardblog (www.njsba.org/blog), with the most frequent contributions coming from our Governmental Relations Department. School Leader remains a vital source of membership development, providing information from staff attorneys on school law matters, guidance from our labor relations experts, and advice from policy consultants.

Making an organization’s communications function the sole property of its communications department runs counter to effective leadership in difficult times. Rather, the Communications Department helps the Association provide leadership by ensuring that its message stays on point with its mission – regardless of who is delivering the information – and by delivering that message by the most effective means available.

Frank Belluscio is the director of NJSBA’s Communications Department. He can be reached at fbelluscio@njsba.org.

The Importance of Advocacy

In tough times, making the case for public education to legislators and the public is more important than ever By Michael Vrancik

NJSBA’s Governmental Relations Department helps advocate for the interests of New Jersey’s school boards by lobbying before the state Legislature, the governor’s office, Congress, and other state and federal agencies. The department is currently monitoring approximately 1,200 bills in various stages in the state Senate and Assembly, and will offer full testimony, position papers or support or opposition to about 10 percent of those pieces of legislation.

But just as important, and perhaps even more so, the GR staff involves board members in the lobbying process by connecting them directly with legislators. Direct contact allows board members the opportunity to discuss specific issues, as well as build a relationship with their local representatives. It also gives lawmakers a chance to better understand the concerns of their constituents. In trying economic times, such board member-lawmaker communication is essential.

During the fall and spring legislative sessions, the Governmental Relations Departments hosts “Legislative Days.” Board members are invited to the State House on days that the Senate and Assembly education committees meet. NJSBA also facilitates meetings between local board members and legislators in the lawmaker’s district offices.

Staffers routinely create talking points on specific topics to facilitate communications with the legislature and also help train board members to act as advocates.

Legislative Committee The Association’s standing Legislative Committee connects board members in each of the state’s 40 legislative districts to further enhance statewide advocacy efforts. The committee meets at least four times per year and holds discussions on state legislative proposals that affect district boards of education. The purpose of the Legislative Committee is to analyze issues and legislation and adopt positions consistent with Association policy.

This committee also promotes the development of local, county and statewide legislative networks. Legislators have been invited to these meetings to speak about specific legislation, finance, regionalization and other timely topics. The committee is staffed by the GR Department and Eva Nagy, the Association’s vice president for legislation presides as the committee chair.

In order to advocate on a federal level, school board members represent the interests of public education through National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Federal Relations Network. Participants receive information concerning federal education legislation and national issues, and many attend the annual FRN conference in Washington DC. FRN members respond to calls-to-action on national issues; develop a year-round relationship with Congress; and distribute background materials to fellow school board members. The Governmental Relations department hosts the FRN Conference for New Jersey board members and then hosts follow-up appointments with members of Congress throughout the summer.

Recently GR assumed responsibility for the county school boards associations by adding the county training coordinators to its staff. These individuals are responsible for creating quarterly membership training and advocacy programs throughout the school year in each of the state’s 21 counties. It is anticipated that some of the county meetings will feature meetings with legislators, which should help develop stronger relationships with local board members and their representatives.

NJSBA’s Legislative Successes School board members, working with NJSBA’s GR staff, have seen some significant achievements in recent years. They have been able to influence several different pieces of legislation so that they reflect the interests of the state’s school children. Below are just three examples of such legislative successes, which were helped along by the participation of NJSBA members.

• In December, legislation was signed by Governor Jon Corzine that reduces the previous one-year advance notice required to inform school superintendents that their contracts won’t be renewed. The measure gave boards more time to evaluate a superintendent’s performance before deciding whether to renew a contract.

• Last summer, legislation was passed that made $3.9 billion in funding available for construction in New Jersey schools.

• In spring 2010 the NJ Department of Education is scheduled to release its recommendations on which districts in the state should be involved in consolidation and regionalization. In nearly every case, those recommendations cannot be implemented without the approval of local voters. The measure that guarantees local citizens a voice in regionalization was championed by NJSBA.

These three instances mark just a few of the times in which the Association’s advocacy made a difference for members. As boards of education grapple with challenges during the next few years, NJSBA’s GR department will be working at their side to promote the legislative interests of our boards.

Michael Vrancik is director of the Governmental Relations Department at NJSBA. He can be reached at mvrancik@njsba.org. Sharon Seyler assisted in the preparation of this article.

Staying Afloat, Avoiding the Dangers

Legal and Policy Services provides guidance in turbulent times 

By Michael F. Kaelber, Esq.

In these challenging times, the members of the Legal and Policy Services Department have been providing a variety of services to assist our board members, enabling them to better understand the issues and serve their communities.

Accountability Regulations The implementation of the new accountability regulations has been one of the issues that has made the lives of school boards more complex. From the beginning, Policy Services responded by identifying the new policies required by the regulations and providing new sample policies for school districts. When the regulations were revised, sample policies were also revised, enabling school districts to keep their policy manuals current. Policy Services increased school district awareness of NJSBA’s policy manual wellness check; a dues-based service through which an NJSBA policy consultant will review a school district’s policy manual and identify policies in need of upgrade. This review not only enables school districts to stay current with the changing accountability regulations, but to prepare for NJQSAC review as well. For those manuals in need of significant change, Policy Services has expanded its policy writing services program and established a new three-tiered structure that better serves school districts’ different economic circumstances and policy manual needs. In addition, the Policy Services unit has developed a new program to guide districts on the policy implications and enhance preparedness for NJQSAC.

The Accountability legislation required more training for board members; training is now required for all three years of a board member’s first term and the first year of any reelected term. Legal has been at the forefront of mandated training for board members, collaborating with Field Services, Member Services and Labor Relations to create, produce and implement a new School Finance training program for third year (first term) board members, including a Webinar and Web-based training component. Legal has also collaborated with Labor Relations to create, produce and implement a new Legal Update program for first year reelected board members, also with a Webinar and Web-based component. The Legal Update program is continually updated during the presentation year as new cases, legislation and regulations came into the lives of school board members.

Along with mandated training, Legal has presented more than a dozen county and regional programs on the accountability regulations; identifying and clarifying regulatory issues for board members statewide. Legal’s county and regional presentations on regionalization and consolidation, usually in conjunction with an executive county superintendent, have provided a wonderful opportunity to identify, discuss and debate the issues of regionalization and consolidation. By the end of this academic year, Legal will have participated in nearly twenty regionalization-related programs, providing critical information to board members, as the state proceeds with its regionalization and consolidation initiative.

On the school finance end, Legal participated in the development and implementation of NJSBA’s Webcast, School Funding – the New Rules of the Game, a collaborative effort with representatives of the New Jersey Department of Education and school business officials. The Webcast provided information to school officials regarding the changes in the 2009 school budget and election process.

Legal and Policy Services has been busy in these difficult times, serving as an information and services provider to board members statewide. But, as always, with challenging times come opportunities. The department has had the opportunity to develop programs and services that empower board members, enabling them to serve their boards and communities in a better fashion.

Michael F. Kaelber, Esq., is director of the Legal and Policy Services Department at NJSBA. He can be reached at mkaelber@njsba.org.

The ABC’s of ABD

NJSBA’s Association and Business Development department seeks to open new revenue streams and provide financial assistance for members attending NJSBA training 

By Walter Meyer

After the passage of the School District Accountability Act and the issuance of the Office of Management and Budget regulations, both of which severely limited the ability of board members and administrators to attend training, NJSBA created the Association and Business Development (ABD) Department to be its entrepreneurial arm. The department’s mission is to develop non-dues revenue sources for the Association and to find new and creative ways for board members to attend critical training programs, from which they would otherwise now be prohibited.

Specifically, ABD is charged with:

• providing overall coordination of the Annual Workshop including the selection of content and speakers; sales and marketing of exhibit floor space, sponsorships, and advertising; theme development; selection of service providers; and overall logistics;

• overseeing the Board Member Academy and awards recognition to boards and individual members for their achievements in continuing education and professional development;

• coordinating Association-wide marketing and image management efforts, conducting member and competitor research, and selling advertising space in Association publications;

• marketing training services to and designing and implementing training programs for not-for profit associations and public agencies; and

• assisting in the development of the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey (ELFNJ), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation that will raise funds through grants and solicitations. That money will fund scholarships to individual board members and board-administrative teams to attend NJSBA training.

Workshop is NJSBA’s major source of non-dues revenue, producing annual net revenue of more than $900,000, approximately 10 percent of the Association’s budget. NJSBA does this primarily through the sale of exhibit space, advertising, and sponsorships to outside vendors. With over 175 individual sessions, including the state-mandated training courses, and nearly 10,000 participants (attendees, exhibitors, and presenters), Workshop is the third largest convention held annually in New Jersey.

NJSBA’s Board Member Academy was created in 1992 to provide formal training for the state’s 4,800 local board of education members. Each year, the Academy offers statewide courses designed to build board members’ knowledge base and boardsmanship skills. In addition to individual courses, board members can earn the designations of Certificated Board Member (CBM), Master Board Member (MBM), and Certified Board Leader (CBL). Boards may also earn the designations of Board Certification (BC), Board Recertification (BR), and the Carole E. Larsen Master Board Certification (MBC).

The Association markets its programs and services to its members, as well as its publications to outside vendors. Marketing, in today’s economy, is especially important to generate much-needed advertising revenue in publications such as School Leader, Board Member Reminder, and all of the Workshop publications.

NJSBA has always been recognized as a leader in board member training. There are numerous not-for-profit boards that do not possess similiar expertise. A new market for the Association is providing board training to these entities, on a fee basis. ABD will spearhead that effort.

Finally, as noted above, ELFNJ will raise funds to provide scholarships to individual board members and board-administrative teams to acquire NJSBA training. For example, to earn MBC, a supermajority board and its superintendent must attend the weekend-long Board-Superintendent Institute. They cannot expend board funds, unless the Commissioner of Education grants a waiver. With ELFNJ’s assistance, they will be able to attend, as the scholarship will pay for the training. To learn more about ELFNJ, see the article by David Hespe, on page 34.

NJSBA will remain on a financially sound basis, and become less dependent on dues and more on outside revenue with the help of the Association and Business Development department.

Walter Meyer is director (recently retired) of the Association and Business Development Department at NJSBA.

The Power of People

Working lean and smart pays off in hard times and beyond 

By Kimberly Blum

At NJSBA our most valuable asset is our staff. We are lucky to have a talented group of employees who are dedicated to serving board members, and we value every member of our team.

The challenge in these difficult economic times is to motivate and retain our high quality staff and continue to attract top-notch workers, while also containing our costs and promoting efficiency. It is the same challenge many school districts face.

Our people are at the heart of our enterprise, so NJSBA’s human resources practices are vital to the Association, and the HR department is an integral partner in NJSBA’s budgeting and planning process.

At NJSBA, promotions, salary adjustments and other personnel actions involving individual merit are based on systematic evaluations of knowledge, performance and behaviors.

A practice which has served us well in the current economic environment is our procedure when a position becomes vacant. The job description of that vacant position is thoroughly reviewed for relevance to the Association. This process determines the ongoing need for such a position, whether the position needs to be filled, and at what level it should be filled. We look at the skill sets of existing employees and see if some of the responsibilities of the position can be absorbed by other staff members. We have had success in reassigning tasks and reorganizing departments when there is a position open. Our policy also dictates that open positions be filled at a salary below the mid-point of the salary range for the job, which has helped us contain costs.

Any employer walks a fine line when determining employee compensation; you want to attract and retain qualified personnel, but not pay salaries that are too high. NJSBA’s salary program is reviewed annually, with the help of the Hay Group, a compensation consulting firm, to ensure that salary grades are maintained at competitive levels. Each year, the Hay Group recommends to NJSBA a percentage increase in the salary ranges and median merit increases for staff.

It was clear many months ago that difficult economic times were coming. In recognition of that reality, NJSBA has taken several steps to contain our costs.

The budget we have adopted for FY 2009-2010 includes a reduction of five staff positions from the previous year’s budget. We will go from 80 staff members to 75. That reduction will be accomplished through attrition, rather than layoffs. It will necessitate that all of us here work harder and smarter on behalf of our members, and it is a tribute to our existing staff that we can make these reductions and remain confident that we will continue to provide superlative service to our members.

Like many local school districts, we have restructured the health benefits program to promote savings. This year, we changed our basic level of coverage to a less-costly plan. Employees who desire access to more medical services and flexibility in choosing providers can opt to contribute towards their health insurance premiums. At the same time we changed levels of health coverage, we instituted a flexible spending account program. It enables employees to save money by paying for some medical and child care expenses with pre-tax, rather than after-tax, dollars, and, in the process, builds goodwill with our staff members.

Kimberly Blum is director of Human Resources at NJSBA. She can be reached at kblum@njsba.org.

Keeping an Eye on Costs

Shrinking the bottom line 

By Francis J. Pullo

The Finance and Operational Services Department (FOS) of NJSBA provides the day-to-day support services for the Association. That includes all financial services including handling receipts and disbursements, financial reporting and auditing and providing financial support in the budgeting and strategic planning process. We are also responsible for all the operational aspects of the facility.

On March 13, the Finance Committee presented the Association budget for FY 2009-2010 to the Board of Directors. The budget was the result of coordinated effort by all departments.

We are pleased that the 2009-2010 budget, passed by the board of directors, was almost $550,000 or 5.2 percent less than the 2008-2009 budget. This was achieved along with another milestone: in the coming year, NJSBA will offer all in-person mandatory training courses as a dues-based service, and will not charge any additional fees.

The Association also notes that under the 2009-2010 budget, 66 percent of member districts either had no increase in dues over last year’s amount, or actually had a decrease in dues. We feel that all of these measures; the decrease in our budget, the abolition of fees for mandatory training and the flat or reduced membership dues for two-thirds of our membership, provide districts with precisely the kind of assistance they need during a recession.

Tremendous effort was required to develop a balanced budget that could support current services while allowing the Association to maintain or cut dues levels for 66 percent of its members. Every budget line item, expense and contract was examined. Every staff position was reviewed.

Among the budget examination’s more noteworthy results are the following:

• A 6.25 percent reduction in Association staff positions was achieved. Tasks,  jobs and staff members were shifted, resulting in existing positions taking on additional functions and responsibilities.

• New payroll and banking functions were developed to expedite the payroll process.

• A new color copier was purchased. The new print allows a majority of our printing tasks to be completed in-house, which means less lag time on jobs. The cost savings were substantial, too. We can print in color for about 20 percent of the cost of having a printing company do the work. That means we can print materials in color for about the same cost as printing in black and white.

• Staff was asked to share in certain levels of  health care costs or to opt out of the health care system. These changes allowed the Association to achieve an overall reduction in personnel administration costs of $197,240 or 8.6%.

This effort to contain costs, while maintaining a high level of service will be ongoing. I look forward to reporting to the Association on more progress on this front next year.

Francis J. Pullo is director of the Finance and Operational Services Department. He can be reached at fpullo@njsba.org.

Information When and Where It’s Needed

Technology empowers people 

By Jaan Talvet

The Information Technology (IT) department at the Association exists for the sole purpose of enabling board members and NJSBA staff to get the information they need, when they need it. Our in-house staff and our board members all have important jobs to do, and getting the right information in a timely manner can make everyone’s job easier.

Two of our more popular recent innovations have been the Webinars and Web-based training courses we have offered. Both allow board members to take their mandatory training courses online, in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. The process saves travel time, gas money, and not accidentally, is an initiative that is in keeping with the spirit of the Accountability Act regulations that discourage board members from incurring travel expenses.

Since we debuted this training in the winter of 2008, we have offered all mandatory advanced courses (Governance I, Governance II, and Legal Update); new board members must still attend orientation in-person. The Webinar courses are conducted live, and usually allow participants to ask real-time questions. The Web-based training involves pre-recorded courses that can be taken at the participant’s convenience.

NJSBA’s Web training options have been extremely popular with members: more than 1600 members have registered for online training. We have also offered online access to other Association programs, such as the webcast held in April on the 2009-2010 budget election process.

We are in the process of adding a feature to our Web site that will allow users to make purchases online through the use of school district purchase orders. We believe this will be a convenience to board members who are more likely to pay that way than by using a personal credit card.

The IT department has also undertaken several cost-saving measures. We have recently “virtualized” nine of our servers and created 10 new servers with no additional hardware costs. Without going into too much technical detail, we have, in effect, put the material from some of our servers into cyberspace, allowing access online. The process cuts operating costs through avoiding the need to buy new equipment, and saving electricity. (Our average server uses only 700 watts of power.) It also helps the Association’s disaster recovery preparations. In the event of a disaster, the virtual server system has cut our potential downtime from weeks to days, and possibly hours.

Another measure that has saved NJSBA money is our increasing use of open-source software. Rather than paying to license software (on a per-user basis), and then incurring additional costs for software support, we have begun to use Linux software more frequently. We have used it for our Web servers, our file servers, and for data back-up purposes.

Technology is a tool that empowers people. As we move forward we will be looking for more ways in which we can make life easier and more productive for our school board members and the NJSBA staff.

Jaan Talvet is director of NJSBA’s Information Technology department. He can be reached at jtalvet@njsba.org.

Job One: Student Achievement

NJSBA’s Executive Officers discuss strategies for staying focused in tough times

By Janet Bamford

The officers of the New Jersey School Boards Association collectively have more than 70 years of experience serving on school boards, including 38 years as their board’s president or vice-president. They are well qualified to talk about the difficulties New Jersey boards and districts are facing. School Leader recently held a roundtable discussion to talk about this year’s school budget cycle, new regulations and other challenges.

New Jersey’s school districts have just finished putting together budgets in the face of the most difficult financial crisis in recent memory. How have boards handled it?

Harry Delgado I think the experience we just went with through, with over 73 percent of the budgets in New Jersey being passed, proved that we are fiscally responsible. I know a lot of districts made an effort to bring in their budgets without a tax increase, which is more than can be said about the municipalities.

John Bulina Districts and boards communicated to the public what was happening and that was key. When you communicate with the public, you can’t enter panic mode and say we have a crisis and everything is doing down the tubes. It has to be balanced, and you have to put out information on positive things and show that boards of education are fiscally responsible. Looking at the numbers, it’s clear that the vast majority of boards across the state are fiscally responsible.

What is NJSBA doing to help boards make it through these challenges?

Eva Nagy I’m proud of how we have met the challenges. The travel regulations changed many things for us. Instead of holding large conferences we became creative. We have expanded at the county level and have more training and advocacy at that level. We are also now using different modes of communication for training – including Webinars.

JB One of the things NJSBA has done this year is create the Education Leadership Foundation for New Jersey to be able to better educate and develop leadership in board members so they can do their jobs.

PC NJSBA also took a good look at the long range facility plan. Part of that plan was to build a new facility, but we decided instead to renovate our existing facility. The renovation reduces our carbon footprint for the future and saves a lot of money.

Kevin Ciak Knowledge is power and NJSBA conveys its knowledge in many ways: through our publications; to legislators, informing them of the challenges that our schools are facing; and to the public at large through print and radio media. But more than anything, the Association is there to guide board members when they have questions.  Every board member should know that there is a professional at the other end of the phone at 1-888-88NJSBA who can answer that legal, policy, labor relations, or boardsmanship question. NJSBA coaches, mentors, and offers strong support to board members and school boards as a whole.

What do board members today need?

EN We need to help the board members who need training. Unfortunately the weekend training has been taken away. On my board, the more veteran board members were urging the newer ones to go to the weekend training. I told them it doesn’t exist anymore, and they were disappointed because they remember it as being valuable. Board members also need the excellent leadership training we have given in the past. We are going to deal with that through the foundation.

HD I said this when I became president: we’re very good at reacting to a crisis but the challenge is sustaining it over a period of time. I believe once we give members the one shot in the arm – the training – they go back and get involved in local issues and they don’t look at themselves in the context of the greater good. We have to change that.

How is the prospect of regionalization affecting boards in New Jersey?

HD I do think that a change has occurred that is no small accomplishment and is a result of the efforts of the Association. People no longer feel threatened by regionalization. I was in a district recently presenting a board member with recognition from the Association for serving 25 years on a board, and the board had a very open discussion about what they anticipate will happen to their school district as they enter the first phase of exploration of regionalization. I think that is because we presented the facts and have spoken with authority in an unbiased way.

What are some of the strategies you’ve seen work in districts for dealing with difficult economic times?

PC Don’t be afraid to show your dirty laundry. As board members you want to protect your district, but sometimes you have to put it out there and say ‘we’re not doing a good job in special education’ or ‘our buildings are falling apart.’ You have to show the community the data or the information and tell them what it will take to turn things around. You can’t say the district needs more money without justifying the need. We also need to break away from the idea that in a community there is the municipality and the school district. We are one community. There has to be more cooperation. I like dealing with the executive county superintendents because they get to see the big picture, and they might come up with some ideas that we have not explored. 

EN You have to educate people as to what it takes to improve student achievement. We had a lean budget this year – it was $1.8 million less than last year and we had to make cuts. We told people if the budget goes down, there will be more cuts. I also think we seriously need to start talking with NJEA about the stress on the local districts when raises are higher. We have to wrestle with that and with the benefits aspect. As much as we want to support our staff, we can’t continue this way.

HD There has been a lot of talk about shared services. One of the most innovative approaches I’ve seen is in Edison where the municipal side is offering to bond for school renovations because they can do it more efficiently. We are seeing shared services leading to a more significant effort to save significant money.

KC: Boards should hold tight to the priorities they identified through their strategic planning process.  Certainly, the funding may not exist to fulfill all of the original plans, but that shouldn’t deter some level of progress. 

A 3-year plan may take 4 or 4 1/2 years to complete given the financial times, but it is important that the board not be deterred from the original goal.  Where do you find the money?  Can the board reduce its energy expense by 10 percent by launching a district-wide conservation program?  Can the board challenge ts technology supervisor, through the superintendent, to reduce communications and networking costs by 10 percent?  Look at the areas that we typically take for granted and seek the hidden savings.

This is an election year in New Jersey. What’s the best way for board members to be involved and informed in the gubernatorial election?

PC I think we should ask the candidates whether they favor moving the general election to April. (Laughter around the table.)

HD First and foremost, board members need to vet candidates based on their views on education. I think as a board member, education is priority number one.

KC The other side is what information are you sharing with all of the candidates in terms of your own school district so they become better informed. When they get elected, we don’t want them to be in the legislature asking questions like: are school board members volunteers? They need to know what board members do.

What effect have the new Accountability Act regulations had on your district?

JB The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I think that applies to the regulations. We have to deal with the unintended consequences. Once a law is enacted it is difficult to make modifications and do away with the problem situations that occur.

HD To some extent, the Commissioner has been open to dialog with the Association so we can share those all those unintended consequences with her. I think sometimes, as a practical matter, she has made allowances where she has seen, in some instances, that the regulations have made it difficult or expensive to operate.

KC We all need to be conscious of perceptions. What one board or board member does reflects positively or negatively on us all. A board doing something negative starts up the whole cycle of new regulation again.

You are all from different types of school districts – what are some of the biggest challenges you have dealt with in your district recently?

KC I think the most difficult challenge we’re facing now is the construction project at our high school. We have some architectural issues that have set the project back. We’ve been dealing with the public’s need for instant gratification, instant retribution and instant solutions. We also have the desire to see this project through and get this building built. We are keeping our eye on the ball and will solve the legal problems later. I think that’s an issue a lot of boards face – not necessarily with construction but there will always be a problem and they will face pressure to pin down who is at fault. Boards need not necessarily succumb to public pressure but look at what’s best for the district as a whole.

EN In our district, the challenge is to take a systemic approach to improving student achievement. We’ve done that through the increasing use of data, through professional development, and through changes in leadership. We have made changes in our middle school and high school to spend more time in the core subjects. As a board member the question with change is: how do you bring everyone on board?

HD The most difficult decision for me individually this year was our budget. We had to manage the feelings of a community that saw people getting laid off. That hasn’t happened before, and it’s difficult for a community that supports education. I think next year’s budget may be even more difficult.

PC The hardest thing we’ve had to deal with recently is hiring a new superintendent. That was an interesting process and the Association really provided us with a lot of help on that.

JB I would say the biggest challenge for Tabernacle is that we are a rural district in the Pinelands with very few ratables. The bulk of our funding rests on homeowners, and it’s not easy to come up with budgets that are fiscally responsible and yet meet all the educational needs of the students. We’re a K-8 district and one challenge is continuing to raise the bar. We send our kids to a regional high school so we also have to communicate with the other sending districts and the high school district so everyone is on the same page, all kids are on a level playing field and everyone can have a smooth transition to high school.

How do you, as a board member, keep focused on student achievement in the face of all the distractions of the current challenging times?

HD In our district we take it one year at a time, and that helps us focus on what’s important. We develop one theme based on what we want to see accomplished by the end of the year and that drives us. For that year you’ll see the theme everywhere – on our stationary, repeated at the board meeting, everywhere. That helps us stay focused.

KC I think you get involved in your district. You go to student events and the plays and the football games. And whenever an issue comes up, all board members should always ask: how does this affect the students?

Janet Bamford is managing editor of School Leader; her e-mail address is jbamford@njsba.org.

NJSBA: Evolving to Meet Member Needs

The Strategic Plan points the way

By Cynthia J. Jahn, Esq.

Last summer NJSBA officers, several members-at-large and NJSBA staff members met repeatedly to frame a new strategic plan to continue our efforts to meet the ever-increasing needs of our members. The plan was formally adopted by the NJSBA Board of Directors at its reorganization meeting in September 2008. It anticipates that our efforts will support the NJSBA mission over the next three years, September 2008–August 2011. Although the strategic plan is new, our mission remains the same. It states that NJSBA is “a federation of district boards of education that advocates, trains and provides resources for the advancement of public education in New Jersey.”

In support of its mission the Association identified the need to develop the resources necessary to strengthen our members’ ability to govern and improve student achievement; develop strategic initiatives and innovative program offerings to strengthen our federation; grow our advocacy network; and expand training to foster accountability.

Develop Resources Several goals were identified that will help the Association develop the resources necessary to better serve our members. They included increasing our financial reliance upon fee-based services; reviewing the current dues structure to make it more equitable for all districts; assessing the facility needs of NJSBA members and staff; and identifying technology needs to sustain the mission.

An ad hoc committee was appointed by Harry Delgado, NJSBA president, to study the dues structure and recommend any changes necessary to support the services to members while keeping dues down. At the March 2009 Board of Directors meeting, the committee chair, Paul Tracy (Lenape Valley Regional board president), presented the committee’s findings and called for adjustments to certain components of the existing formula. These changes include:

• Reducing the base dues amount by half

• Ensuring that an individual district’s dues will not constitute more than one-tenth of 1 percent of its current expenses

• Prohibiting annual dues increases for any district in excess of 10 percent over the previous year’s dues

• Leaving the current maximum dues limit in place for 2009-2010

• Permitting the use of an inflation factor to adjust the base and the dues maximum in 2010-2011.

Under these revisions in the formula, approximately two-thirds of the state’s school districts will experience level or reduced dues for 2009-2010. The remaining members will see only a minimal increase.

Additional revenue-producing services will be identified in the coming months as the Association explores additional services to address new challenges faced by our members. Of significant note is the creation of a foundation, the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey, (ELFNJ), the purpose of which is to provide research, training and education to New Jersey’s school district boards of education and other non-profit organizations that support public education. (See page 34 for more on the foundation.)

President Delgado also appointed an ad hoc committee last fall to study the facility needs of the Association. Two years have passed since NJSBA purchased property in Hamilton Township to construct a new headquarters and training facility. Since that time, the state’s accountability regulations were adopted; those rules significantly restrict board member travel. The committee found that the need for a centrally located training facility for members was no longer practical, as training would be provided regionally or using technological means, such as Internet- based training. Therefore, the committee recommended to the Board of Directors that NJSBA totally gut its existing building and reconstruct a state-of-the-art facility at its current location, rather than building a new headquarters. This recommendation was accepted by the Board of Directors at its March 2009 meeting.

The Association continually reviews its information technology needs and recently completed implementation of a disaster recovery plan that allows the Association to be up and running within hours in the event of an IT disaster. The network was also recently revamped and the Web site is expected to undergo a complete overhaul by 2011. E-registration through the use of purchase orders to register for programs and buy products is on the horizon and NJSBA is hopeful it will be implemented by July 2009. Finally, IT will be involved extensively in the design stages of the new facility to assure the Association’s ability to use technology to meet our members’ growing needs.

Strengthen the Federation Membership The strategic plan seeks to address waning participation in Association events due to member time constraints and a decreased number of members identifying with the federation. NJSBA is reviewing the operations of the Delegate Assembly with the goal of increasing participation by adding informative programming to the meeting and also by better publicizing the issues under discussion to the membership. This past November, the attendance at the DA increased more than 35 percent, from 140 to 200 delegates. The Association will be examining the possibility of regional Delegate Assemblies conducted simultaneously to encourage more members to participate in the policy making process that drives the association’s advocacy efforts.

President Delgado has personally reached out to individual members to solicit their support in sharing with other members the value of NJSBA membership. A program implementing this effort will be introduced by September 2009.

Grow the Advocacy Network NJSBA wants to engage individual members in advancing the advocacy efforts of the association and expand the EAGLEs (Education Advocates Grassroots Lobbying Effort) program. EAGLEs involves members and non-member participants in increasing influence with local, county and state legislators by directly communicating with them—whether that be in Trenton or in a lawmaker’s home district.

Advocacy training is another component of our effort to equip members with the knowledge and skills to effectively engage lawmakers who frame public education policy. The association is expanding its training programs through county programs, mandated training, Webinars and Web-based training. The goal is to expand our advocacy ranks by enlisting our members at the local and county levels, as well as enlisting Legislative Committee members to develop advocacy networks, host legislative district meetings and directly lobby their representatives. Additionally, the Association plans on providing a research component to enhance legislative, advocacy and public information capacity by 2010.

It is expected that by the close of this strategic plan there will be 21 engaged county legislative chairs, increased active participation by the membership at large and that the best practices identified in advocating for public education will be implemented.

Expanding Training to Foster Accountability The year 2008-2009 saw the Association gear up to provide mandatory training to approximately 2500 members, more than one-half of our total membership. (Training is required of members in the first, second and third years of their first term, and in the first year of any subsequent term.) The training was made easily accessible at Workshop 2008 and at regional programs provided in the north, central and southern parts of the state. Additionally, several Webinars were held where registrants were able to pose live questions and receive a live response; as well as Web-based training that allowed the registrant to select the exact time when they took the training. Going into the 2009-2010 school year, the Association will be providing all mandated training as a part of the districts’ dues as approved by the Board of Directors in the budget.

Additional elective training, to be provided via the Web for individual members will be developed to meet the ever-increasing demands placed upon our members. By 2010, school boards and administrative teams will be able to apply for grants from ELFNJ to attend multiple-day training programs at no cost to the local board. Finally, the staff of NJSBA is actively engaged in furthering their own education by attending internal training opportunities to enhance their knowledge and identify need-to-know issues for our members.

While these are difficult times, the Association views the challenges we face as opportunities to provide better services to our members and to strengthen their ability to govern and improve student achievement.

Cynthia J. Jahn, Esq., is NJSBA’s assistant executive director/general counsel. She can be reached at cjahn@njsba.org.

Introducing the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey 

The Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey helps strengthen boards by providing new avenues to training 

By David Hespe

Across The State, School districts have recently presented budgets to the voters. Many of these budgets contained reductions in programs and services as a response to tight spending caps and tough financial times. Districts were forced to scramble to protect essential programs (cutting fat, not muscle) and ensure that the progress being made in schools is not lost. Fortunately, these struggles resulted in a better-than-expected approval rate for school budgets but also made it evident that boards must find better ways to continue to support core programs and services so that educational goals will not be set back for years to come.

One of the key strategies for boards grappling with budgetary challenges will be to assist board members in understanding and responding to the changing circumstances. This is done best through intensive hands-on training. Unfortunately, the availability of such training is being severely curtailed just at the moment it is most needed due to the new state accountability regulations. 

Board member training is arguably most urgently needed during challenging times. Board members responding to budgetary pressures should see that there are now new opportunities to change our thinking and strategy and to do things differently and perhaps even better. Tough budgetary times provide everyone with greater incentives to think expansively about ways to accomplish core educational goals. Community groups, higher education, non-public educational providers and business groups will be more willing to establish partnerships with schools to accomplish mutual educational goals since financial challenges are facing everyone. Non-traditional sources of funding could also be discovered and tapped to protect programs during a downturn. School districts have much to offer the greater community and may have greater incentives now to provide needed services to the community on a fee basis.

The New Jersey School Boards Association has modeled this new type of thinking about partnerships and new resources by supporting the establishment of the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey. ELFNJ is a non-profit foundation that will allow individual board members and board-administrative teams to acquire the training they need to be effective by providing direct financial assistance. ELFNJ will raise the necessary funds through grants, solicitations and providing services for hire to non-profit boards. In this way, ELFNJ will assist NJSBA in performing its statutory mission of advancing public education through stronger and more effective boards of education.

In 2007, the State Legislature passed the School District Accountability Act, which placed severe limitations on the ability of board members and administrators to engage in training programs by limiting travel reimbursement. For example, overnight training programs now require the pre-approval of the state education commissioner in order for the school district to pay for or reimburse board members for participating in training.

Training is necessary to provide board members with an understanding of their essential roles and responsibilities. Advanced training is also highly desirable, for example, to develop the skills needed to be a board president or vice president or to hone negotiating skills. Training sessions where board members and administrators participate together are also invaluable for each to gain a better understanding of specific roles and responsibilities.

School districts should not need to sacrifice their ability to effectively and efficiently govern because of a lack of training. ELFNJ responds to the new state accountability regulations by providing a vehicle for school board members to attend the needed and desired training.

ELFNJ will also be able to develop a revenue stream to fund the scholarships and grants that will be used to pay for the training and travel. Under its charter, the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey is authorized to provide services that improve governance in charter schools, other public entities and non-profit organizations. The extension of this training to the non-profit board community will serve as a revenue generating mechanism for ELFNJ. All board members – not just school board members – require training to be effective but many of these organizations lack the expertise to orient their board members to their roles. In this way, ELFNJ will also be able to strengthen non-profit boards throughout the state by making available to these boards, on a fee basis, the same quality training that boards of education currently receive through NJSBA.

Responding to difficult financial times is one of many obligations of school board members and administrators. It is one that we take very seriously but cannot completely fulfill due to an inability to receive the training that will allow us to understand and respond to the changing circumstances. ELFNJ will lead the way in responding to this situation and in changing the way we think about how to fulfill our mission through new partnerships and alternative revenue sources.

David Hespe is chairman of the board of trustees of the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey. He is currently an associate professor in the Educational Leadership Department of Rowan University. Prior to joining the faculty at Rowan University, Mr. Hespe was New Jersey Commissioner of Education from 1999 to 2001. He also served as first assistant attorney general for the state. He can be reached at dhespe@rowan.edu.

The Business of Operating Public Schools

By John F. Donahue

The New Jersey Association of School Business Officials is a professional association that provides educational programs and assistance to school business officials in New Jersey school districts.  School business administrators have a wide range of duties and responsibilities including budget preparation and management, accounting, payroll operations, transportation, security operations, school construction and plant management, risk management, and state and federal financial reporting and accountability. In addition, school business officials serve as the district’s purchasing agent, board secretary, and custodian of school records.

We spend many hours and long days managing the non-academic operations of a school district. Transportation and facility issues often command a great deal of our time. Every day seems to start with an issue with respect to employee contract compliance. But the management and oversight of fiscal operations is our paramount duty and responsibility.  We hold the only position with a board of education where the public body is required by law to annually hire an independent accounting firm to test state and federal compliance with generally accepted accounting principles.  Audit tests are performed relative to compliance in areas of general procurement, bidding laws, risk management, requests for state and federal aid, food service operations, student transportation, special education contracting and much more.

Long before the recent push for shared services between school districts and other local units of government, the school business officials of this state were finding ways to create joint transportation agreements, forming purchasing cooperatives, organizing the first insurance pools and pressing for legislation to permit such cost savings.  We found ways to share services with our municipalities long before there was a call for it, or grants to encourage it.  NJASBO was a principal force in creating the Alliance for Competitive Energy, ACES, in which hundreds of boards are able to reduce their energy costs through bulk bidding and purchasing of natural gas and electricity. This year alone, it is expected that school districts will save over $32 million dollars. In addition, NJASBO created the Alliance for Competitive Telecommunications, ACT, in which school districts pool together for long distance and other telephone communication services.  Both of these initiatives, ACT and ACES, have become standards for evaluating school efficiency.

The Challenge – New Regulations The Department of Education recently released 215 pages of new guidance in response to recent legislation as it relates to school accountability and efficiency. At a time when the general opinion is to reduce administrative costs in our public schools, the new regulations impose chapter after chapter of new requirements that only add to the general administrative burden of managing our public educational system. In addition, the regulations appear to usurp the authority and management rights of local school boards especially in negotiating contract terms and conditions with certain central office personnel. Recent legislation has dictated travel limitations and prohibitions for board members and employees that appear to be an overreaction to abuses identified in certain school districts. Many believe that the state should be targeting school districts that fail to demonstrate effective and efficient management skills rather than micromanaging through volumes of regulation.

Although NJASBO supports the concept of having in place Internal Control and Standard Operating Procedures, the new requirements in this area will take a great deal of time and significant effort to coordinate, establish and implement. NJASBO has been providing assistance to its members as they develop their respective control and operating documents. Following an extremely difficult and challenging budget season, business administrators are facing the crunch of a July 1, 2009 deadline to have these systems in place. (NJASBO has requested an extension of the due date for this requirement at the time this article was written.)

The regulations further provide that school districts and county vocational schools with budgets in excess of $25 million dollars, or more than 300 employees, maintain an enterprise resource planning system which integrates all data processing of an organization into a unified system. All school districts must maintain a complete and up-to-date position control roster to track the actual number and category of employees and the detailed information for each. Any school district or county vocational school district with three or more district buildings must have an automated work order system for prioritizing, performing, and recording all maintenance and repair requests for all district buildings and grounds.

Neither time nor space permits the listing of the many other unfunded mandates found in the new regulations. As we face difficult economic times, it is always popular for state officials and legislators to ask local officials where state government can lessen the burden of local government. Seldom do the lists and recommendations we submit ever seem to engender much of a response. To the contrary, the mandates continue and the burden on local government becomes greater.

The job of governing and managing our public schools is a challenge that boards of education and administration accept; and as overwhelming at it often may seem, we all know why we work so hard!

John F. Donahue is executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials.

Advancing Education

Even in tough times, New Jersey’s chief education officers help districts build a better future 

By Dr. Richard G. Bozza

New Jersey voters showed confidence in public education by approving 73 percent of the school board budgets in the 2009 annual school election, despite the nation’s struggling economy. These approvals are indicative of residents’ recognition of the value of a strong public education system and their support for the common goal of improving the education that New Jersey’s children receive.

The New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA) and its members have incorporated this goal as part of the Association’s mission statement which reads:

“The mission of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, the unifying professional association of school leaders, is to ensure a superior statewide system of education by influencing and affecting educational policy, regulations and legislation; and by maximizing the capacity and effectiveness of school leaders through professional development programs and support services.”

School superintendents, the chief education officers of school districts, work cooperatively with school board members, colleagues, staff, community and municipal representatives to move education forward to ensure the highest quality of instruction for all students. The cooperation of all the stakeholders in a school district has produced positive outcomes for students, as demonstrated by New Jersey’s consistent improvement on state and national assessment scores and the fact that this state has the nation’s best high school graduation rate.

The instructional and fiscal leadership of chief education officers is critical in meeting both the short and long-term challenges facing New Jersey school systems and communities in an efficient manner. These leaders shape the vision for the educational process in their respective districts and continue to realize improvements in student outcomes, even in the most difficult times.

These are not easy times to be leading New Jersey school systems. Increased regulation, higher expectations and tight resources are significant challenges, complicated by the public misperception of excessive education administrative costs in the state. But administrative costs in the state’s school districts are anything but excessive. National statistics show that the percentage of the budget dedicated to administrative costs for New Jersey school systems ranks near the bottom of the 50 states – eighth lowest in the nation. New Jersey has witnessed a 30 percent growth in students and a 47 percent increase in teachers during the last reported sixteen years while the number of school administrators has grown by only 3 percent. Clearly, school leaders have been asked to do more each year as they face growing expectations and increasing numbers of students and staff.

The NJASA leadership, addressing one of the great challenges ahead for education in New Jersey, has initiated a dialogue on a subject that has been examined many times before, but one which is now seeing renewed interest. That topic is school district consolidation. NJASA is conducting evening forums that focus on the New Jersey Department of Education’s role in developing possible plans to consolidate school districts in the state. The county-specific public forums are offered by NJASA as a community service to educate and inform all residents of the steps and processes involved in the state school consolidation mandate.

The forums include a panel of experts who offer their insights, research, and thought-provoking commentaries on the general topic of school consolidation, as well as elected representatives who bring the views of their constituents to the state legislature.

NJASA endorses the state’s effort to examine operational efficiencies through expanded shared services and the possible consolidation of school systems. However, the Association maintains that the examination must be a thoughtful and thorough one. The quality of education must be considered the primary factor in each potential consolidation. Residents of New Jersey need to be sure that any choices made are based upon solid information about outcomes – for students, for residents, and for the cost of education which taxpayers are asked to support.

Educating our children has always been paramount with New Jersey’s chief education officers. There will not be uncomplicated or easy solutions to today’s extraordinary challenges. One thing is certain, however – chief education officers will demonstrate determination and resourcefulness in their work as they lead the discussion about organizing school systems and maintaining the high quality of education for all New Jersey students. NJASA will support those efforts as we work together to ensure a superior statewide system of education.

Richard G. Bozza, Ed.D., is executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. He can be reached at rbozza@njasa.net.

Power in Numbers

The Alliance for Competitive Energy Services buys energy in bulk and saves taxpayers millions

By Steven Gabel

Prior to 1999, New Jersey’s schools had little control over the price of energy. Their local utilities – whether they sold electricity or natural gas – provided vertically integrated services. Metering, delivery, interstate transmission and commodity were all provided by the same utility with no choice for the customer.

This all changed in 1999 when the New Jersey legislature passed the Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act (EDECA). EDECA set in motion the restructuring of New Jersey’s electric and natural gas industries and gave New Jersey’s electric and natural gas customers the freedom to choose their supplier. This meant that consumers could, for the first time, decide to save money by purchasing electric and natural gas commodity service from a lower-cost supplier. Meanwhile, their local utility continued to provide delivery service with their wires and pipelines. EDECA held out the promise of giving customers the same reliability of service they were accustomed to from their local utility combined with the opportunity for cost reduction through competitive sourcing of commodities.

The gap between this promise and the reality of cost savings was filled by the New Jersey School Boards Association. Working with its partner organizations, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, NJSBA created the Alliance for Competitive Energy Services (ACES) which plays a unique role in New Jersey’s energy marketplace. By, in effect, buying in bulk, ACES saves New Jersey’s school districts and their taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in energy costs.

Seizing the initiative, the NJSBA and ACES have addressed key challenges to deliver savings to districts:

Unique Legal Authority For a school district that is shopping for cheaper energy prices, the old saying is true: there is strength in numbers. An individual district would face the tasks of collecting and analyzing usage data; drafting a request for bids that would be acceptable in the highly volatile energy market; analyzing bids, and then awarding one and switching over to a new supplier. Moreover – most significantly – a single district would have difficulty in attracting bidders to its request for bids, since the suppliers in the low margin retail energy supply business would not dedicate their time and effort to the relatively small usage of a single district.

The New Jersey School Boards Association, seeing the need for an aggregated approach to participating in and benefiting from energy deregulation, worked with the Legislature during its EDECA deliberations. The result of this effort is that the Legislature designated NJSBA as an aggregator for school districts throughout New Jersey. It is the only organization so recognized by the Legislature.

Addressing Volatility The price of electricity and natural gas is notoriously volatile. Electricity is one of the few commodities which is not widely storable and must be used when it is produced. Both commodities are extremely weather-sensitive. Both industries are extremely capital intensive; and therefore are also subject to credit market fluctuations (and meltdowns). The result of these characteristics is extreme price volatility.

ACES has a distinctive and effective approach to shielding districts and their budgets from this volatility:

• Lock in commodity prices when appropriate. By watching commodity prices and other market indicators closely, and having contract provisions that allow for quick lock-in, ACES secures stable prices whenever possible and prudent, rather than asking districts to ride the “price roller coaster.”

• Electronic bid process. Under the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs guidelines, ACES can accept bids electronically and can award contracts on the same day. Since prices change quickly, suppliers place a risk premium on price offers that remain open. A quick lock-in period squeezes this premium out of the price.

Power in Numbers Since EDECA was signed into law, ACES has been active on behalf of its districts issuing bids and awarding electricity and natural gas contracts throughout New Jersey. ACES now includes over 400 school districts, making it one of the largest, and most potent, educational energy purchasing groups nationally.

This successful effort was most recently illustrated by an electricity contract award this March to South Jersey Energy Company. Through this award, districts will save an estimated $36 million. The price is fixed for a two-year period and thereby assures electric budget stability for districts.

ACES will continue to seek out energy savings and cost stability for New Jersey school districts. It has, and will continue to be, an innovative and effective shield from high and volatile energy costs.

Steven Gabel is president of Gabel Associates, a Highland Park-based energy consulting firm. He can be reached at Steven.Gabel@gabelassociates.com. Gabel Associates is the consultant/administrator of ACES.

More From NJSBA’s Interview with Governor Jon Corzine

School Leader had a limited amount of space to devote to the interview NJSBA’s Ray Pinney had with Gov. Corzine in May. Below are additional excerpts from the conversation, as well as a list provided by the Governor’s office of his educational achievements while in office.

Q. Governor Corzine, on several occasions I have heard you say that, in these difficult times, education has remained your top priority.  How do you feel you have demonstrated a commitment to our schools?

A. I have always believed that no state investment does more to promote long-term economic growth and prosperity than the investment in our public schools.  On the whole, New Jersey students are among the top performers in the country according to the NAEP scores, but there is room for progress.  My commitment to education is driven by the need to ensure that this progress is made and that our high performance continues.  A highly educated and skilled workforce is critical to keeping and attracting businesses to New Jersey.

One of the best examples of my commitment to education is the new school funding formula that results in a unified, equitable and logical system of allocating state aid and gives all of our children in all of our communities the opportunity to succeed.  The formula expands the definition of student need to make sure districts with children who face multiple obstacles receive adequate aid from the state while also distributing aid to moderate and middle-income districts in a way that relieves some of the pressure on taxpayers.

New Jersey has been trying to address this situation for three decades, and I think we finally got it right.

Q.  The CORE legislation created the position of executive county superintendent, with unprecedented oversight over local school district finances.  Each ECS will also spearhead development of regionalization proposals, which are due in March 2010.  But not all 21 counties have executive county superintendents, and the process for filling these positions seems to take quite some time.  Would you consider modifying this process so that the positions could be filled sooner?

A. We submitted nominations for eight of the remaining nine positions the other day, so once they are confirmed, 20 of the 21 positions will be filled.  We are working on the last one, which is Hunterdon County.

I agree that this is a long process, but I believe it is necessary.  The ECSs are expected to play a much larger role in education in their counties than the former county superintendents did.  They are expected to review and approve the contracts of district superintendents, assistant superintendents and BA.  They have to undertake a much more thorough review of districts’ budgets.  They have to oversee the implementation of NJQSAC, which is much more detailed that the old district monitoring system.  And finally, they are charged with developing and recommending a plan for regionalization and consolidation within their counties.

The ECSs are the education leaders in their counties, and we owe it to the people who live in those counties and the school districts to make sure that the person sitting in that chair has the exceptional qualities needed to do the job.

Q. Considering the executive county superintendents now in place, do you believe the new position has benefited education in New Jersey?

A. Definitely.  As you are aware, we have a very decentralized education system in this state.  Most school decisions are local decisions.  The state does not run school districts but we do have a responsibility to ensure that they are well run, and I think the new ECSs, with their enhanced authority and leadership, are a very important part of that process.

One of the ECSs’ major areas of concern is saving money.  In the past year, thanks to the ECSs’ efforts to bring people together and help put together agreements, districts in every county have been entering into shared services agreements and other arrangements that allow them to operate more efficiently by working cooperatively.  Dozens of districts now share BAs and many other districts are looking into sharing superintendents, or providing administrative services for each other. Millions of dollars are being saved by school districts through a wide variety of creative and innovative joint purchasing and other cooperative agreements. 

Meanwhile, the ECSs are also giving much greater scrutiny to districts’ budgets and administrator contracts than ever before.  They have the authority to go back to the districts and question contract provisions and expenditures, and this has led to reductions in unnecessary spending.

Q. As governor, you have been forced to take a hard line with state employees, proposing furloughs, wage freezes, and hiring freezes.  In the past, you have been able to secure concessions at the state level.  However, municipalities and school districts have found much less success in this area.  How could local school boards hold the line on employment costs in these tough economic times?  How would you help them to do that?

A. Local employment negotiations and contracts are local decisions.  The state has no role in that.  The state has, however, created and imposed a 4 percent tax levy cap for municipalities and school districts which is clearly aimed at helping to hold the line on tax increases.

Q. The responsibility placed on the Commissioner of Education and the Department of Education has increased at the same time that budget constraints are limiting staffing.  Are you concerned that the education might be too understaffed to carry out its mission?

A. DOE, just like every department in state government, is working to do more with less.  Commissioner Davy has re-organized the department to maximize her resources in order to fulfill the requirements from the state and federal government in an efficient and effective manner.

Our record over the past three years demonstrates that the DOE staff has successfully focused on its main mission of preparing students for the 21st century workforce and citizenship while providing accountability for spending and outcomes.

Summary of Education Accomplishments

New School Funding Formula:  The new school funding formula, signed in January of 2008, provides more state assistance to districts that are struggling to provide an adequate education and creates more equity in the school funding system in the state. It addresses the needs of all students, regardless of where they live. 

Preschool Expansion:  The school funding formula bill included an unprecedented preschool expansion, which will be phased in over time; eventually New Jersey will serve an additional 30,000 students in high-quality preschool.  This is in addition to serving over 40,000 students in the high-quality, nationally recognized Abbott preschool program and in addition to the state’s existing investments in high quality preschool, which for FY 2010 are nearly $600 million. 

Special Education Increases:  Under the new formula, the state will cover a larger share of districts extraordinary special education costs (costs above $40,000 per pupil).  In total, spending for special education increased by about $260 million under the new formula in FY 2009.  Governor Corzine also fought for IDEA funding increases under the new federal recovery program; as a result, NJ is getting about $380 million in additional IDEA funds over the next two years.

Increase in School Construction Funding: Governor Corzine fought to authorize $2.9 billion in additional funding for school construction in the SDA/Abbott districts and $1 billion for all other school districts. (July 2008).  This funding will go to address severe over-crowding, health and safety concerns and other policy priorities such as space for early childhood education and in-district special education classes.  The $2.9 billion for the Abbott districts will go to fund 53 new projects. Of the $1 billion for non-Abbott districts $180 million has been awarded to 130 school districts for 400 projects thus far.

Reforms to the School Construction Program: There have been major reforms to the school construction program under Governor Corzine: the elimination of the SCC with replacement by the SDA (Schools Development Authority), strengthening of the internal controls and audit functions within the SDA, the creation of project charters for better planning and cost estimates for projects, and reforms to the change order process.

Opening of New Schools in the Abbott districts:  For students in 16 schools throughout New Jersey, going back to school in Sept 2008 meant walking through the doors of a project newly completed under New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) management.  Nearly 15,000 students are benefiting from the openings of these schools. Since the SDA’s establishment in August 2007, the SDA has opened 38 school projects, impacting 28,000 students. 

Increased Accountability for School Districts:  A significant number of DOE regulations regarding school accountability have been promulgated. These regulations include anti-nepotism and pay-to-play restrictions for all school districts, additional auditing and fiscal control requirements, travel restrictions, and other restrictions on school spending. 

New Standards for Superintendents’ Contracts:  As a part of new DOE accountability regulations, the state has limited the benefits that can be awarded in superintendent contracts in an attempt to make the contracts more transparent and protect taxpayers’ interests.

Executive County Superintendents/CORE Reform Law:  Implemented the CORE Reform Law by appointing executive county superintendents, who have greater authority to make reallocations within districts’ budgets, must eliminate non-operating districts, and must devise plans to consolidate all districts to K-12, subject to voter approval. Nearly all counties now have either an appointed or an acting executive county superintendent.

Academic Performance - NAEP:  In recent years, NJ school districts continued to maintain excellent academic outcomes for students in New Jersey; NAEP scores for writing at the eighth grade level were the highest for students in NJ, and NAEP scores for math and reading continue to demonstrate that NJ students are performing among the best in the country.

Recommendations to Transform High School Education: In February 2009, the State Board of Education approved the high school redesign standards that will improve the rigor of NJ high school course work.  This is the project also known as the American Diploma Project (ADP).  The State Board will vote on final passage in June.  Proposed changes to the state’s high school graduation requirements include a total of 120 credits and the infusion of 21st century skills across all content areas.

Reducing Drop-Outs:  In fall 2008, in conjunction with the DOE, Governor Corzine and the Attorney General’s Office launched an intensive effort on dropout prevention and reducing truancy.  The New Jersey High School Graduation Campaign will be a year-long campaign to identify and implement concrete strategies for engaging young people in school in positive ways. 

Reforming the SRA:  The Department of Education is moving forward with reforms to strengthen the SRA (Special Review Assessment), which is the alternate assessment for high school graduation.  The new reforms include changes to the assessment, the use of trained teachers to grade the assessment, and administering the test at specified windows during the school year. New reforms will begin in Spring 2010.

Supporting Local Control: Governor Corzine and the Department of Education are working to ensure that state-operated school districts go back to local control via a responsible and effective transition process.