Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today in Newark that New Jersey will receive $891 million in federal stimulus funding.
According to the Associated Press,
New Jersey Education Commissioner Lucille Davy says it means no school district will receive less money next year than it did this year. She says about a third will see more.
Really? That’s a breech of logic that will have N.J. school districts scratching their heads, since the State withheld a state aid payment in May and “deferred” a pension payment in June. True, that’s for calendar year 2009, but districts still have to balance the books. There’s also a rumor circulating that after the election Corzine will cut at least one more payment. Finally, under the new State Funding Reform Act some districts will indeed see less money next year.
The D.O.E. has spent the last year promoting new State efficiency regulations to try to bring school costs down within an “adequacy budget.” And we should be doing that – we spend more per pupil than any state in the country. Bragging that “no district will receive less money” is not only false, but also irreconcilable with fiscal solvency.
Chris Christie is having a good day.
