NJ Education Report

That’s the humble pie bubbling up during NJSBA’s Lame Duck Legislature Update on Saturday morning. Featured players were Michael Vrancik, NJSBA Director of Governmental Relations, and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, current Chair of the Education Committee and upcoming Senate Majority Leader.

Here’s some highlights:

Prospects of education bills getting passed in the lame duck session: (Some of the more egregious include one that gives arbitration rights to non-tenured employees and another restricts boards from subcontracting out non-instructional services to non-union employees.) Assemblyman Cryan: “I don’t expect those bills to become law in the lame duck session” and “I don’t expect a lot of education bills to go through.” “I think our party has gotten the message.”

On expansion of charter schools: From Vrancik: “[Charter schools] are not fair to traditional public schools because you “cream off students and dollars” and “charters don’t have to play by the same rules.” Cryan: “I suspect strongly a push by the new administration to reexamine charter school funding” and “charter schools do fail.” On the possibility of the Christie administration loosening regulations that obstruct the expansion of charters: “That’s pretty frightening.”

Race To The Top: Regarding federal involvement in education, says Cryan, “it frightens me a lot.”

School Financing: Regarding the prospects for a “hard cap” (currently school district budget growth has a cap of 4%, but there are ways to squirm around it so it’s a “soft cap”): Cryan: “I think they’re going to look that way” and he expects a “strong debate on education spending.” Based on the election, public employees and collective bargaining are a “high priority for voters” and “the Christie administration will look to attack that issue.” “We’re clearly going to see proposed changes in CBA [collective bargaining associations, i.e., local units of NJEA] agreements].” “You’re on the table, folks,” especially since Cryan believes it’s highly unlikely that there will be a second federal stimulus package. Post-retirement medical benefits are a “major problem.”

School District Consolidation: Cryan believes that Christie won’t pursue it because “he won’t want to pay for [the millions of dollars] in feasibility studies.”

On the bill to move school board elections to November and disallow budget votes for school districts that stay below cap: Out-going Senate President Codey buried the bill, but “I strongly suspect that the new Senate president is for it.” Christie will want to “save money by not holding elections” in April and “ultimately it will pass.”

Commissioner of Education authority: the Legislature “will look at how much authority the Commissioner has.”

Preschool: “It will be cut.”

On Corzine’s “experiment” with Executive County Superintendents (primarily there to push for consolidation within counties): “The jury’s still out.”

Vrancik: “Is NJEA too powerful?” Cryan: “If we won, I’d say that NJEA is — but not given the results of the election.” But “they’re strong, really strong.”