NJ Education Report

Here’s the bottom line: Gov. Christie’s proposed state budget is $32.9 billion and includes expanding Medicaid, Hurricane Sandy relief, signing on to Pres. Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and making a $1.675 billion pension contribution. State education spending would increase by 1%, to $8.9 billion. About two-thirds of school districts would see very small state aid increases, while the rest would stay flat. That’s better than an aid cut, but far less than NJ’s school funding formula demands.

The biggest school-related news bullet is a $2 million pilot program for school vouchers, called “Opportunity Scholarship Grants,” which is enough to give 200 kids vouchers for $10,000 each. This program is a kind of Hail Mary pass around the Legislature, as hopes dim for the far more ambitious Opportunity Scholarship Act.  Many papers focused on this initiative,  including NJ Spotlight, the Star-Ledger, the Record, and the Press of Atlantic City.

Here’s some reactions:

NJEA: “We are very disappointed that the governor once again failed to comply with the law and fund New Jersey’s schools at required adequacy levels, compounding the harm of his previous budgets.  Flat funding for nearly 200 districts hurts those schools and their students.  And minimal increases for others will not be enough to keep up, much less invest in the future.”

David Sciarra of Education Law Center (in NJ Spotlight): “The very minimal increase for some districts, and flat funding for many others, means another year of cuts in programs, staff and services that are needed by our students. The governor’s aid proposal does almost nothing to meet the needs of students in hundreds of underfunded schools throughout the state.” Sciarra told the Record that the voucher proposed voucher program is “an illegal end run around the Legislature’s power and authority” and told the Star-Ledger that the program should be “dead on arrival.”

Senator Ray Lesniak, a prime sponsor of the original Opportunity Scholarship Act which would have been a $40 million program, called the Governor’s microversion a “teeny-weeny step.” (PolitickerNJ)

Sen. Tom Kean, also in PolitickerNJ: ““Governor Christie’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year is focused squarely on these priorities and moving New Jersey forward by getting back to the basics of what taxpayers demand from their government: conservative spending, no tax hikes, increased aid to schools, and a groundbreaking trial program to give children in failing schools a choice to seek a better learning environment.”

Senator Barbara Buono: the budget address was “really offensive” and ignored the middle-class. Here’s Tom Moran reaction to Buono’s reaction, which he describes as  “playing the role of the unknown bantamweight boxer stepping into the ring with the muscular champ the fans adore.”