NJ Schools, Colleges Brace for State Aid Cuts

The Record
by Leslie Brody & Patricia Alex, Staff Writers

February 12, 2010

Education leaders in North Jersey said Governor Christie's decision to freeze state aid midyear could lead to college tuition hikes, property tax increases and school staff cuts in the fall.

Christie said Thursday he would withhold $475 million in promised state aid to schools and $62 million in aid to public colleges and universities to help balance the current state budget.  But school superintendents said the plan unfairly shifted Trenton's mismanagement and budget woes onto the backs of local taxpayers.

"We anticipate some serious budget shortfalls as a result of this decision," said Paramus Superintendent James Montesano.  "You're not going to make up budget deficits by cutting out Crayola crayons," he said, adding that staff reductions are a "very real possibility" before school opens next fall.

The governor said his cuts -- done with a scalpel, not an axe -- were painful but necessary due to the state's fiscal crisis.  He said cuts were tied to the surpluses carried by each district or college, and no receipt would lose more than its surplus.

Many districts put aside a maximum of 2 percent of their budgets to pay for emergencies, such as leaky roofs, broken pipes or midyear enrollments by special-needs students who require expensive placements.  Beyond those rainy-day funds, any "excess surplus" goes into easing the next year's budget.

The Christie administration said districts that are carrying excess surpluses will not get that amount of state aid this fiscal year, which ends June 30.  The state will also withhold aid amounting to 25 percent of districts' revenues targeted for capital improvements, maintenance and emergencies, administration officials said.

That means most districts won't get a portion of the remaining aid payments they expected; more than 100 will lose all state aid for the rest of this fiscal year.

Bernard Josefsberg, superintendent in Leonia, said his district had created a successful program for children with special needs that generated more tuition than expected from sending districts.  Due to Christie's plan, the district would not be able to use that revenue in the coming year's budget to hold down the tax burden on Leonia residents.

"No good deed goes unpunished," he said.  He disputed Christie's pledge of "not one textbook left unbought, not one teacher laid off."

"Jobs will be lost here in Leonia as a result of my inability to recover through higher taxes the $400,000 hole created in next year's budget by the loss of this year's surplus," he said.

In Passaic, the surplus is used up by dealing with the vagaries of funding for special education programming, said Superintendent Robert Holster.  Nearly a quarter of the city's 13,000 students get some kind of special services.

"I'm sensitive to the governor's concerns," said Holster.  "I agree that we have to go on a diet, but does it have to be a crash diet?"

Adam Fried, superintendent of Harrington Park, said his district, like other efficient ones, would be penalized for creating an excess surplus by sharing garbage service with the town and even renegotiating the price of toilet paper every month.  He said the aid cut -- which totals nearly $130,000 -- was a harsh blow on top of the budget strains the district already faced, including a 25 percent increase for health benefits this year.

"You're making school districts bleed and that's not good for children," he said.

The plan to cut $62.1 million in funding to the state's public colleges and universities is likely to trigger more hikes in a state where public tuition already is among the highest in the nation, averaging $11,000 annually at the four-year schools.

In December, Christie met with higher education leaders and slammed what he called eight years of Democratic neglect.  He promised that their schools would be a priority in his administration but warned that near-term cuts could be in the offing.

"We knew this was going to be a tough budget," said Paul Shelly, spokesman for the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities.

Last year, the Legislature imposed a one-time cap[ of 3 percent on tuition increases at the schools.  Rutgers, the state university, has had several cutbacks and layoffs in the past several years.  In a statement Thursday, the university called the cuts an "additional hardship."

The state's 19 community colleges will not get $8.9 million in funding they expected for the remainder of this school year.  At Bergen Community College, it means a cut of about $600,000 that will make it harder to avoid tuition increases, said President Jerry Ryan.  Deeper cuts and tuition hikes are likely in September, Ryan said.

Staff writer John Reitmeyer contributed to this report.  E-mail:  brody@northjersey.com and alex@northjersey.com

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