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Schools

Opinion: Christie and Schundler Pass Debate Class, Fail Math

Draconian Budget Cuts Belie Administration's Stated Support for Education

When Governor Chris Christie strode to the podium in the N.J. statehouse this week, he castigated previous holders of power in Trenton for causing, or failing to prevent, the fiscal crisis the state now faces.  "So, today, we stop sweeping problems under the rug," Christie announced. "We will not hide our problems until another day. And we are certainly not increasing the tax burden we place upon our people."

By electing him, Christie said, the people of New Jersey "changed doctors in November" in the hope of curing the state's penchant for high taxes that Christie claims to be the cause of high unemployment in the state.

The largest of the $10.9 billion in budget cuts that Christie announced relates to aid to local school districts ($819 million) and municipalities ($359 million). Both in his budget message and in later interviews, Christie and his spokesmen argued that the powerful teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), is a leading cause of the state's budget woes.  After beginning his speech proclaiming that those who oppose his budget will seek to demonize him, Christie went on to do exactly that to the NJEA. Christie decided not to tackle the union head on. Instead, he dramatically cut aid to all public school districts, entirely eliminating direct state aid to 59 school districts in the state, including Springfield.  Christie then told The Star Ledger that the union will need to either re-open their contracts with local districts or accept layoffs. "If they care more about their status as the 800-pound gorilla, then they won't re-open the contracts, and they'll just lose members," the newspaper quoted the governor.  The governor does not intend to actually negotiate with the union, however; he will instead leave that to local school boards.

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Perhaps the most disturbing part of the governor's plan is that for weeks, state budget and education officials, including then Acting Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who has now been confirmed to that post, have prepared the state's superintendants, school boards and school business administrators for state aid cuts of up to 15 percent.  The budget, however, did not hit all districts equally with an across the board reduction in state aid. Instead, Christie proposes to reduce each district's state aid by 5 percent of its total fiscal 2010 budget.  For districts like Springfield, who get less than 5 percent of their budget from the state, that results in the total elimination of direct state aid. Now, with just days to prepare budgets for submission to the voters, school officials are left scrambling because the Christie administration misled them about the size of the state aid cuts. Commissioner Schundler, however, doesn't seem to even understand the havoc that his own misstatements have caused, claiming that, "districts had the understanding that it would be 15-percent and it is a number that is less than that."  

While Commissioner Schundler is correct that 5 is less than 15, his math skills leave much to be desired. As any Springfield math student can tell you, if you take a smaller percentage of a larger number, the result is often higher than a larger percentage of a smaller number.  Thus, a 15 percent cut in Springfield's 2010 state aid of $1.5 million would be approximately $225,000.  A 5% reduction in Springfield's approximately $30 million budget is $1.5 million, exactly the amount of state aid that was promised to Springfield this year and the amount that the governor proposes to eliminate entirely next year.

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An even more troubling aspect of the budget proposal is that the self-proclaimed Dr. Christie has used a chainsaw for delicate surgery that called for a scalpel.  Christie, for example, calls on teachers to contribute to their own health insurance.  Springfield's current teacher contract, however, happens to be one of the first in the area to require teachers to contribute to their health insurance.  But the foresight to seek and the ability to successfully negotiate the inclusion of such a provision in the current teachers' contract earned Springfield no reprieve from the Governor's draconian cuts. 

The Springfield Board of Education faces an unenviable task over the next week. They must craft a budget that satisfies the requirements outlined by the Governor while minimizing the impact on students of Christie's elimination of direct state aid.  At the same time, the Board will be faced with an outcry from the public to the extent that property taxes must be raised to replace any of the state aid eliminated by Christie. 

The Board deserves the support of the entire community in this difficult task.  The Governor and the Commissioner, on the other hand, deserve a remedial math class.  In a conference call announcing the aid cuts, Commissioner Schundler said, "I think it shows a lot about the Governor's commitment to education."

Yes it does. Loud and clear.

Scott Silverstein is a candidate for the Springfield Board of Education in the April 20, 2010, school board election.

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