Education Commissioner Defends Budget Cuts

Bret Schundler, newly sworn in as New Jersey's Commissioner of Education, defended the cuts in school aid already enacted by the Christie administration and warned educators Monday that more are on the way.

Schundler spoke at the Garden State Coalition of Schools meeting at Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School Monday night. School District of the Chathams Superintendent Jim O'Neill is the current GSCS president.

The topic of conversation was the current financial state of education in New Jersey. Many districts represented received notice recently they would not be getting the remainder of the state aid they were expecting. And most are also expecting state aid cuts for the 2010-2011 budget year.

"We all know we're in trouble here–in the state, in the country, in the local districts," said Lynne Strickland, executive director of the GSCS. "Being on the outside and angry doesn't get you very far."

Schundler joined state legislators from the 21st District, including Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-Summit), Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) and Senator Tom Kean (R-Westfield), in a panel discussion about state aid cuts, budget caps, and salary negotiations, among other things.

Schundler said while he sees many exciting things going on in education in the state of New Jersey, it is also facing financial hardships. Gov. Chris Christie cancelled $475 million in state aid to schools as one of his first acts after taking office.

"Education is not just about money, but money is very important," Schundler said. "I want to highlight that this year, this current fiscal year that we're in, and the $475 million that was reserved, I want you to know that wasn't something any of us in Trenton wanted to do. It's something that ultimately we felt we had to do. The state would have run out of money before the end of the fiscal year if we had not cut spending."

Michelle Clark, a parent from Chatham, expressed concern over the school district's need to cut $800,000 in staff last year and asked Schundler if under his administration districts would have more control over their local budgets.

Schundler said yes. "We're not going to try to overwhelm you with burdensome regulations," he said. "We do want to give you more flexibility at the local level to spend your dollars."

Mark Gleason, South Orange Maplewood Board of Education president, asked what the intent is of the recently passed Senate bill that would require public workers to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries towards medical benefits.

Senator Tom Kean said the intent is to keep the savings in the local communities.

Sheri Goldberg, a board of education member in Livingston, asked about state funding for school construction projects, especially in districts like Livingston where voters approved spending local tax dollars with the understanding that the state would provide 40 percent of the funds.

Schundler said it is still unclear what the aggregate aid available will be and how much will then be allocated to each aid program. So, districts that began projects expecting the state to match 40 percent, may not see all of that funding come through.

Summit was participating in the RODS I and II grants because the state was supposed to match 40 percent of the project's cost.

But despite the tension around talks of budget cuts and public employees paying into their health benefits, there was positivity around the essence of bipartisanship taking place in Trenton.

"It's refreshing to have a governor who says what he means, and we believe he's going to do what he says he's going to do," Munoz said. "We're here for you even though it may not feel that way tonight."