Corzine plan to increase cash to 7 Abbott districts Officials say they still don't know how suburban schools will fare Sunday, December 09, 2007 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff Gov. Jon Corzine is expected this week to unveil a school aid plan that would grant funding increases to seven of the 31 traditional Abbott districts, a sharp departure from the court-ordered system that for nearly a decade sent annual funding increases to all of these poor, urban districts. The towns expected to see increases are: Union City, Garfield, Perth Amboy, Orange, Harrison, West New York and New Brunswick, according to legislators who have met with the governor or have been apprised of the plan. How much money it will be and whether the additional funds will continue beyond the first year is uncertain. The remaining 24 will continue to receive the same amount of money they got last year. "I'm very interested to see their rationale on this," said state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), whose district includes Garfield. "I hear there are seven districts, but how are they doing this?" Although details of the funding proposal remain vague, officials said they would be critical of any plan that does not help suburban districts that have to continually increase property taxes to fund schools. "What I also hear are there are 200 districts that won't get any increases at all," said state Sen. Thomas H. Kean (R-Union). "Does that mean there are no at-risk kids in any of these districts? That's nonsensical." State officials said they would wait to comment until they learn how the proposal will affect every district in the state, after the plan is released this week. Until now, New Jersey has directed more than half its state aid to 31 districts that fall under the Abbott mandate, which requires it to provide funding that at least matches the resources spent in the state's wealthiest schools. The state also is under Supreme Court order to provide these districts with enough aid to cover preschool, building construction and maintenance, and other school reforms. Corzine has said he does not want to back off the commitment to children in Abbott districts, but said he wants to extend the state's aid to other districts that also have children from low-income or immigrant families. But Corzine has said that a few districts now falling under the state Supreme Court's Abbott rulings also would stand to gain under his new plan, which would partially base state funding on student need in every district. The state would establish how much money would be "adequate" to educate a child and then use a formula to determine the state's share. The set amount would probably start at about $10,200 per student and then increase to account for the increased needs of low-income children, students with limited English and students with disabilities, according to preliminary state figures. Most Abbott districts that would get more money are the ones that currently spend the least to educate a student, Corzine said. These are also districts with large numbers of students with special needs and little local tax base to support schools. "There is some number of Abbotts that are under that adequacy, and I think they should see increases," Corzine said in an interview last weekend. "Almost all of them are overburdened on taxes, so there should be a significant relief." Overall, spending in the individual Abbott districts varies by as much as $8,000 per student. Garfield, for instance, only spends about $11,000 per student, according to the state's data. Near the other end of the spectrum, Asbury Park spends more than $19,000 per student. Garfield's business administrator, Dennis Frohnapfel, said he'd welcome additional funds. Although it is an Abbott district, Garfield has typically not sought all of the money that comes with the Abbott status, he said, because it often was predicated on other state requirements. Voters have barely passed recent budgets, and the district is down to a surplus of $39,000, according to Frohnapfel. Additionally, he said, the district has more students in special education and it can cost as much as $50,000 a year to educate each of those students. "If you say more money, I certainly could use it," he said. "At least it would give us some buffer and the ability to hire a couple of teachers or address class sizes where we need it." But other officials fear that additional aid this year may be only a one-time gain. Union City Mayor Brian Stack, who also is a Democratic state assemblyman, said his concern is that Corzine wants to move away from the court's mandated system that requires Abbott districts be funded to a level at least as high as the state's richest districts. An analysis by the Education Law Center, the Newark group that has led the Abbott litigation, estimates that the state's preliminary models for "adequacy" are more than $1,000 below the funding levels of suburban districts and ultimately will lead to deep cuts. "I heard about increases for next year, but where do we stand year two or year three?" said Stack. "Once you take away parity, that is what worries me. Without the parity that keeps us on par with (the wealthiest districts), my real concern is we'd be reversing the clock on urban education." Stack is among a rising number of legislators questioning Corzine's public push for the new plan to be passed in the legislature's current lame duck session, which ends Jan. 8. Kean plans to hold a news conference tomorrow with fellow Republicans to press for the proposal to be heard by the next legislature. John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com, or 973-392-1548. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.