State Democrats continue assault on education with introduction of union backed bills

New Jersey’s runaway Abbott district representatives today launched further attacks against education in New Jersey that would surely lead to more financial disaster in Jackson Township’s schools with the introduction of two union supported bills that will impose restrictions on local district’s abilities to subcontract non-educational services.    If passed, these bills will surely lead to an substantial increase in the administrative functions of our schools in a time when the Board of Education is seeking more ways to reduce costs and streamline their operations.    Jackson already ranks among the lowest districts in the state when it comes to cost per student and teacher salaries in the state, due to years of failed budgets and drastic cuts to education.   If passed, these bills could lead to increased costs to the taxpayers of Jackson and further reduction to education to cover the added expenses.

The bill, for the most part is supported by state democrats in mostly Abbott districts where cashflow is abundant thanks to the unfair distribution of funds where less fortunate districts squander hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year according to a recently released audit of New Jersey’s Abbott districts.    The bills once again shows proof that education in Jackson is under constant attack from Corzine’s crew who consistently caves in to union pressure which does nothing but pad the pockets of the unions, creating an educational deficit for our children.

The New Jersey School Board Association today announced their formal response to these bills, stating  today, the “Assembly Panel OKs Union Bills that Would Drive Up Costs to Schools, Taxpayers”

Source: http://www.njsba.org/press_releases/assembly-bill-drives-costs20090622.html?nr=266

With little advance notice, the Assembly Education Committee this morning released two union-backed bills that would increase costs to taxpayers and undermine efforts to improve the quality of education, the executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association said today.

One bill would make it virtually impossible for schools to save money by contracting with outside businesses for operations, such as food services, maintenance and transportation. The other measure would drive up school district legal costs by making decisions not to renew the employment of non-tenured employees subject to arbitration.

Both bills could be acted on by the full Assembly as early as Thursday.

Subcontracting By restricting public school’ ability to hire private companies to provide non-instructional services, A-4140 (Oliver) would impede district efforts to direct limited resources into the classroom. The bill would force a school district to wait up to three years before it could use subcontracting as a way to address budgetary issues.

“Enactment of this legislation would close off a valuable financial tool that school districts use to control costs,” said Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA executive director. “It would make the subcontracting option no option at all. This legislation was a bad idea a decade ago, and it’s an even worse idea now that economic conditions are so bleak.”

NJSBA conducted a survey of school districts when similar legislature was proposed in 1999 and 2002. The 250 responding districts reported saving more than $40 million of tax dollars by using subcontractors to provide cafeteria services, maintenance or transportation. In addition, the vast majority (94%) of districts that hired subcontractors said they made accommodations for existing employees. Such provisions included requiring subcontractors to hire or to guarantee interviews with displaced employees, offering severance packages, or privatizing positions only as employees left.

Arbitration The other bill, A-4142 (Cryan), addresses disciplinary measures for non-tenured staff. It would place many decisions not to renew the contracts of non-tenured teachers into arbitration, driving up legal costs and making it even more difficult for school districts to remove under-performing staff.

A-4142 would give an employee the ability to use arbitration to contest a non-renewal decision that was based on his or her job performance by claiming that the decision was made for disciplinary reasons. As a result, school district legal fees could increase substantially at a time when the state is penalizing school districts for non-classroom expenditures, according to NJSBA.

In addition, under the bill, determinations over disciplinary actions, such as withholding a teacher’s increment, would be made by labor arbitrators, who have no educational expertise. Moreover, even if the increment withholding were allowed, the amount of the increment would still count toward the teacher’s pension—an unusual provision, considering current concerns over the financial health of the state’s public employee pension system.

“The bill would make it far more costly and difficult to remove under-performing teachers before they are granted lifetime tenure,” explained Bilik. “A-4142 would throw additional obstacles in the way of school districts that attempt to employ the most effective teachers for their classrooms.”

Short Notice This morning’s Assembly Education Committee meeting was first announced on Friday, June 19 at 6:46 p.m. Drafts of the legislation were not publicly available until the meeting, which began at 9 a.m. today. Although representatives of some education organizations, including NJSBA, received drafts yesterday, there was insufficient time for analysis.

“Today’s committee meeting is a clear example of why the public needs to watch the Legislature, and watch it closely, during an election year,” Bilik commented. “In seeking not to alienate the teachers union, the majority of committee members today approved two bills that are not in the interest of education or taxpayers—especially in these harsh economic times.”

 

A4140 Concerns collective bargaining agreements and subcontracting.
2nd Reading in the Assembly 
 Oliver, Sheila Y.   as Primary Sponsor  
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6/22/2009 Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee
6/22/2009 Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading
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Committee Voting:
AED  6/22/2009  -  r/favorably  -  Yes {11}  No {0}  Not Voting {0}  Abstains {0}  -  Roll Call
  Cryan, Joseph (C) – Yes Voss, Joan M. (V) – Yes Burzichelli, John J. – Yes
  Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. – Yes Handlin, Amy H. – Yes Malone, Joseph R., III – Yes
  Moriarty, Paul D. – Yes Pou, Nellie – Yes Ramos, Ruben J., Jr. – Yes
  Rumana, Scott T. – Yes Wolfe, David W. – Yes

A4142 Concerns certain disciplinary procedures, collective bargaining, and binding arbitration in public employment.
2nd Reading in the Assembly 

Cryan, Joseph   as Primary Sponsor
——————————————————————————-
 6/22/2009 Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee
6/22/2009 Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading
——————————————————————————–
Committee Voting:
AED  6/22/2009  -  r/favorably  -  Yes {10}  No {0}  Not Voting {0}  Abstains {1}  -  Roll Call
  Cryan, Joseph (C) – Yes Voss, Joan M. (V) – Yes Burzichelli, John J. – Yes
  Diegnan, Patrick J., Jr. – Yes Handlin, Amy H. – Yes Malone, Joseph R., III – Yes
  Moriarty, Paul D. – Yes Pou, Nellie – Yes Ramos, Ruben J., Jr. – Yes
  Rumana, Scott T. – Yes Wolfe, David W. – Abstain