Our Children As Profit Centers

Remember, in New Jersey, children are not just our future, they are our future profit centers.

This is the philosophy at the center of Chris Christie's education policy. According to the Governor, the best hope for public education is to replace it with for-profit education facilities such as charter schools; undermine the teachers' union so as to be able to force out senior, expensive teachers; and combine schools to promote efficiency at the expense of local control of curricula. In other words, treat education like a business.

So advertising on school buses is a no-brainer. Which is why the Governor just signed into law a bill that allows just that.

Oddly, only the 40% of municipalities that own their own school buses can advertise; the municipalities which lease their buses cannot sell advertising space. Ads for tobacco and alcohol are prohibited, as are any ads the Commissioner of Education deems inappropriate. In other words, this law is just a lawsuit waiting to happen. Some districts can sell ads, others can't; some businesses can advertise, others can't. It's an equal access/ First Amendment nightmare.

But it's also a sign of things to come. Get ready for corporate logos on football fields and basketball courts; brand logos on school uniforms; and any and all other means available to turn access to our school children into a thriving industry.

Quote of Note: The Campaign Against Competence Continues

Governor Christie has announced a plan to cap the salaries of public school administrators outside of the 16 largest school districts at $175,000, the same amount as the Governor makes. That means that 70% of the superintendents in the system are looking at a pay cut. The State aims to save local municipalities $10 million.

Salary limits would also apply to nontenured assistant superintendents and business administrators. In addition, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler suggests that this may encourage districts to share superintendents and staff. Both of these facts would yield additional savings.

Although merit-based pay increases will be possible, the bulk of compensation will be based on the number of students served, and merit pay would not be count towards pensions.

At its core, this legislation seeks to stop the bidding war among school districts for administrators. Says the Governor:

"People are bouncing around like free agents in baseball, and getting higher and higher salaries as they go. What we're trying to do here is to shift the paradigm."

For their part, superintendents say that they deserve their salaries through their specialized understanding of personnel, finance, curriculum, administration and school-construction issues. New Jersey School Boards Association spokesman Frank Belluscio says that the cap will put the State at a disadvantage in attracting qualified candidates.

In response, the Governor has said that if the sole reason an administrator is working in public education is the money, we don't want that administrator anyway.

And therein lies the theme here. As we saw in the Governor's treatment of Clifford Janey, as echoed on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, the Governor does not believe in public education "careerists." This is nothing short of an attempt to purge senior administrators from New Jersey's public education system. And since this plan can be implemented by the Governor without a need for legislative approval, it's a done deal.

So add this to the Governor's attempts to undermine public education in this State. The Governor seeks to make private school more viable through a voucher system that pulls money out of failing public schools, has already instigated a landslide of public teacher retirements through changes to pension benefits, and now seeks to limit the pool of experienced and qualified public school administrators.

To Merge Or Not To Merge

In recent weeks, there's a topic that has been broached by sources which don't usually agree on much. That topic is the unusually high number of school districts in New Jersey and the effect that fragmentation has on the State's property taxes. By one count, the State has 566 towns and 588 school districts.

Tuesday's Wall Street Journal ran a front page story about the different ways school districts across the country are managing budget shortfalls. The article focuses on Downe Township, New Jersey. Downe Township has a school district for students from preschool through eighth grade. There are 236 students in the district. For high school, the students travel to nearby towns.

This year's budget cuts will hit certain students the hardest -- kids who are not eligible for special education but still need extra help to keep up. Downe Township had been running a very successful remedial program after school, which will have to be cut. Also being cut are basic skills classes.

In its report which recommends against Cap 2.5, the Center for Budget Policy and Priorities highlights the high number of New Jersey school districts as a significant contributor to the State's high property taxes. CBPP finds that New Jersey's small school districts suffer from duplication of services and administrative structures, and weak bargaining power with unions and health care providers. CBPP also cites the high cost of sending special needs students out of district as a significant factor contributing to high property taxes, a situation which might be improved if districts combined their special education programs, if they do not combine outright. Interestingly, the CPBB finds that teacher salaries are not the cause of high property taxes; state policies and inefficiencies are the culprits.

And in a recent address in Perth Amboy, Governor Christie noted that Cap 2.5 might encourage smaller school districts to combine. When these inefficient school districts no longer have the option of raising property taxes, reasons the Governor, the districts may finally choose to share administrative, superintendent and business services.

The advantages of merging small New Jersey school districts may be one of the few ideas that has supporters on the right and on the left. That being said, the idea was so soundly trounced when Governor Corzine floated it that no one is willing to shout it from the rooftops. Yet.