In an effort to increase public involvement in public schools, the state Assembly recently passed a bill to move April school board elections with general elections in November, where there is larger voter turnout. The bill would also end the current district-by-district referendum on school budgets, except when they exceed the four percent state cap, where special elections would be required.
The school election bill (A15) was passed by a 45-31 vote. It is slated to be reviewed by the Senate Education Committee at a June 5 meeting.
Lawmakers also approved a bill that would impose a 10 percent cut in administrative expenses in some school districts (A10) by 63-13. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) is sponsor of both measures. Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) did not comment either way on proposed measures as of yet.
Both New Jersey Schools Boards Association (NJSBA) and the New Jersey Education Association oppose the move and voiced concerns to an Assembly committee earlier this month, fearing it would over politicize school board elections. The bill was named A15, referring to 15 percent voter turnout, which is considered to be high when it occurs in April school elections.
"The election would become politicized to a greater extent if board members would have to go on the ballot in November," said Frank Belluscio, director of communications for NJSBA. "Even though members would appear on separate ballots, the candidates would have to take more of a political position."
According to Belluscio, the NJSBA supports eliminating the budget vote if each school budget will stay within the state cap.
"This has been a longstanding position from our organization," he added. "There is a tax levy cap of four percent and a school budget is subject to scrutiny at a higher level of review by the executive county superintendent. They can delete items from a proposed budget so school budgets should not have to go before voters when in fact, municipalities and counties don't have to present their budget to voters. However, if there is a special need from a district that would require going above the cap, then we feel that special vote should remain in the spring and not half way through the budget cycle in the fall."
Business administrators and superintendents of the board of education offices in Passaic Valley expressed their thoughts.
"Any district that stays within the budget cap should not have to get voted on," said Thomas DiFluri, business administration for the West Paterson Board of Education. "The point here is that education is not optional so it should not be voted upon as long as the caps are imposed. There would still be an inefficiency of the budget vote even if it is moved. If they would just have a board election vote and take away the budget vote, then that would be fine."
Little Falls business administrator Anthony Mistretta share similar views.
"I agree with the New Jersey School Boards that it should not be moved," he said. "I also agree with Mr. DiFluri that they should do away with the budget vote as long as the school district stays within the cap."
Totowa School Superintendent Dr. Vincent Varcadipane also agreed.
"Our school district budget proposal fell below the cap, as I'm sure did others," he said. "I think that as long as it remains within the state cap, the school budget should not have to go to the voters. Many residents feel anger and frustration when taxes go up and don't go out to the polls so it's understandable. We always make sure that there is no waste in our school district and we ask for just enough to cover our expenses. However, the school district budget seems to be the only item that gets voted upon. Municipality budgets don't and neither do the county's."
Passaic Valley High School Superintendent Dr. Viktor Jaganow feels the effectiveness of the move will not be significant for budgetary matters as well.
"You can argue the move both ways," he said. "The biggest argument comes from the New Jersey Education Association criticizing the move as over politicizing, but the elections are already political. Others argue that there will be a stronger voter turnout having them in November. Will it get more voters to the polls? Probably, and it may be cost effective having the elections all at the same time. But quite frankly, I'm not really moved one way or another because I don't see it making that much of difference unless the budget vote is taken out. If school districts can stay within their cap then why should it have to go to the voters?"
However, many lawmakers disagree with a portion of the bill that would eliminate school budget elections entirely for communities where the proposed school budget falls within a state mandated four percent cap on spending increases. Many have deemed it "undemocratic" to take away the vote on school budgets.
Critics added that the bill required many districts to cut administrative spending by 10 percent over the next three years, which could hurt small districts, especially if a district has only one superintendent or one principal. The bill requires a cap at 90 percent of the current average for administrative costs in comparable schools. It would repeal current regulations that let school boards increase administrative spending by 2.5 percent a year.
The largest portion of any homeowner's property tax bill goes to support public education," said Roberts in a statement. "If we are to be successful in lowering property taxes, we need to confront inefficiencies that push tax levies higher."
