Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Tags
BY DR. RICHARD BOZZA
COMMENTARY
Deficit spending, a federal budgeting tactic to ease today's problems by tapping future resources, is frequently defined by politicians as a compromise on the futures of our children. Although New Jersey is constitutionally not allowed to consider deficit spending, another financial budget balancing tactic being discussed on the state level will compromise children's educational futures as early as next year, according to the NJASA, the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.
As Governor Christie prepares for his budget address on March 16, his preliminary plan continues to emphasize a possible reduction of currently budgeted state aide to districts. This follows his February announcement to cut $475 million in aid to schools to balance the state budget. Going forward, Christie proposes that districts use their own surplus, or saved funds, to continue this school year's programming, curricula and extra-curricular plans set in place in September 2009 based on expected state support. The result, according to the New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA), will be a depletion of district savings as they pull out reserve funds set aside by law to offset tax increases for the 2010-2011 school year budget cycle.
The term ‘surplus' is misleading. It implies unnecessary extra funds. In fact, surplus dollars represent money saved in one school year through prudent budget management and set aside to fund future district needs without requesting or requiring a tax increase.
Surplus is a Misnomer
The concept of surplus dollars is very confusing to parents. By State guidelines, New Jersey's school districts are required to manage their budgets to create 2 percent in reserves each year. These savings, called "surplus," are funds set aside to meet emergencies such as a needed roof repairs, not unlike family savings put aside should the boiler break during the winter. If, through prudent purchasing programs or other cost-saving measures, more than 2 percent is saved, the difference is mandated for use in providing property tax relief for a district's residents in the next school year's budget cycle.
By depleting each district's savings this year, the result has to be increased property taxes and decreased services next year.
The role of Chief Education Officers, superintendents of schools, will be ever more critical as school district leaders will be called upon to make difficult choices that parents are not going to like.
Perspective and Leadership Required
As an association, we understand the Governor's budget dilemma. Our challenge is to face the hard realities presented and figure out the best compromises going forward to protect the quality of our public school educational system and not decimate already strained programs.
Similar to the state, school district budgets are required to balance each year. To do so, Chief Education Officers take a proposed budget representing the best hopes and wishes of a district and then ‘peel back the onion,' first decreasing the least essential of services.
Communication and understanding about the issue are key. As school district leaders, Chief Education Officers run one of the biggest organizations in town, keep school district budgets balanced, and move education forward through instructional leadership. This means they need to provide the highest quality education; establish and preserve the financial stability and integrity of the district; ensure the health and safety of children; maintain the morale and retention of teachers and staff; and have the overall oversight of facilities in a school district. That is a tall order in this situation and requires the highest levels of leadership, financial and communication skills.
Each community has its own preferred special programs and these deep cuts are never desirable, nor popular. It's one of the no-win decisions that make the Chief Education Officer's role so difficult. In times like these, he notes that the leadership provided by Chief Education Officers is critical in helping a community manage its way through the tough choices.
Dr. Richard Bozza is executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators
In the private sector, the average family medical insurance plan is $12,000.00/year. In the public sector (school districts, for example) that same insurance plan costs between $20,000 - $24,000/year. Did the teacher negotiate with the insurance broker for this premium? No. The school boards did. The NJEA did. Now, whose brother owns an insurance agency and got a sweet deal on that one? How much money is the difference between those two numbers if you are looking at 200,000 members of the NJEA (assuming they all receive benefits). I'll do it for you...$2.4 BILLION!!!!! That is the friggin' cost differential. So, instead of attacking teachers, start going after the true cause of the State's problems. I haven't even gotten into the administrators making 6-figure salaries or the school districts with 9 superintendents making 6-figure salaries each. Just the health benefits alone are worth $2.4 Billion. This is a no brainer. The teachers are educating your kids...and they are considered the best teachers in the entire country. NJ consistently ranks in the top 5 public school systems in the country. The highest paid teachers in the state don't top $100K a year after 25 years of service...keeping in mind the years of education and countless hours they put in to ensure your child receives a quality education. Start looking at the people who are really bankrupting you and stop scapegoating those who aren't.
And really....comparing teachers to garbage men...I have all the respect in the world for those guys but they make as much or more than teachers and they are no where near as educated and don't have nearly the responsibility of teachers. Picking up garbage vs. teaching children...really??? That is a pretty disrespectful comparison.
Not every teacher lives in their own district, either. It is impossible for that to be true. Some teachers commute to work every day (in excess of 1.5 hours each way) to get to a from work. Considering most are at school by 7:15 AM, what time are they leaving for work...try 4:50AM. What time do they get home...6:00 PM...7:00 PM...8:00 PM...yeah, it's not a 6.5 hour job as so many people would love to characterize it as. It's usually 12-hours a day.
Now, teachers are also required to obtain 100-hours a year of continuing education. Sometimes it is covered by the district, sometimes it is not. That is personal time...that is the equivalent of 2.5 work weeks at 8-hours a day. How much continuing education do you obtain yearly on your own time???
Teachers, on average, spend $250/year on supplies for their classroom according to the federal government (that's how much they let you write off). However, many teachers are spending over $500/year or more on classroom supplies. Have you been keeping track of all the money that is coming out of teachers already stellar pay packages?
When a person takes a job in the private sector, he/she negotiates salary and benefits. At that point, they make a decision whether they will take the job or not. Teachers are told what their salary is and it's a take it or leave it. When a teacher takes a job, the benefits that they are offered as part of their "package" is just as it is for the private sector. In the private sector, a college graduate may be offered $60K a year and benefits (meaning, the company offers medical/dental/vision and the employee pays a portion of them). In teaching, the teachers take a lower salary that is not negotiable and the benefits are included to help offset the lower salary. The medical benefits are not statewide, which means every district negotiates their own medical plans and they are not all pie-in-the-sky plans.
Did you know that there are classrooms in NJ that don't even have textbooks for the kids (or teachers)? Hmmm...I wonder where all that money is going...
Now, you have 3-years to teach...you are observed 3-times a year by administrators and department heads who all get to chime in on your teaching methods. What's funny about this process is, they get to write down performance reviews which are permanent parts of your record, even if they do not know your subject or what is required. For instance, principals are performing reviews on Special Education teachers without any formal training in special education...so they have no idea what they are looking at. Oh well, no biggie.
After 3-years, even if you have stellar reviews, the school can say...sorry...have a nice day and you are not rehired. Now, you can start from the bottom again...tenure does not travel...if you change districts, you start from scratch each time, both in salary and tenure .There is no hopping from job to job to get huge pay raises. You start from scratch.
Ok, so now let's look at what teachers do for their students. I am going to focus on Special Education because in my eyes, they work the hardest and usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to allocation of resources. Special education teachers are responsible for creating IEP's for special needs students. IEP's, or "Individualized Education Plans" are documents that map out how a student shall be taught and interacted with at every level in every class for every moment of instruction for every day. These documents provide analysis of the childrens' behaviors, needs and provide teachers with both a specific teaching method and set of rules for interaction with the students. The Special Education teacher must actually know the student better than his/her own parents and construct this document to facilitate a positive and successful learning environment for each special needs student. These students can have problems ranging from behavioral issues to autism to blindness to down syndrome to any number of other issues. Special education teachers are required by law to provide these documents so the students can learn, test and function in daily life at the school. Teachers put these together after they get home from a 10-hour day at school.
Teaching is a profession. It is also a way of life, a dedication to a field that is responsible for providing the youth of our great state with an education to later contribute to the public good (generally). NJ undeniably has one of the best public education systems in the country. Why do you think that is? Perhaps, it is because the teachers are held to higher standards than any other state in the country. Did you know that most other states will accept a teaching certification from NJ because of its rigorous standards? However, no other State's teaching certification is sufficient to teach in NJ because the standards are not high enough. Keep this in mind as you read.
Next, teachers start off making somewhere between $40-$50K a year, plus benefits. What is required to get that? Well, first, the teacher has to obtain a 4-year degree from an accredited 4-year college. They must major in a subject, such as Math, Science, Psychology and take sufficient courses to be "Highly Qualified" in the subject matter they teach. For elementary school, K-5, you must be highly qualified in K-5 (Elementary Education Certificate). Once you reach grade 6, you must get specialized certificates for subject matter (i.e. Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies). That is for grades 6-8. For Special Education, you must also obtain a Special Education certificate, which requires additional courses. Most education majors are Graduate Track if they specialize in more than one subject area or choose special education. So, standard 4-year education costs somewhere between $40K-$80K if you go to an in-state college, perhaps more if you go Ivy League. On top of this, you also have to take the Praxis I and Praxis II, which are standardized tests to determine if you meet the requirements to become highly qualified in the subject areas you will be teaching. During your 4-years, you also have to conduct 60-hours of in-class "shadowing" of a teacher while still in school (much like an internship). You must also complete 90-hours of mentoring in a classroom setting, also while continuing to take classes. Before you graduate, you must student teach. This is for a full semester and you are not permitted to work for pay while you student teach. So, for students who are paying their way and trying to live must somehow come up with tuition for that semester while not working...more loans.
Ok, so you do all that...you get certified...you graduate. You are a teacher, right? Nope...next, you have to get finger printed, have a criminal background check - which can take 6 weeks. You have to pay for your certifications...they are a couple hundred bucks a piece. Then, you interview for one of the most competitive industries in the State to get a job. There are teachers who wait 3 years to get a job in their field. They work as substitutes making $70/day or get jobs in day cares to make ends meet.
For the garbageman comparison. With no disrespect to our sanitation department many of the workers do no have college degrees. EVERY teacher has at least a Bachelors, while many hold Masters and Doctoral degrees as well. We spend time and money educating ourselves in order to better educate the children.
On average ANYONE with a Bachelors degree earns ~22k more than a HS graduate. Someone with a Masters earns 32K more than a HS grad. (chttp://www.earnmydegree.com/online-education/learning-center/education-value.html).
and garbage collectors do not get the summer off!
they recently did a study the 10 states with the biggest budget defecits are all democratic states.. ny, ct, nj, ca....etc...
all union freindly
stop using the pick on teachers excuse .. a good teacher should get good pay..
however,, no tenure.. no summer off's... etc..
in the 50's there was teh concept of working at one job till the end of your life.. that concept ended you can say in the 70's, same too with this tenure crap.. it needs to end, its for a bygone era
I don't hear anyone talking about courtesy busing. Thousands of children are bused to school, regardless of their distance to school. Firing bus drivers would save money, but no one would dare suggest that, either.
How about pay-to-play for athletic programs? The schools would cut a large portion of its budget if the voters would approve this measure, but I haven't anyone talking about that, either.
Why pick on the teachers? Because they can! I guarantee that anyone who writes an attack piece against teachers does not live with one or has not grown up with one. What they deem to be an easy life with great benefits is actually a day that ends LONG after the kids have left; that begins WAY before the first day of school; and that can be emotionally and physically draining day after day. It's also the most rewarding - and that's why under-paid, under-appreciated, over-qualified teachers continue to accept the criticism and return to work the next day.
I see so much waste in teh school districts. it's not even funny, why do super's get 100,000 plus salaries? for what ?? if they where also the principal ok.. but in most cases there are principals at schools who do the work of the super.
NO increase in taxes! how about renegotiating that contract ? how about contributing more to your health care like the rest of us do? and how about working the summer?
when i was a kid - teacher;s were underpaid.. but today. No. there are so many people who are teachers just for the vacation time. and they are bad! and unfortunately, my children have had those teachers. i have a better idea..
forget the public school system, lets create charter schools, or even keep the public schools.if you want. but parents get to pick where their children go and pay tution to those schools.. then parents can get a tax credit on their state returns for the money they spend for their children's education. and deduct it from their property taxes.. the the bad schools will go away, and the good schools will survive.. this way you cut out the middle man and even those schools with unions in them would have to become competitive from a tuition perspective and from a quality percpective.. if the school is bad .. bye bye
On the other hand, it doesn't seem honest to say that teachers are getting 4-5% raises as it is not an across the board raise. Young teachers might get that raise, and then teachers with 15-20 years experience are getting a 0.8% raise. They don't complain because they know that the townships couldn't afford everyone to get a raise, and the younger teachers need to be able to afford to live in NJ and not continue to move in PA. I work for the Salvation Army and I don't get rich doing the job I do, but I do believe that giving of yourself to others is a great honor and something we all should do more of. As a father of twins, I want the most highly qualified teachers to stay in the classroom. I don't want them to think the only way to make a living in NJ is to go into administration. With the work I do, I see hundreds of kids who need these and benefit from these teachers helping them grow and develop in partnership with their families. Teachers and education are the key to a healthy society and when we stop honoring them, we stop honoring our future. Maybe everyone should take a deep breath and think about this a little more objectively.
Even at the height of the recession, we still see school districts signing contracts that give teachers and other staffers 4 - 4.5% annual increases, and maintain their Cadillac health care plans that are 100% taxpayer funded. In all, about a 5% annual comp increase. That is unsustainable and is the ROOT of our education "funding" problem.
It's sad that someone with a doctorate and the head of the administrators' association doesn't understand this or will not acknowledge it.