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BY TOM HESTER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Charges by Republican legislators Thursday of frivolous and wasteful spending by school officials in Newark, Plainfield, Camden, Cherry Hill and Paterson led to an angry response by the state education commissioner and counter charges of political gamesmanship by Democratic lawmakers.
Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) sparked the skirmish when he charged at a hearing of the lower house's Budget Committee that despite tight school budgets, threats of teacher layoffs and reduced funds for extra curricular activities, officials in the five districts allowed money to be used for, among other things, gifts for teachers, stays in resort hotels and meals. He raised the issue at a hearing where Education Commissioner Lucille Davy appeared to explain the Corzine administration's $10.4 billion 2009-10 education budget.
DeCroce said an examination of vouchers found Camden spent as much as $5,820 to give or teachers brass apples or red enameled apples and $880 for 40 engraved bells to ring on the opening day of school in 2007. The Assemblyman said Newark spent $25,000 for eight students to take flights lessons and $1,400 for a workshop on clowning where lessons on juggling, balancing and the history of clowning were provided and $750 for "Barry Bonds High Top'' sneakers for 20 students. He said another $10,000 was spent to film each installment of the Newark superintendent of schools' monthly cable television show.
DeCroce also said school officials stayed in first-class hotels in Palm Springs, Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, New York and Atlanta.Bob DeSando, a Republican spokesman, said most of the spending DeCroce complained about occurred in 2008 but some took place this year and some in 2007.
DeCroce said the spending demonstrates a need for stronger monitoring of expenditures by the Department of Education, which provides the state's 32 poorest districts millions of dollars annually.
“At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet and denying themselves even simple amenities, it is outrageous that some school districts believe that they are entitled to travel and eat at places that most people only dream about,” DeCroce said. “In today’s economy, one has to question on why we are spending taxpayer dollars on things that have no educational value. People who cannot pay their mortgage or utility bills will understandably be upset when they learn of the ways money is being squandered.”
Both Davy and Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald (D-Camden), the budget committee chairman, were quick to respond to DeCroce and Republican committee members who joined him in questioning the spending.
Davy said since 2006, her department has attempted to impose strict rules on how districts can spend money for non-educational needs such as food at meetings, travel and flowers.
She said she needed to know more about the specific charges and when they occurred. "I know Newark does not reimburse beyond the daily pier diem rate and I must emphasize that absolutely no food is served at meetings,'' the commissioner said. "This clearly demonstrates in my mind that a lot of these things are unfair. No one is arguing that mistakes have been made in the past under Republican and Democratic governors but these charges are unfair to people who are working hard.''
Greenwald asked for additional information on the charges. "These may be unfair,'' he said. "We should OPRA (request vouchers) other districts, other than Democratic districts.' '
“Far too many students in these districts are still lacking in the basic skills such as reading and math,” DeCroce said. “What this analysis indicates is that we must have even greater oversight and accountability to guarantee that the billions of dollars we spend on education are spent wisely and in the classroom.”
Republicans said that beginning in February, they submitted open public records requests to 11 school districts statewide. They said Willingboro, Tenafly, and Hoboken never responded. They said Teaneck and Pemberton did not exhibit instances of wasteful spending but they found "numerous examples of highly questionable spending'' in Camden, Newark, Paterson, Cherry Hill and Plainfield.
Here are other examples provided by DeCroce:
Camden: $219 dollars to buy water bottles and key tags for teachers.
--$164 to buy 30 photograph holders and 45 apple candles for certain teachers.
--$444 to buy 100 teachers customized stationary that stated “Kids Are Our Business.”
--$339 for insulated lunch bags and a welcome back “boutique of gifts” for staff.
--$1,440 for professional dry cleaning of choir robes.
Newark: An internal audit shows a high school principal used his school lettered to solicit staff to attend a political event.
--The district hired a cheerleading consultant.
Paterson: The district pays a law firm $535 per hour, and another bills at $405 an hour, beyond the usual $150-$200 range for school attorneys.
--The attorney who bills at $535 per hour charged the district one hour to research the owner of a local newspaper and leave a message for the newspaper’s attorney.
Camden: During a trip to Orlando, a school board member ran up dinner bills that included one filet mignon, three cheesecakes, a shrimp cocktail, and a grilled salmon.
Cherry Hill: In October, a school employee stayed at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles at cost of over $200 per night.
--An employee traveled to Orlando stayed in a $200 per night room at the Hilton.
--An employee’s stay in a New York City hotel cost $904.
--In July, 16 employees spent $8,400 for a stay at the Atlanta Hilton.
--An employee spent $1,617 for a conference in Orlando.
Plainfield: Two school board members and a staffer stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami at a cost of $2,204.
--The airfare ran $1,167 for a combined cost of $3,371.
--$1,485 for 3 airline tickets to Utah. The district lodged employees at the Canyons Grand Summit Hotel in Park City, a ski and snowboard resort.
--$1,250 for a “Back to School” breakfast for 100 teachers.
--$930 to provide food during school board meetings.
Cherry Hill: $1,200 for teachers to take a course in “the art of note taking.”
Paterson: Paid for two staffers to attend a course on “Male Empowerment.”
