Governor Corzine’s Campaign Centerpiece
The Working Press June 1st, 2009Today, Governor Corzine’s office sent out the new edition of “This Week at the Statehouse” email newsletter, a thinly veiled weekly advertisement for Corzine’s re-election paid for by taxpayer dollars. We started receiving ours in April, 2009.
So the top story this week was “Governor Wins Victory in Long-Running School Funding Case.” It recounted the Court’s decision that the School Funding Reform Act was constitutional in light of the thorough and efficient education clause. It was chock full of self-congratulatory quotes from Corzine himself, telling us just how good a job he did in getting rid of the Abbott distinction for 31 at-one-time low income districts.
The email newsletter touts that the new funding formula sets a base rate of $9,649 per pupil for state school aid, and that plan has helped to reduce the rise in property taxes from 6.6% in 2006 to 2.65% in 2009.
So the focus on the campaign trail will be that the new school funding formula that Corzine pushed through the legislature ended Abbott and slowed the increase in property taxes.
What they won’t tell you is that the Court required the state to continue to make additional payments to low-income districts for at least another 3 years, to see how the plan works out. And, they won’t tell you that according to American School and University Magazine, that of the top 10 school districts in the nation,ranked for highest per pupil spending, NJ has 8; Trenton, Newark, Jersey City, Camden, East Orange, Paterson, Passaic and Elizabeth. Trenton and Newark top out at above $21,000 per student.
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