Home Rule - something real to vote for (or against)

by: Bertin Lefkovic

Fri Apr 23, 2010 at 12:18:13 AM EDT

The vote for or against school budgets is the wrong choice to give voters as very few, if any, actually look at the budgets that they oppose or support and experience any real consequences, positive or negative, as a result of their vote.  In my opinion, the vote on school budgets is just a placebo, given to voters to make them think that they have some measure of control over how much they are taxed and how their tax dollars are spent.

The primary source of our state's fiscal crisis is home rule and the presence of over 600 municipalities and school districts throughout the state who negotiate personnel and purchasing contracts independently and individually.  For far too long, the state has subsidized this grossly inefficient approach to the provision of public services on the local level so that even as property taxes in our state have skyrocketed, homeowners have never felt the true cost of home rule.

The few efforts to address this problem have been meek at best, because there are very few electeds on either side of the aisle in Trenton with the courage to touch what for decades has been the third rail of NJ politics.  Because of this lack of legislative courage, I propose the following:
 

a)  Schools in local school districts that choose to become and/or remain a part of a larger county school district should be fully funded by state income tax dollars.  New state income tax brackets should be created for incomes of 250K+, 500K+, 750K+, 1MM+, 5MM+, and 10MM+ with income tax rates indexed to accomodate the total number of students served by all county school districts.

b)  Schools in local school districts that choose to NOT become and/or remain a part of a larger county school district should be funded SOLELY by local property tax dollars and should be ineligible for any/all state aid and grants, but should no longer be subject to state mandates.  Local Boards of Education in these districts should have the right of first refusal over the establishment of public charter schools in these districts.

c)  Local school districts that become a part of a larger county school district should continue to have a local Board of Education that should retain oversight responsibilities over the schools in the district and send a representative to a county Board of Education that should have an advocacy responsibility.

d)  Local school districts that become a part of a larger county school district should be required to layoff their local district administrative staff, including but not limited to superintendents, business managers, and support staffs.  Some of these individuals could become part of their county school district's administrative staff.  Administrative responsibilities formerly provided by local school district administrative staffs should be delegated as appropriate to county school district administrative staff and individual school administrative and educational staff.  The net result of this transition should be the replacement of 600+ local district offices with 600+ superintendents, 600+ business managers, and thousands of support staffers with 21 county district offices, 21 superintendendents, 21 business managers, and hundreds of support staffers.

2)  All personnel and purchasing contracts related to the schools in the county school districts should be negotiated by the state Department of Education.  All personnel and purchasing decisions should be made by the county school districts.  All administrative and educational personnel should be employees of the state Department of Education and could be placed in the same or similar position in any school/county school district in the state as needed or requested with relocation expenses paid for by the state Department of Education when appropriate and tenure recognized statewide.

3)  County district and individual school budgets should be based on headcounts and a per-student allocation that will be reviewed annually by the state Department of Education as part of the regular budget process.  While elementary school populations could remain the same as they are currently, students going into and through middle school and high school should have the opportunity to apply and be considered for placement in middle and high schools in their county school district other than the one closest to their home, based on performance.

I believe that this could be a model for the consolidation of all local service provision.  I would appreciate any/all feedback on this proposal, both negative and positive.  Thanks in advance.