City Schools to Get $470K in Aid (NJ)
September 24, 2010
Hackensack schools will receive$470,169 as part of an infusion of federal aid designed to help replace money cut from local school budgets.
The state Education Department announced Sept. 20 how it plans to allocate nearly $263 million provided to New Jersey last month by Congress with the passage of a bill meant to save education jobs. The money is designated for hiring or saving the jobs of teachers and other school employees. In total,Bergen districts will get just below $8 million from the $10 billion federal Education Jobs Fund. All state school districts will have until September 2012to spend the funds.
The federal fiscal boost comes at a particularly opportune time for Garden State school districts. With the passage of the 2010-2011 state budget in June,schools will receive $820 million less in state aid this fiscal year. Hackensack’s school aid dropped from nearly $14.9 million to close to $10.7million, an approximately 28.5 percent cut.
These hard fiscal facts led to an especially rancorous budgetary season across New Jersey, with districts dealing with difficult choices as they prepared to allocate diminished funds. Hackensack school staff layoffs were announced in May, with 19 first- and second-year teachers losing their jobs, as well as 34para-professionals.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers ‘ union,claimed Governor Christie’s administration had been slow to apply for the federal funds, affecting districts’ abilities to plan for projected funding shortfalls.
Supporters of the Education Jobs Fund, which was attached to the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act passed by Congress in August, said it would save the jobs of 140,000 teachers throughout the nation. This figure included 3,900 teaching jobs in New Jersey, according to the federal Council of Economic Advisers.
Hackensack Schools Superintendent Dr. Edward Kliszus was uncertain regarding how the city’s fund influx would be allocated, including whether the new money would be able to restore any district education jobs in the near future.
"We have nothing from the Department of Education yet on how this is going to work, including when we are going to receive payment. We have to look at the top priorities," Kliszus said, adding that the district was able tore-hire approximately 10 teachers and 15 para-professionals to partially recoup this year’s earlier layoff losses. "We are still facing a $4 million hole in next year’s budget& as well as the effect of the new statewide 2 percent property tax cap."
In her letter to New Jersey school districts announcing the federal funding allocations, acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks advised caution when making dispersal decisions.