It's Here: Q&A Friday Version 1.0

Charles R. Baker of Morganville asked this question:
"Thanks for the update. While this is all well & good, the real issue is our local property taxes (and i am not talking about senior citizens only). What are you doing to keep me in Monmouth County? I am very concerned that the next wave of school budgets will push me over the brink- to move out of state."

Mr. Baker, I can't even tell you how many of your neighbors share that concern. Polls show that property taxes are number one on the list of concerns of 12th District residents, and as such the issue is my top priority.

In my first two years, there was a great deal of talk about a constitutional convention to address property taxes (I sponsored a bill to convene one) , and of a special session of the Legislature to basically force Assembly members and state senators to come together and find a solution. I supported, and continue to support these ideas, but unfortunately neither has gotten off the ground just yet.

In the meantime, I have been advocating for the regionalization and consolidation of services to cut costs (and of course, taxes).

New Jersey has 616 school districts, each with its own superintendent and business administrator. In 2004, the average salary of a superintendent in New Jersey was $137,813, up from $121,416 in 2001. The total cost to pay all school superintendents in New Jersey in 2004 was $77 million, up from $69 million in 2001.

New Jersey spends more money per student than any state in the nation. However, we rank forty-first in terms of how much of that money actually reaches the classroom. Much of the funding for school districts from property taxes goes to fund administrative services, which could be done from a County Superintendent of Schools’ office.

Fairfax County, Virginia has only one school superintendent, earning $251,457 a year, for more than 200 schools and 166,000 students. Fairfax County also has the highest standardized test scores of any school district in the nation. One reason for this is because education funding is being spent in the classrooms and not on multiple administrative salaries.

New Jersey school district administrative costs are 75% higher than the national average and 31% higher than Michigan, which is the next closest state. The 2002 Goldwater Institute Policy Report noted that regional school districts spend 8% of their budget on administrative costs while non-regional districts spend 28% on administrative costs.

If New Jersey were to utilize the Fairfax County model of having one superintendent of schools for each county who made an annual salary of $251,457, the total cost would be $5.2 million. This would result in an annual cost savings of $71.7 million on superintendent’s salaries alone. More importantly, there would be no negative effect on education in New Jersey while property taxes would decrease.

At the very least, a superintendent and business administrator should be responsible for a K-12 school district. This would let communities retain control of their schools while decreasing the burden on taxpayers. Furthermore, the 1999 Assembly Task Force on School District Regionalization referenced “A Plan for School District Consolidation in New Jersey” from 1995 which stated that all regional high school districts merging with their respective K-8 districts in the towns they serve could save an estimated $32 million in annual administrative costs and more than $200 million a year overall.

One of the pieces of legislation I have sponsored that could also be considered in a special session is A-1984, which requires the Commissioner of Education to develop a plan to eliminate local school districts and establish a county-based educational system.



Bruce Brickman of Manalapan posed the following question, which is very relevant considering what is going on across the country and in Washington, D.C.:
"Legislation has been proposed to change driver license requirements to allow illegal aliens to be even more exploited by landscapers and developers. How do you stand on that change? Why is the State not enforcing minimum wage laws in auditing landscappers, developers, etc. to prevent such victimization and to make it less attractive for illegals to be in N. J."

In my opinion, New Jersey should not be doing anything to reward illegal immigrants. The best argument against this idea is the fact that if the state were to provide driving privilege cards to individuals who are in the country illegally, the federal government would no longer recognize our drivers' licenses for purposes of identification. This would make travelling and other activities for which New Jersey's legal residents might use their licenses as identification much more difficult.

I'm not sure about your question regarding minimum wage, but that is certainly something my staff can investigate, and we'll get back to you on what exactly is happening there (and update the blog too).

I am glad to see that Congress is hashing out the immigration issue, and I sincerely hope that a fair solution is found. Immigration laws are not being enforced across the country, and as a result there are currently millions of illegal immigrants living and raising their families in the United States. The questions Congress is facing are practical, political, and moral, but the debate is long overdue. I'm looking forward to following the progress in Washington. I can say with certainty, however, that I will not support the state-level driving privilege card proposal.


Sandy Mack of Freehold asked the following question:
"I know the rail question is being reopened to a further study. Do you think this issue will ever reach a conclusion? Is the line through Freehold still the favored one or are all now equal in consideration?"

New Jersey Transit has indeed re-opened their study of the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM) line, and they expect the new study to take approximately 18 to 24 months to complete. The study was reopened for a number of reasons. In the original study, the three rail line alternatives were expected to terminate at Newark, where passengers would have to transfer for continuing northbound service. In the new study, trains will go directly to Manhattan. New Jersey Transit is also removing two stops on the Monmouth Junction alternative (Edison and Metuchen), which will speed that trip up by about seven minutes.

New Jersey Transit is not admitting to having a favorite among the lines, but the changes that were made for this study will likely make the Monmouth Junction line preferable to the Red Bank and Matawan lines.

Hopefully, the issue will reach a conclusion when this new study is concluded. The construction of a rail line is critical to the progress of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, but in my opinion the only responsible decision would be to reactivate the Monmouth Junction line.