N.J. school cuts won't stop lobbyists
The publicly financed lobby for New Jersey's school boards is spending millions to renovate its Trenton headquarters, even as local districts face massive state aid cuts, defeated budgets and construction proposals, and pending teacher layoffs.
CHRIS PEDOTA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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The New Jersey School Boards Association's headquarters in Trenton is in line for renovations for ventilation and electrical deficiencies, inadequate parking and other problems.
The New Jersey School Boards Association collects more than $7 million a year from 588 member districts, which are legally required to join. It has socked away so much in dues and conference fees — $12.3 million, an amount greater than the group's annual operating budget — that it is paying cash for the improvements.
It also paid $1.6 million in cash for 10 suburban acres where it had hoped to build an $18 million conference center. But the board abandoned that plan and put the land back on the market.
The headquarters renovation's most recent projected cost was $6.3 million. But that figure could grow an additional $600,000 to $1 million, as the contractor decides whether to fix or replace the building's walls of glass windows, officials said. In the meantime, its 70 employees — including five lobbyists paid to influence legislation — are working in leased office space.
Taypayers wind up with bill
The New Jersey School Boards Association, with mandatory enrollment of 588 member districts, raises money from dues and conference fees. Here's a look at the revenue and how it's spent.
2010 district dues
(with 5 percent decrease from prior year)
Bergen County: $976,897
Passaic County: $278,267
All counties: $7,143,825
- 2009 income from conferences, ad sales, services: $2.7 million
- Payroll: $4.6 million
- Yearly retirement benefits: $1.1 million
- Operating budget: $10.3 million
- Cash and investments: $12.3 million
- Headquarters renovation budget: $7 million
Sources: New Jersey Association of School Boards, New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits Critics say the spending sets a bad example, particularly when New Jersey government and taxpayers are telling schools to cut back.
In April, voters passed just 41 percent of local school budgets, the lowest approval rate since 1976. Voters also rejected three of seven proposed multimillion-dollar construction projects and denied permission to all six districts that had sought to exceed state spending caps.
Even grimmer: The proposed fiscal 2011 state budget calls for $820 million less state aid to districts, and thousands of teachers potentially will be laid off if districts don't cut spending and dip into their surpluses.
"We shouldn't be building in an economy like this, period," said Jerry Cantrell, president of the New Jersey Taxpayers Association.
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