Fact checker: NJ Gov. Chris Christie vs. the teachers' union
Governor Christie’s ongoing public fight with the New Jersey teachers’ union continues as voters throughout the state have their say on school budgets next week.
FILE PHOTO BY DAVID BERGELAND
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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie visited Monclair High School last month to have a conversation with the students. Several students brought signs and protested looming education cuts.
Christie wants voters to shoot down budgets that would hike already record-high property tax bills if teachers don’t help out by offering to freeze their salaries.
The New Jersey Education Association has responded by pointing the finger back at Christie, saying he is unfairly putting the blame on them while protecting high-income earners from paying a fair share of the state’s $19,000-a-year student education costs.
Beneath all the charged rhetoric is a policy debate about how much is spent on education in New Jersey, and how much of the burden should be covered by local property taxes versus the state income tax.
Here’s a look at key issues and the facts behind the charges.
STATE AID FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
What the union says: Christie cut $1.5 billion in school aid in just his first three months in office, reductions that will gut the state’s public education system.
What Christie says: School budgets were propped up last year with more than $1 billion in federal stimulus aid distributed by the state that school districts knew was one-time funding. Total state aid for school districts would actually go up this year if Christie’s new budget is enacted on July 1.
What are the facts: Christie had to rebalance the state budget he inherited from former Gov. Jon S. Corzine after revenue collections fell short of Corzine’s budget projections. A total of $475 million in state aid payments to school districts were cut as part of that effort. Christie has also proposed cutting state aid
Bill could spark slew of teacher retirements
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY APRIL 15, 2010, 8:23 AM
BY PATRICIA ALEX AND LESLIE BRODY
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
Page
1 2 >>State employees and new retirees would begin paying a portion of their benefits costs beginning August 1 under legislation now being readied by the Christie administration, which said the moves could spark a slew of retirements, particularly among teachers.
RECORD FILE PHOTO
Teacher retirements could help avert layoffs planned in many districts statewide, as the schools deal with steep cuts in state aid, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler said Wednesday.
Under the plan, State employees who retire before August 1 would retain free lifetime medical benefits, those retiring later would be subject to the payments, said Schundler.
“Some people say it would lead to a rash of retirements,” said Michael Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It would free up a lot of possibilities for schools.”
Legislation would be needed to make the changes, and Schundler said the administration is preparing a package that it hopes will be introduced and passed by the state legislature in May. Lawmakers passed bills earlier this year that eventually will require state employees to contribute 1.5 percent of their salary toward benefits. The amounts of new employees pensions would be based on their last five years of service rather than the last three.
The new proposal would go beyond that to require a greater contribution to health care, said Schundler,
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