Issue 11 Jan. 26, 2007

Tax caps will starve public schools!

At the urging of Gov. Corzine, the Legislature will be considering a bill that would cap local tax levies at four percent per year. The NJ Assembly is considering this legislation on Monday, January 29. This would negatively impact bargaining on health benefits and salaries, lead to the loss of essential programs and staff, and negatively affect educational quality.

Make the state pay its fair share first!

Lawmakers caused the property tax crisis by flat funding schools for the past four years. The Legislature must not implement a cap that prevents districts from raising the funds they need to protect educational quality.

We need to tell lawmakers to tie caps to state aid. If the state does not provide full funding for school aid, residents must be able to protect the quality of their schools!

Get real! Some costs MUST be exempted from the cap.

Health care costs have been rising exponentially for the last several years. Those increases cannot be absorbed within a four percent cap without hurting school programs.

We need to tell lawmakers to exempt health care costs from the cap. No one, certainly not school districts, has control over these costs.

How high is your home utility bill? Well your school’s utility bills have grown just as much! That’s why we also need to tell lawmakers to exempt utility costs from the cap.

The answer is…

egislators need to provide tax reform– but not at the expense of our schools. The real solution is for the Legislature to adopt and fully fund a responsible school funding formula and responsible property tax reform.

You can be part of the solution!

Go to www.njea.org. Click on Legislative Action/Cyberlobbying and enter your PIN (it’s on your membership card) and password (the last 4 digits of your Social Security number) to log in. Click “Take Action” and follow the instructions to send an e-mail to your lawmakers today!