Caps hurt kids --
NJEA fights for fairness!
On July 1, 2004, Gov. McGreevey signed a bill into law
(P.L.2004, c.73) which will place further restrictions on
how much communities can spend to educate their children.
The new law says that school budgets cannot grow by more
than 2.5%. Previously, the law limited spending to 3%. To
complicate matters further, the law also says that schools
districts cannot maintain a surplus of more than 3% and
forces districts to return any excess to taxpayers.
NJEA vigorously opposed this bill. Association members
came to the capitol and lobbied tirelessly against the
measure. NJEA was successful in having a harmful amendment
removed which would have capped budgets below the rate of
inflation. The Association also secured helpful amendments
to keep open certain cap exemptions.
Even with the amendments, however, the law is still
harmful to our schools and our students. The education
community has been united in opposition to this new law.
Assemblyman Bill Baroni (R-14) has responded. On Monday,
September 13, 2004, he introduced legislation (A-3231) to
repeal the caps.
NJEA is taking action. The Association will:
- Support legislation to repeal the caps.
- Continue to lobby legislative leadership and the
Governor's office for regulatory and legislative changes.
- Work with other education organizations to determine
and expose the impact of the caps.
- Provide information and support to county and local
NJEA leaders in their effort to advocate for and pass
fair and adequate school budgets.
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