Montclair’s Hillside PTA sent out an email to parents last night entitled:
GOV. CORZINE’S SCHOOL FUNDING BILL WILL SET BACK MONTCLAIR’S SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Here’s the jist gist of it…

There’s no good news in the proposal for Montclair residents:
More of the funding formula is wealth based — meaning communities like ours will see a drop in state aid for special education and at-risk funding. The annual increase allowed will be the greater of 2.5% or the Cost Price Index (CPI) – that’s .5% less than current legislation.
As we are asked to support our programs more because we are “wealthy” we will be prevented from doing so because of the property tax cap. The bottom line? Montclair will have to spend less and cut more. There will be less money to educate our children.
SPEAK UP MONTCLAIR! Send a message that this community will not accept a bum’s
rush on something so important to the state, our schools and our children. Don’t let Gov. Corzine & this lame duck Legislature force their proposal on us without a thorough debate from all the stakeholders – including you.
Call or email NOW!! TODAY!!! to stop the funding formula bill. Tell our elected officials that we need more debate, more deliberation and a better understanding of this bill before they vote.
Senator Nia Gill – sengill@njleg.org 973-509-0388
Senator Richard Codey – sencodey@njleg.org 973-731.6770
Assemblyman Thomas Giblin – asmgiblin@njleg.org 973-779-3125
Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver – asmoliver@njleg.org 973-395-1166
Assemblyman Joe Roberts – asmroberts@njleg.org 856-742-7600
Wondering what to say? Something like this: “Please don’t pass the Gov.’s school funding formula bill. This issue impacts every parent, child & taxpayer in this state, and deserves more thoughtful consideration of all the details than this lame duck session can provide.”
To read the draft bill or view the Department of Education presentation visit
https://www.state.nj.us/education/sff/

Liz George is the publisher of Montclair Local. liz@montclairlocal.news

14 replies on “Montclair PTA Says “Stop The Vote””

  3. There’s a cap on property taxes? Really? Truly?
    {{{{dancing in the aisles}}}}
    What is it, praytell?

  4. And so the tug-of-war begins. Bloomfield’s gain is apparently Montclair’s (and many other towns’ loss), although we still haven’t not been told where the extra $500m in school aid is coming from.

  5. The cap is useless. It is 4% for schools (Montclair hit 4.7% last year due to loopholes) and there is a municipal cap also around 4%…Montclair was at 15.4%. Guess what, more loopholes.

  6. I still can’t believe liberals aren’t cheering this kind of thing. It’s wealth re-distribution it’s the cornerstone of “progressivism”.
    Are you all bunch of hypocrites?

  7. @ROC
    “Liberals” do not believe in wealth redistribution, they believe in helping people in need. Taking money from learning disabled kids in Montclair and giving it to a bunch of gangbangers in Newark is gonna piss off “Liberals” as well as “Conservatives”.

  8. We’ve learned a few things from this and other threads:
    1. ROC likes to make definitions of liberalism and “progressivism” that fit into his own rather quaint outlook.
    2. ROC gets lonely sometimes, and so he loves to throw the odd verbal bomb incorporating his definitions in the hope that he’ll get a reaction.
    3. ROC has a really cool big car and he likes to drive around in it.
    It is not a lost day when one can learn so much.

  9. by the way it’s asWoliver@njleg.org for Ms. Oliver.
    at this point I am so jaded that I believe no matter how the funding is allocated, it will be wasted, squandered or pocketed. Meantime, Montclair will continue to be overtaxed, underrepresented, and not have a decent HS music department or gifted program.
    (((sigh)))

  10. Ah, no cap. I thought so. So we’ve have to make the following substitution:
    As we are asked to support our programs more because we are “wealthy” we will be prevented from doing so because of the property tax cap
    a) we can’t find our checkbook
    b) we’re too stingy
    c) we only care about poor kids when it’s on somebody else’s dime
    d) all of the above

  11. “at this point I am so jaded that I believe no matter how the funding is allocated, it will be wasted, squandered or pocketed. Meantime, Montclair will continue to be overtaxed, underrepresented, and not have a decent HS music department or gifted program.
    (((sigh)))”
    oh, but we’ve got “Resource” people and school nurses out the yinyang.

  12. yes, along with the hundreds of dollars I spent on magazines, flower bulbs, fruit, and I don’t know what all, so that the teachers can buy paper and pencils for my kids’ classrooms. Pitiful.
    Oh, and we have lots of administrators to help run the place too!

  13. Oh, how the Montclair progressives squeal when the state decides to allocate limited funds to the most needy school districts.

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