Stalemate - The push pull of the BOE and budgets

Agreement can be hard to come by – in the case of Asbury Park’s schools, however, most agree something needs to be done. Our students get shut out of economic opportunities because they lack the skills to benefit from them (math and reading scores rank among the lowest in the state). Our residents – particularly long time and full-time residents – face increasing economic uncertainty as our property taxes soar at the highest rate in NJ (on top of higher insurance, utilities and food costs).

A mythology developed in the city around causes for the school’s ills – the perversity of the state school funding model, the scourge of charter schools, the profound damage wreaked by developer tax incentives (PILOTS) and the challenges of educating the Asbury Park student population. We simply don’t have the money to run our district, say some members of the Board of Education and administration.

While we can issue blame, there is little we accomplish by complaining about issues we cannot impact:

Charter schools: Parents en masse have voted. They chose to make the effort to apply to and send their children to charter schools instead of the public school system. From the perspective of the community, there does not appear to be a difference in cost between charter and public schools. This is an opportunity for the Board of Education to be introspective. How can our schools improve so parents want to send their children to them rather than simply condemning schools that, at least by some measures, produce better student outcomes? Can you blame parents for wanting the best for their children?

State funding formula: We lost money in each of the last several years creating pressure on our district – people say it’s not fair. Fair or not, the state funding formula appears to be set. If nothing else, more than two thirds of districts in New Jersey saw increased funding under this formula. There will be little desire in Trenton to change it.

Tax incentives: The tax abatement (PILOT) discussion often centers on changing the tax breaks developers received in the past. People would like to see these agreements renegotiated so money is provided to the schools. Unfortunately, the law seems clear – once a tax break is granted it cannot be taken away. Some BOE members suggested ‘carve outs’ – taking a portion of the PILOT payments and giving them to schools. Unfortunately, that merely shifts a school tax bill to the city tax bill and the city will still have to provide the services the PILOT could have paid for. While this may be a source of frustration, there is little the city or the community can do to change it – except to not offer tax breaks going forward for those properties we’re not required to give them to.

Our students: We’re told by some members of the BOE our students are just expensive to educate. Their advanced needs necessitate additional spending other districts do not have to bear. It is true our district is expensive. Our spending ranks among highest in the state – we rank 9th highest of the 668 districts the state tracks spending for. In fact, we spend more than twice as much as the average NJ district. However, the specific challenges our students face do not exactly explain this additional cost. Our district spends almost 80% more per pupil than the state’s other economically less advantaged districts (Abbott Districts). Other districts can educate students with similar advanced needs for much less.

The Board of Education, for its part, continues to dwell on these issues rather than address the real human needs of students, residents and district employees. BOE president Tracy Rogers talks of all the time he spends in Trenton lobbying – this is tilting windmills. It would seem this level of focus brought to improving math and reading achievement could be highly beneficial. Other financially less advantaged districts brought up reading and math scores through curriculum improvements. Another option discussed is trying to grow district enrollment. There simply aren’t enough children to affect this result. The generations of children coming up behind the current one are roughly half the size. There are far fewer students for every district including ours. Expecting growth means you believe nonexistent kids will magically show up to schools with challenged educational attainment and ‘problem solved’.

The root of the issue is simpler. The Board of Education has only one focus – making sure everyone the district hires remains regardless of whether there is money to pay them or a need for them. The head of the teacher’s union called it “disgusting” that the district would think about lowering head count to avoid passing through a $2800 per family tax increase. We need to focus on all groups, not just one. This is a human issue from many sides. First and foremost, the district’s job is the educational and economic attainment of its students. The teachers and staff should be there to support that effort at a level appropriate to the district we operate. Nationally, the student to staff ratio is 8:1, in Asbury Park, ours is 4:1 – we have twice as many staff per student as the typical district. Having a rate twice that of the national average means the district is not making efforts to ensure the homes where students (and their neighbors) live are as affordable as possible to maintain family budgets.

There is a human issue for staff as well – they face an uncertain future working in a district that can’t afford to pay them. With 440,000 open jobs in public and private schools across the country, there is ample opportunity to find meaningful, stable work that will allow them to develop into the future.

The solution may feel challenging but it is ultimately simple. We need to face the reality of our situation and make the decisions that best benefit all facets of our community. Create economic opportunities for our students through education. Help long time and full year residents stay in their homes by keeping the city affordable. Develop our city with better schools to attract more people that want to make us the 24/7/365 city we aspire to be. Take care of the people that took care of our students – the BOE can help our school district employees attain economic security and career growth. Seek out community partnerships, non-profit partners and neighboring districts to offer programs we cannot support on our own. I’m not selfish, I want the best for everyone no matter how and where they get it.

The opinions expressed in this letter are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Asbury Riprap or Grassroots News LLC.