Federal Government Needs to Meet its Obligation to New Jersey School Children

The NJASA concurs with some aspects of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s testimony presented on Thursday, December 11 before the House Appropriations Committee on the impact of the recession on state and local communities.
In his remarks, the Governor focused on two significant issues facing the educational communities – No Child Left Behind and Special Education. The Governor called upon the federal government to rise to the occasion “to fully funding its obligations for programs like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and IDEA. Since the inception of NCLB, the federal government has insufficiently funded the program by $1.2 billion in New Jersey.”
The infusion of this additional money into the New Jersey operating budget would provide much-needed relief to education aid and benefit both the students and taxpayers of our State.
The Governor’s reference to special education noted, “ the federal government funds a woefully inadequate 17 percent of [New Jersey’s] total per-pupil costs, when it’s committed to covering 40 percent.“
NJASA urges the federal government to revisit its educational mandates in light of the current economic conditions and support Governor Corzine’s top two priorities of education and public safety with some financial relief.
NJASA and its approximately 1,000 members, which include superintendents and school administrators, advocate for all New Jersey’s children, and work to move education forward by ensuring the highest quality of instruction for all students.