Christie: Parts of schools’ plan ‘unfair,’ but ‘encouraging’
PENNINGTON » Parts of a plan by Democratic leaders to revamp aid to schools are “discouraging and unfair,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday, but added he finds parts of it “encouraging.”
Christie commented on Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Senate President Steve Sweeney’s agreement after an unrelated announcement about transportation funding.
His comments come the same day he and the Democratic leaders met to discuss the proposal and the fiscal year 2018 budget, which faces June 30 deadline. It will be Christie’s final budget as governor. The Republican is term-limited and is set to leave office in January.
Christie declined to specify what he liked and what he didn’t like in the Democratic leaders’ plan.
“There’s things about it I find encouraging. There’s things I find about it discouraging and unfair and so we’ll have to see what we’re gonna do,” he said. “I don’t negotiate out in public.”
Later Tuesday, the Democratic leaders’ spokesmen confirmed that they and the governor met, but declined to give any details on the meeting.
The Democratic leaders unveiled the plan recently and Sweeney has said he plans to incorporate the agreement into the mustpass budget, which the state constitution requires be balanced aid.”
If enacted, the plan puts the state on a path toward fully funding the school aid formula that has gone unfunded, except for one year, Sweeney has said.
Sweeney also unveiled a town-by-town list detailing the changes the state’s more than 600 districts would see under the Democratic leaders’ plan. Out of 40 legislative districts, each represented by two Assembly members and a state senator, eight would see reductions.
All 16 Senate Republicans on Tuesday signed onto a letter to Christie opposing the plan, which they called a “backroom deal.”
Specifically, the senators said they want to see more funding for special education and for any potential cuts to take effect in fiscal year 2019, instead of 2018.
State aid for schools is part of one of the biggest issues in New Jersey — property taxes, which are the highest in the country and are fueled by school districts’ levies on property owners.
Increasing aid would lead to lower property taxes, Sweeney and others have argued.
It’s unclear whether the leading candidates to succeed Christie support the deal. Democrat Phil Murphy said through a spokesman that the deal moves away from Christie’s “disastrous” policy but stopped short of backing it. Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno has not responded to requests for comment on the agreement.