Posted on 07/28/2010 9:12:12 AM PDT by nmh
For More Information Contact the Public Information Office:
Beth Auerswald Richard Vespucci Alan Guenther, Director 609-292-1126
For Immediate Release: July 28, 2010
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Christie Administration Approves $270 Million in Facilities Grants For School Districts More than 175 Regular Operating Districts statewide Eligible for partial state funding of 740 projects
Trenton, NJ – The Christie administration announced today that 177 school districts are eligible for approximately $270 million in state funds toward the cost of 740 capital maintenance and construction projects.
“Efficient, up-to-date school facilities are a priority of this administration and part of ensuring New Jersey children receive a quality education. These grants will fund critical projects across our state, helping to improve the learning environments for our students and providing necessary support to districts by easing their local property-tax burden,” Governor Chris Christie said.
“This funding for school improvements will help school districts keep their facilities properly maintained and ease the burden on local property taxpayers of doing so,” added Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler.
Including state and local contributions, the 740 eligible projects are estimated to cost approximately $697 million and would generate as many as 6,000 jobs over the duration of construction. The state-funded grants represent at least 40 percent of eligible costs for projects in the Regular Operating Districts (RODs). These grants are contingent on voter or budget approval of the remaining cost to local school districts.
Grants are approved by the Department of Education (DOE) in fixed annual allocations based on a prioritization process that considers critical needs, such as health, safety, special education, renewal of existing buildings and overcrowding. Types of construction include capital maintenance, renovation, expansion and new facilities.
“The Schools Development Authority is proud to support Governor Christie and his administration’s continued commitment to the future of New Jersey’s schoolchildren,” said School Development Authority Chief Executive Officer Marc Larkins. “By providing hundreds of millions of dollars in additional state aid, this administration is further infusing the state’s economy with much-needed job support, and we are pleased to serve as a catalyst toward economic recovery.”
A report on the allocations – including districts, approved projects and available funds – can be found on the DOE Web site at .
http://www.nj.gov/education/facilities/projectapplication/rod/aprod.pdf
DOE determines which school projects receive grant funds from the SDA. The authority currently has a portfolio of 1,126 ongoing grant projects in the RODs.
I fyou live in New Jersey, look up your school district to see what is going on:
A report on the allocations – including districts, approved projects and available funds – can be found on the DOE Web site at .
http://www.nj.gov/education/facilities/projectapplication/rod/aprod.pdf
If you know of a New Jersey ping list, could you let them know about this?
TIA.
looks good to me
What's good about it? He's spending more than a quarter of a BILLION (with a B) of State money, that the State doesn't have, on local district buildings. This couldn't have been put off for two years?
ML/NJ
>of ensuring New Jersey children receive a quality education
LOL! To do that you would need to take the children out of the public indoctrination centers masquerading as “schools” and place them in private hands.
The Government can’t even deliver the mail correctly, let alone educate human beings.
Chiistie is working up to that. Shundler is a strong advocate for school choice. It’s coming.
What a hoot that will be! Can you imagine, parents getting SCHOOL CHOICE and fleeing the PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
WHO will be paying their inlfated salaries with NO STUDENTS? How will the UNIONS cope with that? I hear, some public schools aren’t bad but most are terrible, however if parents have a CHOICE, even that not so bad ones are on notice.
As best I know, the money has already been allocated for this. Christie is just targeting it to the facilities.
Can I ask why you and the other folks in the school district don't pay for the new roof yourselves?
ML/NJ
“Can I ask why you and the other folks in the school district don’t pay for the new roof yourselves?”
It’s set up that it comes out of the “state” money pot.
The country I LIVE IN, pays high taxes like the rest of NJ but most of our tax money goes to areas like NEWARK and TRENTON ... because it’s impoverished. We shouldn’t be doing that but that is how it works. Now THOSE areas have “better” schools that allot of well to do districts. This has been going on for years. So when my district, which we don’t attend, only needs a new roof, that is the least the state can do. The state makes MONEY off our district and it does really need a new roof.
“Can I ask why you and the other folks in the school district don’t pay for the new roof yourselves?
ML/NJ “
To answer you more directly, our district has already paid for a new roof many times over through higher taxes. We’re not robbing anyone.
True accounting shows that NJ spends about 19K per student. Also “special need” kids get 60K and change for ONE student. It’s totally nuts! Hopefully we will get to changing that too.
Wah. Wah. Wah. If you really believe this, I would think you would be more comfortable with the moochers and looters over at DU.
ML/NJ
Wah. Wah. Wah. If you really believe this, I would think you would be more comfortable with the moochers and looters over at DU.
ML/NJ
You don't understand!
This method of redistributing country tax dollars has been around for decades! If we were able to get what we paid in county taxes our local public schools would be country clubs!
There is a name for this ridiculous tax money redistribution but I forget what that name is. That must also be changed. It will be hard to change that. As soon as they try and they have tried, the impoverished districts claim, “UNFAIR” because being impoverished they don't have the money to improve themselves. So in other words, the more well to do districts subsidize the armpits where kids still drop out etc. and it is a waste of money.
That is why I'd rather see SCHOOL CHOICE. It bypasses the economic class issue. Astute parents will put their kids in schools they approve of. Most likely that will not be a public school. As for those in impoverished school districts, they too will have “choice”. As other public school districts shrink due to school choice, the impoverished parasites will have LESS money to pour into their district. It will minimize if not stop the subsidizing of a school district where you don't live in. The money will follow the STUDENT as it should.
Do you understand now? It's a back door approach to STOP other counties from subsidizing as much as they do and putting the emphasis and priority on the STUDENT and what is best for the STUDENT, rather than punishing the achieving communities by forcing them to fork over most of their tax dollars to outside school districts.
We keeps ours in a private school. I'd LOVE to have a voucher. I'm sick and tired o paying taxes for a school district we don't use. I'd rather my tax dollars went towards private school tuition. We truly get screwed - we pay taxes for our district and we pay private school tuition. We aren't "wealthy" either. We make it happen. Others could too but kids aren't always their priority. Don't "envy" us either. It's simply a priority and we do with LESS elsewhere. So you may want to calm down about this family being a “moocher” and that I should go over to “DU”.
I will excuse your ignorance.
I don't believe adults without kids to raise should be taxed for public schools. Yes, the rationale USED to be that a public school education was a benefit to everyone. I beg to differ.
I don't believe that retired folks should pay for it either. If they have grandchildren, let the parents) where ever they live also chose the school that i best for their kids. Let them be responsible and budget their money for the school. I see no reason why single or people without kids should pay property taxes for the children of others. I no longer see public schools as a benefit to anyone. It's a drain on their income with NO BENEFITS.
Will my wish come true? That would be very unlikely.
I question some too, Moorestown Burl. Co. for instance. I guess I am the glass half full on this.
My district also gets nothing, except we get to pay for the "less fortunate" through county taxes which are a rather substantial portion of the property taxes here. Some of the educational Shangri Las I support include Newark, Irvington, and Orange. Most of that money would seem to be being pi$$ed away. I would rather see the "less fortunate" raise their funds through charity than by legalized theft.
ML/NJ
My glass is now half empty ;)
The newer high school is built by a super dump site & is sinking.
That's a double Gozilla face palm if I've ever heard of one.
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