TTie Herald And The Lantern

Thursday, September 28.1979

Letters To The Editor Calls DRBA Clowns

To The Editor:

I read that article in your paper about a bridge across the bay I wrote to (iov Byrne, also to Congressman Hughes about this for two years but nothing has been done about it and nothing will be done until they get rid of those clowns that are made up as the Delaware Bay f

and River Authority. They are ripping the people off with these ferries that wnet out 50 years ago It could coqt as much as $15 to go acrtas one way l^et’s get some braingVi the Delaware Bay and R^er Authority. William Stroker W. Cape may

School Boards Speak Out On Caps Law

Quick Fire, Police

Action Cited

ToTheEditor: »

The teachers at Cape May County Christian School were overwhelmed at the split-second action on the part of police and firemen. Sept M Not ^uite that List, really, but so it

seen#!

TRENTON +- As the Senate Education Committee opened hearings last Week on New Jersey’s school district budget cape, representatives of school boards from across the State seized upon the opporutnity to acquaint the legislator's with evergrowing fiscal problems

they face.

Speaking for all of the State's 611 school boards. Linda Albert. pr<»ictent of the. New Jersey School

shut -off the main electric service Mr and Mrs. Frank Hyson, who live

nearby the school and are have always '''supported members of Grace Gospel ^caps While other Chapel, very kindly came organizations seek the

an elementary school district. Separate calculations would allow more equitable caps to be calculated for each, based

on its needs.

+Annual budget caps should be calculated from the budget permitted by budget cap law in a district the previous year, rather than the actual budget, otherwise districts which experience repeated budget defeats year after year, are faced with

An incident occurred before noon causing a "burning odor” in, the •school The children had filed (Mil iq a one-minute fire drill and had barely been stationed in an or derly manner at the far end

plainc at the arrival of Officer Felix Cruz of diddle Township Police Dept Immediately af terward another round of applause for Fire Chief. Bill Voles of Rio Grande

Fire Station.

Pastor Guje' Rathmell had been alerted and had

wholesale abolition of budget caps, the NJSBA has recognized that they

are necessary."

"What school boards seek." continued Mrs. Albert, "are adjustments in the present system of caps to alleviate situations which work to the detriment of public education. The legislation.

immediately to see if they could be of dssistanCe. While no fire developed, there was some moments of apprehension. The incident was caused by a ballast in the ceiling light fixture", which was quickly discovered and removed The experietice has made the faculty and others at the school aware'of the

of the parking lot when^ efficiency of the telephone ,we support relates to adthey sent up gleeful a^ ‘operator, the Police and justments to the system

vFirwnen and the ex-

ceptionally quick action

ikliddle Township Police they are capable of. and TDept Immediately af- are sincerely grateful to

our protective forces, the Police and Firemen, for this enhanced feeling of

security resulting from/

their fast, efficient action.

Sincerely,

Mr*- C. M. Lewis

Boards Association) cohtinuously lowered (NJSBA). explained, "We' budget caps in subsequent’

have always ^supported years. \

Mrs Albert "pointed out that Boam face the,same inflationaO' pressures that all other segments of our society do,* yet the growth factor built into the cap forfnula does not reflect inflation accurately. The growth permitted in schobbs budgets is tied lor the* annual percentage increase in statewide property values but only to three-quarters of that increase. Mrs. Albert akked the Senate Education Committee to consider a change in the formula that would more accurately reflect inflationary trends. Without such a change, school boards will fall farther and farther behind in terms of the 'Teal" dolloars they are permitted to spend.

'y" CAPS MAY COUNTY

Hrralii

!.«rK**t (trcuUtion In The Comty

OM*«Fr*« Weekly In The ("oanty

Our Thlrtounth Yuor Sorvlng Cape May Certify P.O.ftoiO 27M Duna Drlva Avalon, NJ.MM1 PHona H7-S312 H7-72M Pubtlthad (vary Thursday By tha

taawava Corporation

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7

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publication.

Housing Loans Funds

For Elderly

WASHINGTON - U S. Senator Harrison A. Williams .lr (I)NJ' this week announced the approval of $29 I million in loans for New Jersey "organizations which will provide affordable housing for hundreds of ektefly and handicapped people across

the state

Williams. Chairman of the Senate Subcorhmittee on Housing and Urban Affairs, helped develop the federal program which "provides these long-term, direct loans to churches, labor unions and other nonprofit organization^: These groups then con struct rental or cooperative housing facilities for low income * elderiy or han dirapped persons The loans from the U S . Department of Housing and Urban Development, will provide for the con-

struction of 713 units. Last year the state received loaifi for ten projects totaling 602 units. this unique housing program has proven tobe a most successful and cost effective way to create housing opportunities . for elderly and handicapped people in New Jersey wHo would otherwise^ have .a very difficult time finding a place to liYe," Williams said. "And especially in today's tight housing market v it is imperative that we keep this kind of option open for low income

residents."

Today's loan approval guarantee that fedora I funds will be available when the individual groups are ready to begin construction. Final details such as bqilding design must still be approved, the Senator noted .

which will enable it to accomplish more seiftly and effectively the good it was designed to foster ” Mrs. Albert described a nurgber of specific proposals of the school

boards: .

-f Extraordinary increases in "fixed costs" such as fuel and other utilities, which are beyond the control of the board, should be exempt from

budget cAps.

-fNew programs mandated by State or federal law should also be exempt at least for the first

year

' +The current, "uniform method of calculating district budget caps should be revised so that the type of district is taken into account. Fbr example, per pupil costs for a vocational school district are necessarily higher than for

Bradley«' ! Back$ Expo j ^WASHINGTON - Sen 'Tederil government Bill Bradley, D-NJ, today agencies and contractors, voiced pis strong support * "The goals of those for > the ’’'Business sponsoring this ev'ent are Ownership for New Jersey lauflable. ".I hope many

"Due to these problems," concluded Mrs. Albert, "school boards in all corners of our state have been forced to make cuts in educational programs in order to meet budget caps that are unnecessarily tight. We urge that corective legislation new proposfedirto alleviate these proUlms be approved, sdjfthat school boards can'^provide the Thorough and Efficient education which is the right of every new Jersey public school pupil." m

Women EIxposition” (hat is scheduled to take place Sept. 29 at'Trenton State

College.

“This event, first held with great success last year, can help women who would like to get into business for themselves,” Bradley said, “and it can assist women already in business with important information about management, products and

services.

"Women with experience as business owners and consultants will be leading valuable workshops and presenting a broad range of exhibits. Plans.abo call for participation/ by many business and/professional organizations, lending ipstitutions^ state and

women will attend the exposition and benefit from it, generating more business development and expansion in our state for the future.” Bradley noted that the exposition will be held at Trenton State College’s Student Center rather than at the Meadowlands, site of the 1978 event, and that sponsore have decided to offer a similar program

apnually.

For further details, contact: Adele Kaplan, manager of Special Group Emphasis, Rutgers Small Business Development Cneter (201-648-5950). Bette Benedict, the Division of Economic Development in the New Jersey Department of Labor and Industry (609-292-9587)

How To Decipher School Budgets

The National Committee For Citizens In

Education

Do you want to join "a growing army of parents and citizens who are fighting the archaic practice by which school budgeting is done behind

closed doors."

Then you should take an active role in determining how your school district

spends your money.

That’s the advice oi Rhoda E. Dersh, a citizen budget analyst and director of the Public School Budget Study

Project in Reading, a Pa.

According to Ms. Dersh, all you need is a willingness to ffcork. a pocket calculator, and the conviction that the school

budget is your business.

Ms. Dersh outlines her plan for tackling the school budget in a new book titled "The School Budget: It’s Your Money; It’s Your Business" to be published this fall by the National Committee for Citizens in Education (NCCE). NCCE iq a parent advocacy group, with more than 300 affiliates throughout the country and headquarters

TTie first thing you have to learn is how to read and understand the budget, she says, so that you can analyze it and make comparisons. Once you master this step, she adds, you’ve got to ask the right questions and .follow up on these questions to get action. Ms. Dersh points out that a school budget is made up of hard facts and soft facts. "The hard facts," she says, "are those that everyone agrees on, no matter how he feels about them. The soft facts involve value judgments, - individual and organizational priorities, and different points of

view."

An example of a hard fact* according to Ms. Dersh, is whether you are going tb pay higher property taxes next yearto support the budget. A soft fact, she says, might be the reason why the board recommends raising the. property tax instead of the. sales tax to provide additional money

for the budget.

When dealing with the revenue part of the budget.

Ms. Demit suggests asking ^

in Columbia. Md. questions such m these satisfactory to^yoa ^ ^ ^ sis^ej^/^

-Do any additional sources of revenue exist other than the ones listed in the budget, and have they been studied? -If yours is a growing community, does the current revenue figure reflect the anticipated increase iiT real estate

values?

-How accurately has the board estimated the state and federal contributions to your district? If the estimate is low, revenues may be more than expected. If the estimate is too high, the budget could be in trouble later in the

school year.

She also suggests that you ask questions about educational goals and

priorities. For example:

-Have some programs been cut back or

eliminated, and why?

-What new programs have been added, and why? -Does the budget assure that there will be an equitable and effective use of money and materials

among the schools?

The next step, she says, is to determine what you can do about the budget—expecially about answers that are un-

"You may want to work to eliminate unnecessary programs," she adds, "or to include an especially promising program. Or you may want to reduce or raise the budget allocation for one or more

programs.’’

What one person can do,

she goes on, is limited only

by the depth of un-

derstanding gained

through the budget study and by the time committed. Ms. Dersh, however, advises working with other parents and citizens to be certain that the budget document, the budget process, and the entire school system reflect the community's interest. She warns, too, that some school officials will do everything pdssible to sidetrack and delay citizens involved in budget activities because "most citizens and citizen groups will give up vhen faced with delay, l..ck of immediate success, or in-

timidation."

Eer advice: "Don’t be distracted, don’t be used, and don't give up. Your success wi^j depend primarily on your per-