hey all..
the letters are done..

and its too hot to sit here..
check you out tuesday!

im working on another batch right now.. please..im not asking for money to prepare the documents.. if you want to send funds to cover postage thats fine.

If you are unsure.. or you need copies of the forms.. please feel free to contact me testcardkids@gmail.com

SOURCE

An organization called The New Jersey Coalition for Special Education Funding Reform testified before the Assembly Budget Committee last month and started a letter-writing campaign among parents and special education advocates last week. What’s their beef? First, the new D.O.E. regulations, A6, give the Executive County Superintendents of each county in New Jersey the authority to review student placement, which is supposed to be decided by the Child Study Team.

Of course, imposing the E.C.S. on the highly-personalized and deliberative process of developing an Individualized Education Plan reeks of rank interference. Word is that, in fact, the E.C.S. will only review placement decisions to put pressure on districts to reduce “out-of-district” placements, but there’s already plenty of pressure to do so to save money. Surely our beleaguered E.C.S.’s have enough to do without randomly searching through speech and developmental evaluations to see if the Child Study Teams are witlessly placing children in extravagant programs. (It’s sort of like asking police officers to take their attention off criminal activity to check for expired registration tags.)

The N.J.’s Coalition’s other beef is that Corzine’s new funding formula neglects special education:

For more than a decade, our coalition has been asking for an independent study to examine the full cost to taxpayers of special education services in New Jersey…When SFRA was drafted, special education funding was not studied as part of the “costing out” effort. And when the Department hired experts to look at their plan, they specifically asked all three independent researchers NOT to look at special education…

We urge this legislature to commission a study to look at the full actual costs of special education, so that funding policy can be developed based on facts, not assumptions.

If they’re right, we’re neglecting a pretty expensive piece of the pie. The 230,000 classified students in N.J. cost over $3.3 billion a year to educate, according to the NJSBA. In fact, we classify a higher percentage of kids and spend more per special needs kid than just about anywhere in the country. Seems pretty reasonable to look more carefully at these children.

But the problem’s not the kids: it’s our educational infrastructure. We’ve got so many little districts that it’s mathematically challenging to come up with an cheaper and more inclusive program. Let’s say a kid is classified as autistic. In order to serve that child in-district, you’ll need at least a half dozen kids at the same age level with the same educational needs. How likely is that in one of our typically small districts? Or say you have a kid who’s hearing-impaired? Can you come up with 6 or 8 more kids who need similar instruction? How about behaviorally challenged? How about developmentally disabled? Most likely the district will send those kids out to (more expensive) placements.

So N.J. has also developed a hefty layer of private special education schools that like things just fine the way they are, thank you very much. These schools (see here) provide the services these kids need and that local districts can’t muster because they can’t come up with the cohorts. So our kids shlep miles away and local taxpayers pay the costs. It’s just another way that we segregate our children in order to preserve our home rule filigree.

SOURCE

Corzine is trying to make his decision to delay school aid payments more palatable to school districts by fast-tracking legislation that would allow districts to borrow money and the State to pay the interest. The Asbury Park Press reports that the bill was introduced Monday and passed the Assembly Budget Committee on Tuesday, “bypassing a committee hearing entirely.” The vote comes before both the Assembly and Senate tomorrow.

Reactions from legislators are predictable. Democrats defended Corzine’s decision to defer payments and Republicans threw tomatoes.

From Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, D-Camden:
Delaying a payment for which nobody misses a dime, for which all the costs are incurred, for which no school suffers a lost day, for which no school is closed a day, where teachers' pay is not docked 13 percent as is being done in other states.

From Republican Budget Officer Joe Malone, R-Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean (quoted in New Jersey Newsroom):
Only in New Jersey government can you hear someone say that 19 payments instead of 20 is not a cut. We cannot continue to play the same game and repeating the same mistakes that have led to our current budget problems. ‘Deferring' this payment is like playing musical chairs and when the music stops someone is going to be without a seat.

source


//this story was originally posted on 04-01-09 but for some reason it was never active.

More than 500 Bloomfield residents crowded Town Hall Tuesday night to debate job cuts in the school district's special education programs as part of next year's budget.

The 2009-2010 schools budget, which passed in a 6-3 vote, requires that all 71 full-time special education aides in the district move from fulltime to part-time, accept paycuts and lose their benefits. District officials said the measure would save $800,000.

Tensions were high as students, parents and special education teaching aides accused the Board of Education of a lack of sympathy toward special needs students who require consistency in their learning environments.

The crowd was so large that the meeting was relocated to the 881-seat Bloomfield High School auditorium across the street.

The budget also cuts custodial jobs and facility repair projects, such as a broken cornice in front of the Bloomfield High School auditorium. The budget will rise 3.2 percent to a total of $85.5 million next year. For the owner of the average assessed home of $140,700, that will translate into a $174.06 tax increase, according to the superintendent's budget presentation.

All the cuts in next year's budget, said Superintendent Frank J. Digesere, are necessary because of a state cap on property taxes.

That didn't make the cutbacks in special education any easier for parents to digest.

Susan D'Andrea read aloud a letter written by her 9-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. The letter praised her aides at the Demarest Elementary School and pleaded that the district keep their jobs intact.

"That [letter] in itself speaks to the success of the paraprofessionals in this district," said D'Andrea. "This child could formulate thoughts without any assistance from me."

Bloomfield High School aide Joe Sambataro said at the meeting that he is responsible not only for mental health issues but for physical problems such as diabetes. Sambataro said he monitors the blood sugar levels and carbohydrate intake of students, and he listed possible side effects, including kidney disease and blindness, if medical attention is not administered properly.

Other critics said the aides would leave the Bloomfield School district and that incoming part-time aides would be untrained and uninvolved.

Digesere said if the board did not pass a budget by midnight, the state would write the budget for them.

"I don't want to put this in the hands of the state, because I dont trust some of the things they've done," said Digesere. "The state won't even allow us to say that we want these people to keep their jobs even if it raises our taxes...we're not even allowed to dictate our own wants anymore."

Board members Joseph Lopez, Laura Curcio and Nicholas Rizzitello voted against the budget and cited personal experiences in working with special education aides. Lopez said his son matriculated under aides at Fairview Elementary School and that he was chastised by other board members when he proposed alternate solutions.

"I want these aides to keep these jobs 100 percent," said Lopez. "I've seen the great progress these aides have made to enable my son to be part of the school system, and I really appreciate that."

Go there

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SOURCE

TRENTON | Gov. Jon S. Corzine acknowledged Wednesday that suspending rebates for most homeowners next year would be painful for residents, but said the state cannot spend money it doesn't have.

"It hurts them and we understand that, but we don't have the resources to be able to fund it," Corzine said Wednesday at a public event in Sayreville, N.J. "If you don't have the resources, you can't spend money you don't have. I know the public understands that."


State Treasurer David Rousseau announced Tuesday the one-year rebate suspension for all non-seniors would be needed to help close an unexpected $1.6 billion shortfall in the fiscal year 2010 budget, caused by plummeting revenues since the introduction of the spending plan in March.

New Jersey residents -- who have been receiving the rebate checks since 1977 -- pay the highest property taxes in the nation at an average of $7,000 per household. That's about twice the national average.

According to the state Treasury Department, eliminating the rebates would cost homeowners $950 on average, while renters would miss out on an average $75 rebate. Cutting the rebates is projected to save the state $943 million.

Corzine emphasized Wednesday that the rebate suspension would be temporary.

"We use the word suspension for a very real reason," Corzine said. "It will be one of the very first things that we do restore because I think property taxes are a challenge for people in this state."

Corzine already proposed scaling back rebates in March for homeowners making more than $75,000 a year, down from last year's $150,000 annual salary threshold.

GOP calls rebate cut a middle-class tax hike

Republicans criticized the move immediately, recalling the state shutdown in 2006 in which the state sales tax was increased by a penny, half of which was supposed to go toward property tax relief. Assemblyman Joseph Malone said the Democrats gave the impression that the relief was "set in stone."

On Wednesday, Republicans ramped up attacks on the proposal.

Lawmakers called the suspension a tax increase on the middle class and claimed the rebates would never come back "under a Corzine regime."


The Republican Governors Association launched a radio ad telling voters to "watch what he does, not what he says." And the Republican State Committee released a Web video showing clips of Corzine promising to increase rebates 40 percent over four years while campaigning in 2005.

'Political hit' for Corzine

Ingrid Reed, of the Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics, said while Republicans are taking political shots at the governor, it is difficult to tell how voters will respond to the elimination of most rebates for next year because public opinion varied on the checks.

Some called them a fiscal gimmick, she said, while others said they were needed relief.

Benjamin Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said slashing the rebates for most homeowners next year is a "huge issue" given the dominance of property taxes in the public arena.

"Any time you deny property tax relief, you're going to take a political hit," Dworkin said. "Jon Corzine, by virtue of being governor at this precarious time, has taken a lot of political hits because of the very tough and unenviable decisions he had to make in the budget. So this is just piling on top of everything."

The Legislature is debating the budget. It can amend the plan, but it must be passed by the Legislature and returned to the governor for his signature by June 30. The fiscal year begins July 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Trish Graber is Trenton correspondent for The Express-Times. She can be reached at 609-292-5154.

SOURCE


"It hurts them, and we understand that, but we don't have the resources to be able to fund it," Corzine said Wednesday at a public event in Sayreville, N.J. "If you don't have the resources, you can't spend money you don't have. I know the public understands that."

A recent visitor to lehighvalleylive.com doesn't seem particularly understanding.
"Our property taxes are so outrageous here in New Jersey, that if the economy was better, I would definitely sell," saffire62 writes.
"New Jersey is not that big of a state, so why is it so hard to create a budget that would work for all of us and not just some. We, as homeowners and taxpayers, get a double whammy."

Republicans have been very critical of the rebate suspension plan, recalling the 2006 state shutdown and half-penny sales tax increase that was supposed go toward property tax relief.

The Republican Governors Association has launched a new ad telling voters of Corzine "watch what he does, not what he says."

Corzine could face a strong challenge from Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Chris Christie this fall. The state primary is June 2.

You can watch the RGA ad below:

SOURCE


TRENTON -- Property tax rebate checks billed as long-term relief just a few years ago are the latest casualty of New Jersey's budget woes.

Treasurer David Rousseau said Tuesday rebate checks would be canceled this year for all but senior citizens and disabled residents because the state budget is suffering a record loss in tax revenue in the bad economy.

The state would also raise income taxes on people earning $400,000 to $500,000 and those earning over $1 million and cancel the expansion of a preschool program as part of Gov. Jon Corzine's plan to close a multi-billion-dollar budget gap, the treasurer said.

"We face the most daunting challenge of any budget in state history," Rousseau told the Assembly Budget Committee. Corzine's budget and tax plans require approval by lawmakers.

Last year more than 1.3 million rebate checks were sent out -- averaging more than $1,000 to household and tenants earning under $150,000. The budget Corzine presented in March proposed keeping property tax rebates for households making less than $75,000, as well as for seniors and the disabled. This latest cut would save $943 million.

Rousseau billed the decision to hold back rebate checks as a one-time suspension.

"Unfortunately, due to the severe revenue decline, we're going to have to, for this year, suspend" most of the rebate program, he said.

Cutting the rebates, along with other budget adjustments announced by Rousseau -- including the shelving of a proposed $25 million preschool initiative Republicans have targeted -- puts the proposed budget at $28.6 billion. In March, Corzine proposed a $29.8 billion spending plan.

The budget is now in the hands of lawmakers, who must approve it by June 30.

Rousseau said the state would take in $400 million in new revenue for the budget by hiking the tax rates on more affluent residents.

The tax rate would go from 6.37 percent to 8 percent for households earning $400,000 to $500,000. People who earn $1 million or more would see their tax rate rise from 10.25 percent to 10.75 percent.

Corzine's plan would also increase taxes on insurance premiums and health maintenance organizations, Rousseau said.

Rousseau's presentation also made official a concession on the budget Corzine announced in March after he initially proposed eliminating the property tax deduction on state income forms for all but senior citizens and disabled residents. The new version of the budget allows households making up to $150,000 to keep the deduction.

Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), an outspoken proponent of the rebate program, blamed the cut on revenue collections that are at "unprecedented, historic lows."

Mel Evans/AP
Legislative budget analyst David Rosen, of the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, projects figures on a video screen today during a budget committee.

"The program isn't being eliminated," he said. "It's obviously being maintained for senior citizens and the disabled."

Earlier Tuesday, David Rosen, the budget and finance officer for the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services, predicted that over the next 15 months, revenue will come in nearly $3 billion less than what Corzine had projected in March.



"This is certainly the worst revenue report that I've ever given to the Legislature," Rosen said.

The latest version of the property tax rebate program was rolled out in 2007, when, as is the case again this year, the Assembly was up for reelection.

The 2007 rebate program provided checks to households earning as much as $250,000 using a $2.2 billion budget allocation. Last year, however, the rebate program was restricted to households making up to $150,000.

Corzine proposed scaling back the rebate program to just households making $75,000 or less when he proposed the new state budget in March.

Cutting rebates for all but senior citizens and disabled residents leaves only $640 million in the budget for rebates this year.

Democrats made the inflated rebates a big part of their 2007 election message, contending they were sustainable. "The rebates are substantial, but they are only a down payment on a long-term commitment to tax relief and tax reforms," Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union) said at the time. Cryan, a member of the budget committee, also chairs the state Democratic Party.

Assembly Republican Budget Officer Joe Malone said today the Democratic promise from 2007 "just evaporates like it's never been said."

"There is no value and there is no integrity in people making a commitment or a promise," said Malone (R-Burlington).

Corzine, who also faces re-election this fall, has already announced $1.2 billion in spending adjustments for the current budget to ensure the state closes the fiscal year on June 30 without a deficit, something that's required by the state constitution.

They include deferring pension contributions and school aid payments, raiding surplus funds and making changes and cuts to department budgets.

The committee, meanwhile, voted today to advance a bill to allow school districts to borrow money to offset delayed state aid payments Corzine has proposed. It cleared along party lines, with Democrats approving and Republicans voting no.

SOURCE



The main event wasn’t really a disappointment, because there were some staggering figures thrown out today. But when State Treasurer David Rousseau presented the budget for FY ‘10 to the Assembly Budget Committee, the surprise wasn’t in the declining revenues.

We know that it’s an unprecedented economic climate. Revenues are down in every category – biz tax, sales tax and an astounding 19% down in income taxes.

But here was the May surprise: property tax rebates will be taken away for all but seniors and the disabled. There I said it.

This is going to be interesting to watch politically. Will the voters punish the Governor for this? Hard to say.

Here is what we do know…the proposed budget’s final number is $29.6 billion. That is $1.2 billion less than what the Governor laid out in his Budget Message March 10. And that is roughly $4 billion less than the orginal ‘09 budget.

That is a significant reduction, and maybe the public will understand. Then again, maybe they need someone to blame.

GO THERE

SOURCE

VINELAND - The state Department of Children and Families Regional Day School on Sherman Avenue has operated in relative anonymity for decades, providing services to physically, developmentally and emotionally disabled children.

On Monday, workers at the school and members of the union representing them set up a table at the curb to try to raise awareness of the small school - and to build support to keep it open.



The DCF plans to close 18 regional schools over the next year, saving about $4 million.

"We want to try to get out to the public that these children need this school," said Mattie Harrell, president of AFSCME Local 2215, which represents workers at the Vineland and Egg Harbor Township schools. "Many of them tried a regular school, and it just didn't work. This is the last stop for them."

The schools were created to help disabled children who are wards of the state, but few of those children remain. Most of the 560 students statewide are placed at the schools by their public school districts, which pay tuition to cover the bulk of the cost. Other area Day Schools are in Middle Township and Toms River.

The Atlantic County Regional Day School houses a Project TEACH program for teen mothers and their children and is scheduled to close this summer. The Atlantic City School District is in talks with the state to take over the program.

Parents at the Vineland school, which serves about 26 severely physically and emotionally disabled students, are concerned because there is no other specialized school for their children in Cumberland county. They are worried their children might get moved back to a regular public school or be required to travel to another county to attend a special-services school.

"I think we did get some attention," said Grissel Ayala, whose son attends the Sherman Avenue school. "A lot of cars slowed down and beeped."

DCF spokeswoman Kate Bernyk said the Vineland school will be in the second phase of closings, and the DCF will work with local districts to find appropriate placements for all the children. She said the Statewide Parents Advocacy Network, or SPAN, also has volunteered to assist in the process.

Harrell said some students tried to attend regular public school but returned to the Day School.

"They have serious problems, and other kids can be mean," she said. "This is a safe haven for them."

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, visited the Vineland school last month and spoke to DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts. He said last week that he wants to be sure the students get the services they need, but he could not say whether the school might remain open. He said it is ironic that with all of the criticism of state government, the DCF wants to close schools that have gotten only praise from parents.

"The parents are saying the DCF is doing a good job here, and they just want it to continue," he said. "We need a commitment to these children. They cannot just be integrated into a regular school."

Ayala said parents also plan to attend Wednesday's hearing on the DCF budget. A rally by all the schools is planned for June at the Statehouse.

E-mail Diane D'Amico:

DDamico@pressofac.com

source

The Assembly Budget Committee will meet today to review the Governor's proposed FY 2010 budget for the state departments of Children and Families and Community Affairs. Here's the schedule for you to follow along:
DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts is scheduled to testify at 10 a.m.

Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria will make his presentation at 2 p.m.
The budget proposals were all made before we learned that growing revenue shortfall is worsening and now collections are down nearly $2 billion.

In the initial budget proposal, the Department of Children and Families received $10 million less than requested at just over $754 million. The Department of Community Affair's budget was proposed at almost $10 million more than requested allotting just over $65 million. After last week's budget hearings, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman offered this weekly message on the importance of preserving pre-K through 12 education, though I know there have also been many questions raised about Higher Education Funding:



Even that video is out of date now because they talk about the $3.5 billion in cuts that have been made, but who knows what further cuts may lie ahead. All of these proposed departmental budgets may receive a second and third look with the way the numbers are coming back in. Speaker Roberts once again said yesterday that all options are on the table. As always, you can listen live to the hearings from the comfort of your home streaming through your speakers.

Download here

SOURCE

ATLANTIC CITY — Contrary to the purpose of his sweeping state furlough program, Gov. Jon S. Corzine will not save taxpayers one penny by forcing hundreds of employees at two New Jersey casino agencies to take two days of unpaid leave in May and June.

That’s because the operations and salaries at the Casino Control Commission and the Division of Gaming Enforcement are funded entirely by Atlantic City’s $4.55 billion casino industry, not the taxpayers.

Corzine plans to furlough tens of thousands of state workers for one day in May and another in June to help close a deficit in the state budget. The state Treasury Department estimates the savings at about $25 million.

In the case of the Casino Control Commission and Division of Gaming Enforcement, the furloughs will not result in taxpayer savings because the 11 Atlantic City casinos finance the expenses of the two regulatory agencies through licensing fees and assessments. The furloughs will be done anyway, forcing both agencies to close on those days.

“The governor’s office has asked all state employees to share in this effort to address the state’s budget crisis,” Casino Control Commission spokesman Daniel Heneghan said. “We are being treated as any other state employees are.”


Robert Corrales, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office, referred questions Monday from The Press of Atlantic City to the commission and the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Josh Lichtblau, director of the DGE, declined to comment.

Commission employees will take their furloughs May 15 and June 12, while workers at the DGE are scheduled for May 22 and June 29.

Interestingly, casinos will save money on the furlough days because they will be relieved then of the operating and salary costs at both agencies.

However, the casinos will not shut down on those days because some state inspectors will remain on the job to oversee gaming operations. Furloughs involving the gaming inspectors will be done on staggered dates to avoid having the casinos close.

“Careful consideration was given to the selection of all furlough dates with an emphasis upon minimizing any disruption to the public, the casino industry and its employees and business partners,” commission chair Linda M. Kassekert said in a notice posted on the agency’s Web site.

The commission has about 290 employees. The DGE has nearly 300, although about 65 of them are state troopers who exempt from the furlough program. Together, the two agencies oversee state gaming regulations and conduct investigations of casino licensees and their vendors.

When the offices are closed, members of the public will not be able to apply for casino licenses or be fingerprinted as part of the background checks to work in the industry. The DGE will also have to shut down a facility in Atlantic City where new slot machines are tested before they are allowed on the casino floor.

SOURCE

//... guess our teachers are not essential//

Dozens of New Jersey casino inspectors won't have to take two-day unpaid furloughs in the coming weeks.

The 151 inspectors employed by the state Casino Control Commission have been designated as "essential" state employees, meaning they will remain on the job when other commission staffers take their unpaid leave this month and next.

Mark Perkiss, a state Civil Service Commission spokesman, said Wednesday that the change was made due to a recent appeals court ruling that blocked New Jersey from using staggered layoffs to carry out the furloughs.

Inspectors must be at the casinos at all times.

SOURCE

Stop budget cuts aimed at centers for independent living
Guest Column • Anita Clavering
Iproudly work as a systems-advocacy and social-recreation program coordinator for the Alliance for Disabled in Action Inc., which is a center for independent living, serving and empowering people with disabilities of all ages in Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. I have written this letter not only as a staff member of the alliance but also as a consumer who has benefited from the services and programs it provides to people with all disabilities. If it wasn't for the alliance, I would have never had the information, resources and programs that I am able to use so I can live a full and independent life as a voter, taxpayer and contributing member of the community.

Unfortunately, five centers for independent living (or CILs), including the alliance, that are funded by the state are faced with a severe and devastating budget cut of $125,000, from $625,000 to $500,000.

The proposed budget cut will seriously affect funding of CILs by decreasing the number of staff members and reducing operations in four core services they provide as advocacy, peer support, instruction in independent living and information and referral, as well as transition programs for young people with disabilities ages 16-35 and various services and programs including deaf outreach, assessments for Access Link, adjustment to vision loss, social recreation and others … or they may even close altogether.

All of New Jersey's 12 CILs, which cover 21 counties, already operate on limited budgets. But for the CILs that are affected the most, a reduction of $125,000 in state funding will seriously impede their operations. According to statistics from the New Jersey Association of Centers for Independent Living, the five state-funded CILs serve 58 percent of the geographic area of the state, which includes 48 percent of New Jersey residents with disabilities residing in the community. The five CILs only receive 36 percent of the total independent living dollars in the state.

This proposed cut will drastically impact the CILs abilities to help people with disabilities become economically self-sufficient. CILs are the only resource where people with all types of disabilities can go for assistance. This cut will do nothing to close the state's budget gap, but may and will cause a further dependence on state entitlement programs.


I have been very fortunate to be in a job I truly love by working at the alliance both as a systems-advocacy coordinator who helps people with disabilities individually to empower themselves and working with groups to coordinate efforts that will ensure accessibility, services, and other policies, and as a social-recreation coordinator who arranges activities that help people meet with friends and make new acquaintances while participating and being included in the community. My only wish is that I could work more than the two days I am scheduled to work at the alliance every week so I can advocate for more people to be independent and do more research on finding answers to help them solve their issues.

Services for people with disabilities in our state are already minimal, and centers for independent living are already underfunded. I strongly believe that the proposed cut will especially affect my job at the alliance as well as all my other colleagues there who work very hard in their positions to help and empower people with all disabilities.

I am strongly and firmly urging Gov. Jon Corzine and members of our state Legislature to please help restore funding to centers for independent living, which are indeed vital and necessary organizations that provide people with all disabilities with the information, support and services they need to empower and make choices for themselves so they will be able to live full, productive and independent lives in the community as contributing citizens.

For more information on the proposed cuts, please contact the Alliance for Disabled in Action office at 732-738-4388, email ctonks@adacil.org or aclavering@ adacil.org.

Anita Clavering is a resident of Old Bridge.

SOURCE 5-20-09

TRENTON -- New Jersey lawmakers have advanced legislation that would force state-chartered health care providers to cover certain autism treatments.

The treatments include physical, speech and occupational therapy, as well as behavioral intervention, which advocates said is more expensive than the other three. Both the Assembly Appropriations and Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committees approved the measure today.

Autism New Jersey clinical director Suzanne Buchanan said one example of that treatment is teaching an autistic child how to make a sandwich. Each step is taught individually and paired with some kind of reward.

The full Assembly will consider it Thursday. The Senate version goes to the Senate budget committee.

SOURCE

Gov. Jon Corzine and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature seem bound and determined to keep the state No. 1 … in property taxes. The 3.7 percent increase seen in the average residential property taxes last year brought the average bill to more than $7,045. That should certainly keep us in the lead. Go, New Jersey!




Leave it to the state to try and sell the lemon as lemonade. Corzine's Budget-in-Brief document stated: "While higher than the desired goal of 4 percent, it was the lowest rate of growth in a decade.'' That should certainly cheer up those in the 81 towns … up from 67 a year earlier … with average tax bills in five figures, topped by a stunning $19,225 in tiny Tavistock in Camden County.

The average tax bill rose in 529 municipalities … at least 10 percent in 20 of them and between 5 and 10 percent in 191 more. The fell in just 36. The average property tax levy increased 4.9 percent, exceeding the 4 percent cap enacted in 2007. Unfortunately, that cap has too many exceptions and can be waived by the state at the town's request. So much for the word "cap.''

The facts belie Gov. Corzine's attempts to pin the blame for the state's budget troubles on his predecessors and the national economy. Since taking office three years ago, property taxes in New Jersey have increased 18 percent.

A 2008 Tax Foundation report found that New Jersey had the highest state and local tax burden in the country for the third year in a row. New Jersey not only had the highest property taxes in the nation, but the third-highest income tax rates … a rate that will increase this year under Corzine's budget proposal … the 10th-highest sales tax and the 11th-highest corporate tax rate.

Taken together, the tax burden relative to other states is worse than it was under the McGreevey administration.

Last week's budget proposal will likely put even more distance between New Jersey and the other states. Cuts in municipal aid and frozen aid to most school districts will create even greater upward pressure on local property taxes. And Corzine plans to eliminate property tax rebates for nonsenior households with incomes of more than $75,000 and suspend the ability of taxpayers to deduct property taxes from their income taxes.

Corzine has taken taxation to a new level - one that will indeed allow him to proclaim New Jersey as a leader.

SOURCE 05-20-09

According to the Star-Ledger, State Treasurer David Rousseau announced yesterday that one of the ways that Corzine is balancing the budget is by eliminating the $25 million for new preschools for non-Abbott districts.

That must hurt. Corzine is bound by the State constitution to produce a balanced budget. Yet, one of his most ambitious initiatives during his term has been to overturn the budget-breaking Abbott decisions in favor of his School Funding Reform Act. A pillar of the S.F.R.A. is that it will fairly distribute money and services to all poor kids, regardless of zip code, and the one of the proofs was the preschool money: aid intended to provide Abbott-like services (like free full-day preschool) to non-Abbott students. With preschool available to all low-income children, Corzine and the D.O.E. could elegantly argue to the courts that Abbott designations were obsolete. So much for that argument. With that $25 million slash, the only poor youngsters guaranteed free full-day preschools are those lucky enough to dwell in Abbott districts.

So, does the School Funding Reform Act, undermined as it is, have a pulse? Can Corzine and the D.O.E. uphold this initiative without equitable funding? Are we willing to recognize that no State can sustain this level of educational spending without going broke?

DOWNLOAD DCF 2010 BUDGET HERE

Pay special attention to page 17

ASBURY PARK PRESS EDITORIAL • May 18, 2009

Two budget cuts announced last week by Gov. Jon Corzine show just how out of touch he is with what is "essential" and what is "extra."




He now wants to close 18 schools for pupils with disabilities and behavioral problems, sending 560 children back to their home districts, a move projected to save $4 million. He also wants to slash funding for 12 rehabilitation support centers for people with devastating injuries by 20 percent, saving $125,000.

In the meantime, Corzine insists on budgeting $77 million on top of the $544 million now being poured into full-day preschool in the Abbott districts — a program whose long-term merits are debatable. Of the additional $77 million, $52 million will be directed to the Abbotts, the state's poorest districts. The remaining $25 million will go to other low-income districts, which will be forced to expand school buildings and hire teachers, aides and bus drivers to accommodate the preschoolers.

At Wednesday's Senate budget hearing on the proposed cuts, the mother of a 14-year-old child with a heart condition and a chromosomal abnormality who is 3 feet tall and weighs 41 pounds was among those opposed to the cuts. Corzine should tell her personally it's more important to teach 3- and 4-year-olds their colors and shapes than to provide a specialized school for her daughter. And he should tell the mother of her daughter's classmate who has daily seizures that local and county districts will be equipped to deal with them, even though local personnel say there is no plan for these children.

The $125,000 cut to the support centers is an insult. Corzine should tell the former firefighter who crushed his spinal cord in a diving accident, or the woman in the wheelchair who held up a sign at a Statehouse rally that said "Budget cuts mean I stay at home," that pouring millions of dollars into a program that will put 3-year-olds onto buses early in the morning and send them home in late afternoon is more important.

In announcing the handicapped school closings last week, Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts said enrollment has plunged in the past decade. Then consolidate. But closing all the schools for handicapped and troubled young people while pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into expanding preschool for children makes no sense. Ricketts added insult to injury when she stated that running the schools is not part of her agency's core mission of child protection. Nice.

Corzine often bemoans the need to make tough budget decisions. Yes, they are tough. But the two he announced last week are foolish and callous. They will hurt two of the state's most vulnerable populations. Hopefully, state lawmakers will exercise better judgment and restore the cuts.

The state is playing with us.. and i really am beginning to believe that its time for a lawyer..

If there is a law firm out there, reading this.. or if you know of a lawyer that can help us.. now is the time..

Thank you!

Letters from anonymous persons have been written to ACNJ - Association for Children of New Jersey, thinking that they could help, this is the response that was received...




Dear (Name withheld)

I am responding to your email regarding the closing of DCF Regional Schools. I spoke to a staff member at the Office of Education at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) regarding the issue of the closing schools. I understand your concerns and worries.

However, I was told that in fact this change will occur. I was informed that the Bergen County Regional School is due to close in September along with other Regional Schools and that the remainder of regional schools are due to close in June 2010. I was also told that the closings are dependent upon the local districts or the local county having programs/placements for the students leaving the regional programs. I was also told that local school districts/county may end up with different ways/plans of educating the children coming from these programs. For example a local district/county make take over the site of the regional school or perhaps a local school district will identify space for their students and bring them back into district to a facility/placement that meets their needs in district. Other children may go to private out of district placements. I also understand that DCF’s Office of Education is working closely with school districts/counties to help them transition the children and to give them technical assistance in developing programs. Finally, I was told that they are working on having a longer extended school year for the children transitioning from the regional programs

I suspect this information is not what you would like to receive. Again. I can understand your concerns that the programs may not be as good/expansive as the regional programs. I do however believe that the Office of Education staff are trying their best to do whatever they can to make the transition for children to new programs as smooth as possible.

If I can assist you in any other way or if you have any other questions, please telephone me at 973-643-3876.

Very truly yours,

Nina C. Peckman

Staff Attorney

A person that wishes to remain anonymous has been writing to each member of the legislature since March 09... below is that letter.

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts did not provide the Assembly or Senate Budget Committee members with accurate information about what the closure of the 18 schools across this state known as DCF Regional Schools will mean for the students we serve and the taxpayers of New Jersey. Quite frankly, I was appalled at how little she knows about these schools. I was angered by how much she talked without ever answering the questions presented.
I am a (position withheld) at the DCF Regional School – (Location Withheld). I have been involved with these schools in one professional capacity or another since (year withheld). I currently work with (grades withheld) students who are DYFS and SFEA students. I would like to provide you with accurate information about these schools by writing about key points brought up at the hearings.

1) Declining Enrollment
Within the last ten years, several schools saw a decline in the number of students with severe disabilities because our Office of Education (OOE) told these schools to stop accepting new students. (Note: OOE is the office within DCF that runs the schools. It was moved with DYFS from the Department of Human Services when DCF was created). The reason OOE did this is because they began to cut expensive contracted educational services they had previously and brought the students who attended them into our schools. These are children who are aged 5-21, in DYFS and/or live at one of several Behavioral Health Services residences. These students are state-responsible and the state decided to save money by educating these students within our schools. All of these students are working below grade level and present some of the most challenging behaviors you can imagine. Many of them have an educational classification. When one child leaves a residence and our school, another child takes their place within days. Cutting those contracts and bringing them to our school was a great idea! As a result of their inclusion in our school all available monies are going directly to their education.
Another program that came into our schools then was Project TEACH, a program for pregnant and parenting teens. Regional Schools which have that program provide an avenue for these young women to get their diploma while receiving mentoring and parenting classes. The babies are at the school as well. Adding Project TEACH to our schools was another great idea because these students were not being served elsewhere.
Many of our schools have NOT seen a declining enrollment of students with severe disabilities. They have continued to accept students because, in their area, there are NO OTHER services available to this population. Our schools in Passaic County, Essex County, Union County, and Regional Schools serving Camden as well as the Wanaque Campus and Children’s Specialized Hospital program are filled with these students and continue to enroll new students.
As you can see, there is no decline in enrollment at some of our schools and merely a change of students served at others which keeps enrollment steady.



2) Duplication of Services and Costs
There is NO duplication of services going on here and I can’t believe how many times Commissioner Ricketts stated that there is.
Yes, in some counties there are special services school districts which serve children with disabilities. However, they are not 12 month programs which integrate physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy into the classroom as we do. They are not programs with over 30 years of experience and expertise. The local school districts and parents who pay tuition for these students choose us. Our tuition includes transportation and a 12 month program. County programs have separate costs for tuition and transportation and are 10 month programs. County programs are more expensive and they do not exist in every county in New Jersey. If our schools close, local town districts will see a huge increase in the charges for each of these students. Parents will scramble to Medicaid for in-home help to cover the increased time their children are not in school yet they have to go to work and so those costs will increase as well.
There are NO programs for state-responsible children. Any other program would have to be contracted by DCF to provide services. We have become the program for them; state owned buildings, state teachers and therapists, state money being spent on state kids. If we close, the state would have to contract services and pay tuition for each student they enroll. They stopped doing this because it was too expensive. How can it be less expensive now? Our programs for these students are educationally based programs with a special emphasis on behavioral change. The contracted services placed behavior management before education and many students spent more time in the “Quiet Room” than in the classroom. Contract services place profit before students. I am told that I have more books on one bookshelf in my classroom than the contracted service had in the entire school! If our schools close, the state will have to revert to expensive, inferior contracted programming. Children with difficult emotional and severe behavioral challenges due to abuse, neglect, and abandonment need specialized, intense education to progress. They need a behavioral system that is fair and provides rewards frequently.
There are no programs where a pregnant or parenting teen can complete her high school education with her baby present, receiving parenting and mentoring classes with full academics. Where else does this happen? Without child care how many of these young women are going to be able to finish high school? How many will end up using the system instead of working?

In closing, I want you to know that we are successful schools who have a rich history of providing innovative educational services to the most vulnerable children in the state who do not have other educational programs to go to. We have been expanding over time to include students who were once in expensive contracted services that did not provide adequately for them. Everyone is happy…students, families, local districts, and the staff.
Since Commissioner Ricketts admits this as a policy change, not a budget savings matter, I can’t help but wonder who stands to profit from this change? Why close these schools? Move us back to DHS where we flourished or move us to the Department of Education.
Please come visit our schools and spend some time with our students.

Sincerely,
(Name withheld for privacy)

Hello All..

Hmm.. where have I been you ask?


unbeknowest to me.. during the small victory we all felt after LAST Wednesday's testimony in front of the senate budget hearing with kimberly ricketts....on my way to my mailbox was a denial letter regarding the mediation form.

By know you must of heard of this form, that is sent to The local district school superintendent and NJ Office of Special Education. This form is supposed to start an investiagtion at the state level regarding the placement or other difficult situation between the student and the school/service provider.

We were hoping that this form will help keep our kids in the placements that they currently have, instead of moving them under the jurisdication of the local school districts..

The denial letter stated that the mediation form request did not comply with NJ law.
Im looking into this.. will post when i have some acceptable answers.... which i doubt there will be any.

SOURCE
05-08-09

New Jersey's Department of Children and Families (DCF) has announced plans to close 18 regional day schools for disabled and troubled kids by June 2010, including one in Gloucester County.

DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts told the Assembly Budget Committee this week that the decision was not based on economics but on declining enrollment and the department's desire to focus on its core mission of child protection. When children transfer to county or local districts, she said, tuition money would follow them.

Currently, DCF provides year 'round education and support to special-needs children and young adults ages 3 through 21. According to the DCF Web site, the "severity or uniqueness" of their needs requires removal from the public school setting.

Of the 560 students currently enrolled, 248 are said to have "severe disabilities," some of which are physical in nature, requiring constant care. The question posed by parents and legislators is whether local school districts are any better prepared to handle these children than they were in the past. It does not appear to have been answered sufficiently.

Other than those who are severely disabled, DCF students probably could be integrated into other alternative programs operated by local districts and nonprofit agencies. DCF, for example, is charged with educating children with moderate learning disabilities, those who are pregnant or parenting, and abandoned or homeless students with no district of residence.

DCF also operates some unique residential schools that will not close. But in several of these categories, it may be duplicating other services. If the regional schools close, more than 500 employees would lose jobs, but Ricketts expects many to be hired by local districts.

It's appropriate for the Department of Children and Families to transfer educational services to the Department of Education. It's not appropriate, however, to dump about 250 students with highly individualized needs onto unprepared local districts. It's not at all clear that local districts can provide equivalent services, or that the costs won't be higher when they try.

The Legislature and the public deserve more information about the regional schools and the children they serve before DCF shuts them down.

SOURCE

05-13-09


(AP) — TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey's child welfare chief is again being criticized over plans to close 18 schools that serve students with disabilities.

Kimberly Ricketts, commissioner of the Children and Families Department, says the closures are a "policy decision." The closures would be complete by next June.

She says enrollment has plunged over the past decade, and the county or local school districts that would absorb the students are capable of serving them.




The plan was discussed Wednesday at a Senate budget hearing, where some lawmakers questioned its necessity and timing. Parents and teachers from the schools expressed frustration.

At an Assembly budget hearing last week, lawmakers raised similar questions and a protest was held nearby.

GO HERE

Click on May 13, 2009 10 am.

05-06-09
SOURCE

TRENTON - The New Jersey child welfare agency's plan to close 17 schools and two programs that serve children with disabilities, at-risk youths, pregnant teenagers, and teen parents drew intense questioning from lawmakers at a budget hearing yesterday.

Department of Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts spent much of the hearing defending the decision to close the schools and two satellite programs at hospitals.

Nine of the schools, including the Burlington campus in Mount Holly, are to close by August. The remainder, including the Cherry Hill and Gloucester campuses, are scheduled to close by the summer of 2010. The Burlington school has about 24 students, Cherry Hill 70, and Gloucester 14, according to department spokeswoman Kate Bernyck. About 560 students attend the schools statewide.

Ricketts said the department was closing the schools for policy reasons, not budgetary ones, and made the decision working with the state Department of Education. Department officials say the move is expected to save $4 million annually when all the schools are closed.

"We are absolutely committed to the appropriate transition to placements in the public sector for each child," Ricketts said. She said the department decided to close the regional schools in part to focus on child welfare and child protection and in part because of declining enrollment.

In the late 1990s, the state had more than 1,200 students in state-run schools with severe disabilities, compared with about 248 students today, Ricketts said. The remainder of the students are at-risk youths and teens who are pregnant or parents.

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D., Passaic) asked whether local school districts would have the expertise and ability to deal with the children.

Ricketts said 7,000 students with severe disabilities were being served by local school districts. "We no longer see a need for there to be two systems" providing the same types of educational services, Ricketts said.

Ricketts said the department had sent parents with children in the regional schools two letters informing them of the changes. Next, school officials will meet with families to determine where a child will be sent after a school is closed, she said.

Ricketts said several local school districts had expressed "enthusiastic interest" in hiring state employees who are working with the students. Some school systems have proposed incorporating entire facilities within their districts, Ricketts said.

About 400 full-time state employees and 100 part-timers work at the schools and satellite programs, according to Bernyck. She said she could not say how many would lose their jobs.

Assemblyman Joseph Malone of Burlington County, the Republican budget officer, asked the department to consider extending the transition to ease the process for students and their families.

Much of the hours-long hearing focused on the school closings.

At one point, parents and staff members from some of the schools held a news conference in a room one floor below.

Parents, some in tears, said they were grateful to be able to send their children to the regional schools, where they said they receive special care from knowledgeable and responsive teachers.

Jocelyn Reyes, the parent of a child at the regional school in Essex County, said districts were scrambling to find places for the children.

"They are trying to slap together a plan," Reyes said. "They don't want our children. They keep stating they are only following orders. I think our kids deserve better. I believe they should be where they are wanted."

Nancy Brooks, who teaches at a regional school in Bergen County, spoke of the dedication required to teach students with special needs.

"We are teachers who have answered a special calling, teachers who are adept at forming relationship so that we may hear children who cannot talk, nurse hearts that are broken, build confidence where there is none, reach children who have retreated, and inspire children to work toward their greatest educational potential in the face of overwhelming obstacles," Brooks said.

Joe Finch, an 18-year-old Camden County resident who attends the regional school in Cherry Hill, said the district where he was supposed to attend school made it clear he was not wanted there, telling him he would not make it.

Finch, who has struggled with drugs and cut his wrists, resulting in multiple school suspensions, numerous hospitalizations, and a nine-month stay at a group home, said the teachers at the regional school helped him with schoolwork and problems at home.

Finch is graduating this year and hopes to attend college to study literature. For the younger students, he said, he is sorry to see the state close the schools.

"Even though I am graduating, I think it would be in the best interest to keep the group-home kids at DCF," Finch said. "It is not a want, it is a need."

05-06-09
SOURCE

Children with special needs have, well, special needs.

for 30 years the state has had a seperate school system for the severely disabled and other children with behavioral issues.

Known as Regional Schools, they currently fall under the purview of the Department of Children and Families. And that, my friends, brings me to this blogpost because Kimberly Ricketts from DCF testified before the Assembly Budget Committee yesterday.

The issue of these regional schools dominated the hearing, which was ostensibly about next year’s budget.

As it turns out, there are 560 students in these 18 regional schools. They are all are scheduled to close just in time for the next school year forcing these students into the care of the local school districts.

Parents of these children are furious. They say the state is doing this hastily without a proper plan. They say school budgets have already been approved, and thses new students are going to cost additional money.

The state counters that it will save $4 million ( which by the way, is not whole heck of a lot in a $30 billion budget ).

Ricketts claims this plan has been in the works for more than ten years, and obviously they will not allow children to slip through the cracks. Everyone will have a place to go.

But it does raise questions about how prepared local districts are to handle an influx of new students who have previously needed a special kind of care.

Let’s hope someone has a plan because if there is one, the parents say “we haven’t heard it.”

5/13/09
SOURCE


TRENTON, N.J. — The help that Maria Zevallos found for her son Jaime's daily seizures - a school for the handicapped, where the staff got to know him well and could help treat him - is going away.

That school will be closed, along with 17 others run by the state that serve handicapped or troubled young people.

The closures, by the state Department of Children and Families, will start this year and be complete by next summer. Students will be sent to local and county school districts, but staff members say there is no concrete plan for them.


Department Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts said Wednesday the closures are a "policy decision," not a budget cut. She said enrollment has plunged over the past decade and the school districts are capable of serving the students. She has also said running the schools is not part of her agency's core mission of child protection.

She said staff and faculty can apply for other state jobs or try to work for the school districts, which have shown interest in hiring them.

The closures were discussed Wednesday at a packed Senate budget hearing, where some lawmakers questioned its necessity and timing. Parents and teachers from the schools attended and expressed frustration at Ricketts' comments.

At an Assembly budget hearing last week, lawmakers raised similar questions and a protest was held nearby.

"You can tell me the district can provide services for my child? I don't think so," said Deborah Cox, whose 14-year-old daughter Bethany attends the same school as Jaime Zevallos, in Passaic County.

Bethany, who has a heart condition and a chromosomal abnormality, is roughly 3 feet tall, weighs 41 pounds and was being pushed in a stroller Wednesday. At times she stuck her bare right foot in her mouth.

Scattered throughout New Jersey, the schools offer 12-month programs for students between the ages of 3 and 21. They serve physically and mentally handicapped, juvenile delinquents and others who did poorly in public school.

Students can learn math, history and other general topics, and if need be, "lifestyle" lessons on, say, feeding themselves or putting items away in a kitchen.

Staff say they know the students intimately and can better serve them than public school districts, where there is less individual attention.

Amalio Rodriguez, who teaches at Jaime's and Bethany's school, said the staff there are trained in CPR and specific emergency procedures for each student.

Once in the school districts, the students would be in unfamiliar settings and could be harassed by other pupils, said Sen. Dana Redd, D-Camden. She drew applause from the audience when she asked whether the plan was needed if saving money was not its goal.

"Is this something that we really have to do?" she said.

Chairwoman.. Noted the crowds enthusiasm ..!

Same senator... Stop this

A... No answer

. Silent applause.... Through the crowd

Another senator.... Where's the plan?

A. No.

Q. By sen ruiz. .. Were they any public hearings regarding this decisions?

A... More of the same... Duplication. federal money follows..

Q. Once this moves to dept of education.. . 40000 cost per child minimum to local school districts.. Local tax payers?. You might save 4 million.. Or whatever it is.. But for dept of ed. Won't.... This is a prime example of cost shifting.

A.. Based on treasury dept. On service and operation costs.. Just an estimate

Q.. How did you formulate the 4 million cost savings?

Statement.. You need a structured plan.

Statement.. We don't think you know enough..

.statement... We don't see a real plan..

Q. Do we tell taxpayers this program wil be less expensive.. Same or better quality.. ?

A. Federal funds wil follow student..

Q. Can we say confidently the cost isn't going to ballon this program?

A.. No answer.

Q.. Are you saying your going to tell us your funding plan. After you've done everything..? We want all the numbers.can you give us that?

A. Due to effieincy of local district... Crowd hisses

Q. Declining enrollment..why?

A... We are STARTING one on one meetings.. ...

Q.. How is this timeline feasible? Is this realistic? Do you have a plan?

... Turns out there are 564 plus 64 state responsible kids in these schools..

A.. Due to low enrollment.. Decision made with dept of ed.

.Q.. By another senator... If this isn't budget.. Why? And why now..? Timing is rushed.

..... 10 minutes later and she still hasn't answered the question... 1154

Q.. If this isn't a budget decision.. Does this need to happen?

" we will put services in place.. A childs iep is a childs iep... We r legally bound"

Q.. How r 12 month IEP handled?

" we r not going to move any children into placements that are not ready"

A.staff can apply for positions in local government.. With guidance from civil service commision.

...Q.. What will happen to staff?

Im going to post audio ... Let the ripping begin!

....we r not closing the schools...

Services that regional schools provide are duplicative of what local districts provide.. Currently providing services to 7k students........

A. This was not a budget decision.. This is a evolution from the 90s.. Made with dept of education .

... How did you arrive @ the decision to close the schools...was it financial or policy?

...she is very comfortable answering questions that pertain to DYFS.... Lets see how she handles questions regarding regional schools...

.... I wonder if she can respond to a question without having someone else feed her the answer..

Ricketts cut 64K for staff that supports county dept of Human Services... Reduction and relallocation... Decisioon was made to cut positions/funding....without understanding impact first..

....1058.. Questions begin....

..retained = retaliation ...

"...Dec 08.. 175K calls to DCF".. Wonder how many were REAL cases of abuse?.. What happens when a angry neigbor calls on you? Or someone calls out of retained ?.. What protection does the parent have?

Ricketts begins with the same statement as in the Budget assembly hearing...

...R

1043.. Budget hearing commences...

1040 am... As per KARA P WOOD.. Ms. Ricketts Chief of staff... Monmouth School. Was visited.It went from All schools.to 1 school.

The room here is standing room only... Its running late...

Sitting in State House... KIMBERLY RICKETTS.DCF Commissioner..wll be testifying shortly... She has been speaking to some off the parents..she stated that she has visited our schools... Really?... Anyone reading please confirm this.

Bad Budget Moment of the Week: No, not the Monmouth University/Gannett Poll in which 65 percent of recipients think the budget proposal is just the same old politics, 48 percent says it doesn’t cut enough while more than 60 percent oppose cutting aid to municipalities and the arts. Nor is it the news that we may be looking at revenue projections that are another billion dollars lower than anticipated. No the worst moment -- for the Governor -- may have been yesterday’s Budget Committee hearing attended by a bunch of special needs children protesting the closing of 18 special needs schools. Children and Families Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts offered credible explanations of how mainstream schools can handle these students, but, if these kids become the optic for the Governor’s budget, he’ll need more than credible explanations.

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Your product information source for disability products and services!

When you go to your local medical equipment dealer, you are limited to the products your dealer has in their showroom. There are many other products available for you. Our mission is to show you them, and help you locate them.

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SOURCE

We invite you to experience film and video related to the field of developmental disabilities.
People with developmental disabilities as subjects and performers remain marginalized in the media. The Sprout Film Festival aims to raise their profile by showcasing works of all genres featuring this population.

By presenting films of artistry and intellect, the festival hopes to reinforce accurate portrayals of people with developmental disabilities and expose the general public to important issues facing this population. The goal is an enjoyable and enlightening experience that will help breakdown stereotypes, promoting a greater acceptance of differences and awareness of similarities.

History

The Sprout Film Festival was founded in 2003 and is programmed and supported by Sprout, a NYC-based non-profit organization, dedicated to bringing innovative programming to people with developmental disabilities. Sprout has been making videos related to the field of developmental disabilities since 1995 and has witnessed the myriad benefits these videos have for this population and the general public.

Contact

Sprout 888-222-9575

Go there
================================================================================
Sprout Film Festival - International Documentaries focusing on Special Needs

For Students, Parents and the General Public



Get Tickets and directions


TICKET INFORMATION
* Food and drinks are not allowed inside the screening rooms.
* All sales are final, there will be no refunds or exchanges.
* Festival is appropriate for ages 10 and up.
* We appreciate that children be accompanied by a parent.
For additional information call 212-223-5055

GENERAL ADMISSION

Program 1 (3:15-5:00pm)
Program 2 (5:15-7:00pm)

General Public: $15 for 1 program or $20 for two programs

Ο Single Program $15.00 Please specify which program:
Ο Two Programs $20.00

Ο TCS Discount $10 Total for both

Limited Seating
Please Buy Tickets in Advance
www.thechildschool.org

BY PHONE:
To use a Credit Card call 212-223-5055

BY MAIL:
Checks and money orders only - payable to:
The Child School 587 Main Street Roosevelt Island, NY 10044
Please specify how many tickets and for which programs.

IN PERSON:
Tickets may be purchased at The Child School 587 Main Street Roosevelt Island
Monday - Friday (8am - 4pm)


DIRECTIONS
Take the F subway train
conveniently 1 stop east of Lexington Avenue
You can also take the Tram or Car to Roosevelt Island.
Get directions with our student-created map online.


Learn what it's like to have a disability in Ghana, Iran, Iceland, Lebanon, UK, USA & Japan. Topics such as acceptance, inspiration, college, challenges, stigmas, dreams, advocacy & prejudice.


Program 1 3:15-5:00pm

SVEN-G-EGLAR
9 min. / Music Video / Iceland
This unforgettable video, features the Perlan special-needs theatre group acting out a simple but beautiful play about the elements.

DIFFERENCE IS NORMAL
3 min. / Music Video / Lebanon / in Lebanese with English subtitles
A unique music video from Lebanon with
a universal message of acceptance and tolerance.

LIVING RIGHTS: YOSHI
29 min. / Documentary / Netherlands / in Japanese w/ English subtitles Sixteen-year-old Yoshi has Asperger's Syndrome. Yoshi's dream is to attend a regular Japanese high school, but his disability has prevented him from making that dream happen. He is working to understand his disability and make changes.

SOUVENIR
21 min. / Narrative / Iran / in Iranian with English subtitles
A father and his son with Down syndrome navigate life's difficulties on the streets of Tehran, tackling unemployment, prejudice and homelessness. We see the complexity of surviving life's challenges on the Iranian-Afghan border.
READY OR NOT
16 min. / Documentary / USA
This documentary follows three New York City high school seniors with different disabilities as they graduate and attempt to make plans for their future.

LOOK I'M IN COLLEGE!
31 min. / Documentary / USA
The story of what happens when four young men with autism, from a public school, are chosen to pilot a college inclusion program in NYC.



Program 2 5:15-7:00pm

THE THIRD PARENT
6 min. / Documentary / USA
Exploring the relationship between Ariana, an eleven-year old girl, and Marcello, her five-year old non-verbal autistic brother.

WHO IS DISABLED?
8 min. / Documentary / Ghana Challenging our notion of "handicapped," this short film from Ghana illuminates the stigmas and prejudices parents face when raising a child with disabilities in West Africa.

FATHER'S VOICES
14 min. / Documentary / USA
Focuses on four men raising children with developmental disabilities. In a close up, honest and powerful manner, they share their hopes, dreams, joys and challenges.

TALK TO ME
27 min. / Documentary / USA
Takes viewers into the lives of children with autism at home and at school, and profiles the efforts of their parents and teachers to help them achieve their potential. The families are struggling to obtain appropriate services.

CHILDREN OF THE STARS
50 min. / Documentary / China
There are hundreds of thousands of families
in China who are affected by autism.
These families often face a desperate situation. They have little or no knowledge
of autism and do not know how to teach or cope with their child. They are also largely excluded by a society that does not understand or accept them.

Why cant we have something like this in NJ

Go there

Download

Who: Mayor C. Booker (Newark, NJ)
When: 05-11-09
Source


This week, I became a more active tweeter (@CoryBooker)! I was encouraged by the dialogue that came from one of my tweets regarding education reform. There is no doubt that America faces severe educational challenges.

We are a nation that proclaims unalienable rights and "that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These are not some ethereal principles -- they are tangible and worthy ideals for which to struggle. Our children call to us daily from schools across the nation that we are "one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." Justice, liberty, life, happiness -- critical to all of these ideals are wide universally accessible avenues for our youth to obtain a high quality education.

Few can argue with this and few would argue that the long-term success of our nation, in an increasingly competitive global knowledge-based economy, relies squarely on what is happening in American classrooms every day. In the United States, a highly educated populace would result in a GDP trillions of dollars higher than our present GDP -- more jobs and more opportunities for so many Americans.

As other nations continue to outpace us in K-12 education, our country must seriously grapple with the consequences of lack of progress in school improvement. Further, American demographic shifts should sober all of us as to the work that must be done in America. Every year, minorities comprise a greater percentage of our total workforce, yet the racial achievement gap (and socioeconomic achievement gap) in American education remains unacceptably large. We cannot be two nations -- one with access to high quality schools and another with failing schools and limited options.

There is, however, tremendous hope in America for change. David Brooks' opinion piece in last Thursday's New York Times clearly articulates the potential of education reform. Schools in Harlem, Newark and numerous other cities are succeeding in replicating models that are erasing the education gap evident along both racial and socioeconomic lines. In fact, the highest performing public school in all of Essex County, New Jersey -- a county that has both pockets of poverty and great affluence -- is a Newark charter school with a student population that is nearly entirely minority and with a significant percentage near or below the poverty line.

In America now, I can confidently say that it is no longer a question of CAN we educate all of our children at equal and high levels -- it is a question of WILL we.

This is not a philosophical debate. I have no loyalty to charter schools, traditional public schools, magnet schools, small school models, publicly funded scholarships (vouchers) or private schools. I have loyalty to results. The important question should not be one of philosophy or political perspective, it should be: What is working to empower poor and minority children to have the same educational opportunities in America as those who are more affluent? We should embrace those successful school models, learn from them, infuse that understanding into all of our reform efforts and no longer tolerate any institution that fails to live up to our common community standards of excellence.

In Newark, there are many models of success and we are aggressively working to replicate and expand them. Last year, Newark was selected as one of three cities for a huge investment in our charter schools. The goal is to make our entire charter school sector in Newark high quality in accordance with the highest and most uncompromising standards and outcomes and work to expand those schools so more Newark youth can have high quality choice.

We have recently begun a small school initiative for our high school students who are at risk of dropping out. Further, among other things, our new superintendent is looking to expand our magnet schools of excellence which have long waiting lists and completely reorganize our persistently failing schools.

Here in Newark, there is much work to do and we face many challenges. As Mayor of this great city, I want everyone to understand that, beyond continuing the dramatic reduction in violent crime, the fight to realize our educational dreams for our children is the most important work of Newark.

More than this, the most important work in our nation is the fight in cities all across America to establish a United States education system of the highest standards and achievement to finally secure our nation's ambitions. K-12 education is the front line of the fight for the American dream -- our elected officials, policy makers, educators, administrators, parents and students are engaged in the last great struggle to help our nation achieve herself - we all must join in this struggle for the outcome of this fight will determine our common destiny. If we fail, America fails.

Let us take up the cause of America again, like those who signed our original declaration, and the many more unnamed heroes who bled to push, pull, drag and lift our nation closer to its sacred ideals. Let us all take up the cause of educational justice -- it is the cause of American justice.

As our Declaration of Independence concludes, "With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

DOWNLOAD

List of all the approved NJ Department of Children and Families
Licensed Child Care Centers
As of May 5/5/09

information enclosed:


COUNTY
NAME
LOCATION
AGES
SERVED
LIC. CAPACITY
PHONE

....... where is the money kimberly ricketts stated in her testimony that goes to childcare for our disabled kids.......

Don't Forget

When: WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM
What: Department of Children and Families hearing before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee!
Where: Statehouse Annex/ 125 W. State Street, Trenton, NJ

GET YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED!
Below you will find a list of some of the Senate Budget Committee members that cover most of our Regional School Districts!

Staff and especially parents should contact some of the members of the Senate budget committee between now and Tuesday. Any staff or parents who live in these districts should call and send letters:

Senator Kevin J. O'Toole (Republican) District Office: 155 Route 46 West, Suite 108, Wayne, NJ 07470 (973) 237-1360

Senator Sandra B. Cunningham (Democrat) District Office: 1738 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07305 (201) 451-5100

Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (Democrat) District Office: 166 Bloomfield Ave., Newark, NJ 07104 (973) 484-1000

Senator Anthony R. Bucco (Republican) District Office: 75 Bloomfield Ave., Suite 302, 3rd Floor, Denville, NJ 07834 (973) 627-9700

Senator Marcia A. Karrow (Republican) District Office: 1 Maple Avenue, Flemington, NJ 08822 (908) 782-5127

Senator Steven V. Oroho (Republican) District Office: 115 Demarest Rd., Suite 2B, Sparta, NJ 07871 (973) 300-0200
District Office: 227 Route 206, Bldg. 1, 1st Floor, Flanders, NJ 07836 (973) 584-4670


Senator Joseph Pennacchio (Republican) District Office: 101 Gibraltar Dr., Suite 1-A, Morris Plains, NJ 07950 (973) 984-0922

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers day!

How i stayed away from posting i have no clue.. but im back... :)

Im putting together another wave of mediation forms ..
these letters will go out on Friday, May 15.
Cut off date is Wednseday, May 13.

The next wave will not go out till June 5th, Cut off May 31st.

if your parents are interested please contact me. testcardkids@gmail.com

SOURCE

/// a blogpost i found//

You Know What Governor Corzine: GO TO HELL!

On December 23 this past holiday season, my daughter was invited to sing Christmas songs at the NJ Children and Family School for Special Needs, Ocean County campus by my favorite Jewish-Lib-Dem friend. She works there once a week. Let me tell you, it’s something to see these children with helmets on to protect themselves, needing special units to move from A to B just filled with love for those people that are there to fill them with love. If you think you have it bad, try being the health care taker that cleans the diaper of a an 11 year old as he squirms around and fights the process. When I was there a worker came in on her day off (State worker mind you) because she wanted to share the morning with the kids who were being sung to. In case you missed it, this was the announcement this past week:



“As many as 560 students with special needs or circumstances across New Jersey must begin searching for new public education facilities because the state Department of Children and Families will close its 18 regional schools and two hospital centers...”



As horrible as that is; this was announced the next day...



“The Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy seems intent on rolling out the red carpet for illegal aliens. Many of its recommendations, released earlier this week, should be ignored: chief among them, making illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition rates for all levels of education...” It went on, “as governor, I have to make difficult decisions in difficult times. This is the sort of thing that has me awake at night.”



Now let’s get this straight: Corzine is closing schools that house 560 New Jersey kids that were given a raw deal in life, whose care takers sacrifice and that performing work for less than the guy who can’t count change on the GSP that is a lesson in humility to pass the savings onto illegal immigrants. Operative word: ILLEGAL! This is 2009 and everything is looked at at a financial level. Corzine is saying, “you’re all retarded, you’re all a drain on the economy, you don’t matter.” He hides behind the tired phrase of “in tough times I make tough decisions.” Well this was not all that tough. Corzine sees educated illegals as potential taxpayers and it is that simple. Blue Ribbon committees charters are to come up with a return-on-investment (ROI) and this would not be a recommendation if there were no ROI attached. The only thing that had Corzine up at night is Carla Katz who was banging her way to the top (almost) of the CWA.



These kids have done nothing in life to deserve the fastball they caught under the chin at birth. They are not a burden. They don’t break the law. They don’t hurt anyone. For 7 hours a day they are given undivided attention from caring and committed professionals that maybe lacking at home. These are the professionals that come in on their day off and don’t punch in. These are the people that are literally elbow deep in shit while CWA and the no-load pension whores moan about not getting the day after Thanksgiving off.

SOURCE 04-13-09

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF policy during the eight years the Democrats have been in power in Trenton is like an old-fashioned shell game: place a pea under one of three cups, rapidly shuffle the cups, stop, and make the observer guess which of the cups hides the pea.

Is the hand quicker than the eye? Let’s see.

First, the Democrats raised sales taxes from 6 percent to 7 percent with the promise that the sales tax increase would fund a sustained property tax rebate program for most of us.

Then Jon Corzine went so far as say that over his first four years as governor he would increase those rebates by 40 percent.

Now, he says, this year there won’t be rebates for middle-class, suburban homeowners who are not senior citizens. He says there’s no money in the budget. The global recession — that could not be anticipated even by this former-Wall-Street-guru-now-governor — has put state government billions of dollars in the red.

But Corzine, despite this, reminds us that he’s nonetheless providing property tax relief by each year increasing state aid to education in each town in New Jersey, including your town.

Are you following this?

Corzine says, rightfully, that since school taxes on average make up about of 60 percent of your property tax bill, state aid to school districts helps hold the line on your overall property tax.

OK, at least that’s something back for your high state taxes. Well, not really.

Why? Because New Jersey will be receiving almost $2 billion in federal economic stimulus money to help fund state school aid and school construction programs.

Laundered stimulus money

It’s clear that much of the state school aid Corzine says he’s sending our towns to help hold the line on property taxes will be nothing other than “laundered” federal economic stimulus money – borrowed money. The federal government in the future will have to pay that money back. And, as you know, that means that each of today’s high school students will be paying off that debt in higher federal taxes and/or inflated retail prices for much of their working lives.

Then there are the numerous ways Corzine is actually contributing to our local and county property tax burden:

► Each year, Corzine has been decreasing state aid to municipalities while increasing aid to cities. To make up the difference, suburban residents pay higher local property taxes as they continue to subsidize city taxpayers.

► The state continues to mandate government responsibilities to Bergen and Passaic counties and demands that residents pay for those programs with county property tax dollars. For example, our county prosecutors are appointed by the governor and answer to the state’s attorney general, but county taxes pay for the tens of millions of dollars it costs each year for those state-run offices.

► Corzine is going ahead with the Council on Affordable Housing plan. That’s a state plan to place quota-based low income housing into each town in New Jersey. Experts say it will cost taxpayers $2 billion, much of that coming from increases in local property taxes.

► Now we hear that Corzine is closing down the three state special-needs schools in our area – in Paramus, Totowa and Wanaque. These facilities provide year-round schooling to about 170 kids with severe physical and emotional handicaps at an estimated cost of $30,000 a child. There is no doubt that these children need and deserve our help, but now that help in the future will have to come from local school boards at what promises to be added cost to local property taxpayers.

Watching the cups

Are you watching those cups as Corzine shuffles them around?

Are you thinking, why didn’t Corzine and the Democrats save money for these “rainy days?”

SOURCE 03-11-09

Good afternoon, and thank you all for attending today’s budget address. Reverend clergy; Senate President Codey; Speaker Roberts; Chief Justice Rabner; Judge Glen Grant; Members of the Legislature; Members of the Cabinet; Former governors Byrne and DiFrancesco; Honored guests and fellow New Jerseyans.

Every day, across New Jersey, across America, millions of people are sitting down at their kitchen tables and sorting out their family budgets. On the backs of envelopes … with pencils and calculators in hand … surrounded by stacks of bills and receipts … families are figuring out how to balance their income and expenses …And they’re doing this amid alarming economic circumstances.

You pick up the newspaper and see the national unemployment rate rising above 8%. You see neighbors losing their jobs, their homes and their health care. People worry they might be next.

The economy may not be “in shambles” as Warren Buffet remarked last week, but it is clear that this is no ordinary recession. And the costs of this economic crisis are exacting a serious, human toll.

People from all walks of life are tightening their belts. Around the kitchen table, every family knows what it means to make tough choices in these tough times. But people also understand the importance of making the right choices. They identify their most important priorities, and they change their spending habits to live within their means.

That’s exactly what those of us in this chamber must do in this budget season. I come before you today to speak candidly and directly about our state’s finances - not just to you, but also to the people of New Jersey.

Make no mistake: because of where the world is right now, we must move in directions we might not otherwise choose. Tough times require that we make the right choices, and that we do the right thing for the common good. By making the right decisions now, New Jersey can and will emerge from this national economic crisis stronger, sooner, and more prosperous.

To that purpose, the budget I am proposing for FY 2010 totals $29.8 billion - that’s $1 billion less than the first budget I presented in 2006. Stop and think about it, since 1947, every governor before me has grown spending over their four years.

With this proposal, we will have reduced spending two years in a row and will literally spend less than in the first budget I presented in 2006. This isn’t a matter of debate or nuance. It’s a fact.

It is also a measure of the times in which we live. It is a demonstration that here in Trenton, we are dealing with the state’s finances exactly as every family in New Jersey is dealing with theirs. We are living within our means. We are not spending more than we are taking in. We are making the tough choices to do the right thing. And … just like the choices that a family makes around the kitchen table about its spending, the decisions I have made in laying out this budget reflect a clear ranking of my priorities and a core values.

These priorities and values are the same ones that have guided my administration since I took office. Those values reflect a lifetime of experience and are informed by the voices of our fellow citizens, not just the loudest voices, but those who too often don’t have a voice.

Yes, we are cutting the size of government, but because of our values, we have made it a priority to continue: Nurturing our children, honoring seniors, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and I want to make it clear that we must maintain these priorities at the same time that we work to minimize the tax burden on our citizens.

We’ve been able to enshrine these values in a leaner budget because, for three years, we governed responsibly. We eliminated the gimmicks and one-shots that past administrations used to paper over the state’s debt. We reduced and streamlined state government. We funded state employee pensions and the unemployment trust fund. We were the first state in the nation to respond to the global recession with a comprehensive economic recovery program.

Because we chose to do the right things yesterday, we are able to keep doing the right things today. In FY 2009, declining revenues required cuts of over $2 billion in state spending, as it turns out, that was just the start.

The global recession took a further toll on our revenues, so we have cut almost $4 billion in baseline spending from this year’s budget. But before we cut, we made a value-based judgment to take some things off the table.

There are certain parts of our government’s work that we must sustain. In New Jersey, we recognize the importance of our children, they are our bright hope for the future. To that purpose, in this budget, we have increased, rather than cut, classroom funding for K-12 education. And with the federal government’s help, we’re giving our children a jump-start on a lifetime of learning.

This budget funds Pre-K education for 50,000 kids - an important down payment on our commitment to universal early childhood education. Our increase in classroom funding allows the state to press ahead with a new formula for school aid that is rooted in educational needs and fairness — not zip codes. Our formula recognizes that half of all “at-risk” children live outside of Abbott districts. The state’s school aid allows communities, rich and poor, urban and suburban, to hire talented educators who fire up our children’s minds and imaginations, because here in New Jersey we believe that every child has a right to be inspired and challenged every day in schools that are among the world’s best. School aid is just one reflection of the value we have placed on learning.

Today, I want to again congratulate the legislature for passing the $3.9 billion school construction program that is about to put 15,000 to 20,000 New Jerseyans back to work while modernizing schools for hundreds of thousands of children, Every generation of children has the right to schools that offer a clean, safe, and stimulating environment for learning.

Just as we value our kids’ education, we value their health. That’s why we’ve expanded our Family Care program to include a child mandate and enrolled many thousands more kids and their families - particularly mothers seeking pre- and post-natal care.

Providing health care for our children is a priority in this budget, just as it has been in years past. On this point, I have been clear. When the Bush administration tried to cut 10,000 kids out of New Jersey’s Family Care program, we said “no.” We even went to court and made it a “federal case”. Throwing kids off health care is not the way we do business in New Jersey.

Now, with the help of key members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, we can be certain of advancing children’s health in partnership with the federal government. And just as with education and health care, we are spending wisely to improve the lives of children who require placement outside of their homes. Our Division of Children and Families has gone from being among the most poorly-rated in the country, to among the very best. Our budget priorities make it clear kids count!

We are also protecting seniors in this budget because we believe that, as a community, we have a responsibility to honor our parents and grandparents. Not only does this budget preserve the senior property tax freeze, it expands it. We have also preserved all homestead rebates for senior homeowners and renters. We want to make sure that our parents have a choice of staying in the homes where they have raised their families. And we want to make sure that our grandparents can live where they’re most comfortable and where long-term care is most affordable. Seniors have a right to live in dignity and comfort …that’s why my administration has found ways to increase assistance for home heating and senior health care.

This budget also reflects the view that when people who have played by the rules fall on hard times. When they get sick, or lose their jobs, or stumble into a run of bad luck government will help them get back on their feet - with a hand up, not a hand out.

This budget provides that helping hand by maintaining emergency funds for food banks, avoiding cuts to charity care, investing in worker re-training, expanding the earned income tax credit, funding our groundbreaking efforts to stave off home foreclosures, through mortgage mediation and loan modification, and by preserving funding for the developmentally disabled and community providers.

We must not - and we will not - balance this budget on the backs of people, who through little or no fault of their own, have been caught in the rip-tide of the economic tsunami.

Let me repeat: Even as we cut the cost of government in unprecedented and historic amounts, we are doing so in the right way — the way that sustains our abiding commitment to those core values…

Again, nurturing our children, honoring our seniors, and protecting the most vulnerable.

These are the basic values I have held for the past decade as I’ve fought for New Jersey families on the floor of the United States Senate and here in the State House. Throughout those years, I have guided my judgment by doing only what is best for New Jerseyans. Whether the question has been balancing the budget, or sending our soldiers to war, or holding corporations accountable, I may not have always done what was popular in the moment, but you can be damn sure I have always done what I thought was right. But it’s not just me. I take great pride in my administration.

Even in the face of this dire financial circumstance, people have stayed true to our core values. From the cabinet members on down, this administration has refused to look for the easy way out. Even so, I don’t need to remind you that the current economic crisis has taken a sharp toll on our revenues, as it has in every state across the nation. The difference is New Jersey is weathering the storm with better outcomes than many.

Our unemployment rate is below the national average. And as of January, at least 18 states had higher jobless rates than New Jersey — often, significantly higher. Our incomes are nearly the highest in the nation, and while our budget gap is among the larger, we are managing that challenge without shuttering government, like California, or missing a payroll, like Kansas, or ignoring the unemployed, like South Carolina.

Now, let’s lay out the numbers in basic terms. This fiscal year, which runs through June, the state will take in about $30 billion - about $3 billion less than we originally planned. In the coming FY 2010, we’re projecting base revenues of only $28.5 billion.

Even with important help from the federal government — the declining revenue meant we had to make deep cuts in spending to balance the 2010 budget. With respect to budget cuts, there are two ways to compare the numbers: in absolute terms - as I just outlined - or in terms that reflect baseline growth. In absolute terms, we need to cut $3 billion to bring this budget into balance. In baseline growth, we need to find a “staggering” $7 billion in spending and revenue solutions. As you all can appreciate, baseline growth is a more practical measure of the state’s budget gap.

Baseline numbers include increases that are mandated by statute, contract, and the courts - contractual wage increases, for instance. A baseline comparison also includes increases in health care and energy costs, supplemental school funding, debt service and court-mandated actions that increase child-welfare expenses.

A family sitting around the kitchen table understands the real pressures in baseline growth. Their health care costs are going up every year their energy costs soared in 2009 and the cost of nearly everything else - from food, to child care, to college tuition - continues to rise. The state budget is no different.

In fact, if we did nothing to curtail growth or adjust our contractual, statutory, and court-mandated obligations, the FY 2010 budget would come in just under $36 billion. As I noted, that’s more than $7 billion over projected revenues. Fortunately, President Barack Obama understood the pressure on states to meet these shortfalls while still keeping teachers in the classroom and police on the street. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides New Jersey about $2 billion in aid to be used for current operations on education and health care.

That still leaves a $5 billion gap in the budget, which we have attacked with $4 billion in cuts to programs, rebates, pension payments, and state worker salaries, In all, over 850 line items in the budget have been cut. The largest cuts will come from reductions in a scaling back of homestead rebates by $500 million, and reducing by another $500 million payments to the pension fund.

I am proposing to save $400 million in personnel costs through a wage freeze and furloughs for employees. This approach calls for shared sacrifice but I believe it is far better for employees to share in these reductions and continue working than it is for savings to be achieved by the layoff of up to 7,000 workers.

It most certainly is better to keep people at work and insured, than in the unemployment lines and on the Medicaid rolls. I’m sure state workers understand the household principle, just as we do, that when a family’s income drops everybody has to tighten their belts.

We all have to share the responsibility of keeping our financial house in order.

Now, let me take a moment to briefly describe some of the options we sought to balance through this budget in hundreds of hours of meetings over the past few months.

In these discussions, we would have preferred not to reduce rebates or pension contributions but we chose to preserve our children’s health care and education funding.

We would have preferred not to cut funding for the arts and humanities but we chose in this financial emergency not to close hospitals or eliminate senior prescription drug assistance.

We didn’t want to cut funding for tourism advertising and beach replenishment but we chose to maintain safe neighborhoods, safe highways, and homeland security.

During those discussions, even as we cut spending, and cut, and then “cut some more”, we also came to a decision that we had to preserve as much property tax relief as possible, given the severe financial pressure middle-class New Jersey homeowners are experiencing.

For instance, this budget has less than a two-percent cut in municipal aid - a small amount in comparison to other line items but one that recognizes that municipalities took a big hit last year. Further, in order to help municipalities balance their budgets and stabilize property taxes, I recommended the much-debated, optional pension deferral. This deferral will provide many communities with enough breathing room to avoid layoffs of police and firefighters.

Following the same reasoning, my budget preserves homestead rebates for over one million moderate and middle-income families earning $75,000 or less. Protecting rebates as much as possible is consistent with one of the most basic priorities of my administration, providing direct property tax relief on a progressive basis. With this budget, my administration will have provided more direct property tax relief in four years than any other governor in New Jersey’s history - nearly $7 billion put directly into the pockets of homeowners.

This substantial commitment recognizes the heavy burden property taxes place on New Jersey families. It also recognizes the power and traditions of home rule. Obviously, no governor can single-handedly fix New Jersey’s local property tax problem. Our state’s 566 towns and 616 school districts need to rationalize their cost structures and hold spending under the cap. They need to share and consolidate services. Until these actions broadly take hold, the underlying problem will remain.

Simply put, New Jersey has too many layers of government. To the credit of many, the process of restructuring is gaining momentum across the state, and we will continue to promote consolidation and shared services wherever and whenever they make sense. There are incentive dollars in this budget that do just that.

In the meantime, however, rebates remain the primary tool by which the state can ease the property tax burden on individual citizens. That is why we should restore the rebates for higher income families as soon as the recovery of state revenues allows. Make no mistake — a $1,000 rebate check is more than meaningful for families who are working out their finances around the kitchen table.

We know that’s absolutely true for fixed-income seniors, many of whom could receive as much as $2,500 — combining both their senior freeze and homestead rebates. And, as family members lose jobs or see their hourly wages fall, the number of taxpayers making less than $75,000 grows. For those citizens, rebates count.

To help pay for the rebates, we have proposed eliminating the property tax deduction next year on state income taxes for everyone but seniors. Now, as I commented, New Jersey faces difficult challenges, but from a better position than many states.

One of the reasons is that, together, we’ve taken serious steps toward fiscal responsibility. As we all understand, for 15 or 20 years, New Jersey budgetary decisions had often gone in another direction - reflecting expediency rather than responsibility.

For many of those years, our government chose to meet its constitutional obligation to balance the budget by using one-shots and gimmicks. Whether it was raiding the unemployment trust fund, borrowing to fill unfunded pension liabilities or securitizing tobacco settlements for current spending. These gimmicks and others undermined the state’s long-term financial strength and stability.

At the time, they were easy fixes. They didn’t require tough choices about what the state could and could not afford. They were actions that didn’t require telling the public the truth. Even worse, they saddled future generations with the cost of that irresponsibility.

With your help, I stopped it.

You can’t correct 15 or 20 years of bad decisions in 38 months, but the steps we’ve taken have put our state’s finances on more solid ground. Over the past three years, we’ve contributed more money to the public pension system than did our predecessors in the preceding 15 years, combined.

Regrettably, in the current crisis we need to temporarily reduce pension funding so that we can sustain our first priorities - our children, seniors, and the most vulnerable. In better times, such an action would be unacceptable. But this is a time of unprecedented economic stress. It is the right choice to make.

Similarly, over the 14 years before I took office, repeated raids of the unemployment trust fund - totaling nearly $5 billion - were used to balance the state’s operating budgets. My administration stopped the raids and in fact bolstered the fund by over $400 million, which avoided sharply higher payroll taxes - over $650 million to be exact - that would have fallen hardest on small businesses.

The unemployment trust fund is now under even more stress, and it would take as much as $500 million dollars in additional spending to avoid a dramatic payroll tax increase.

We cannot make that kind of payment while still maintaining our priorities and preserving property tax relief. But we will make a significant payment that will soften the impact on employers. And we will also seek legislation to require a tax decrease when the fund recovers in a growing economy.

In this budget, we continue in our effort to make state government do more with less, and to hold ourselves accountable to the taxpayers.

My administration has reduced the payrolls of the state and its authorities’ by almost 7,000 employees. We have eliminated departments. We negotiated with public employees and asked them to contribute toward the cost of their health care. We extended the retirement age to 62 and capped the pensions of new state workers. We recognized that sustainable employee benefit programs require serious restructuring to avoid future breakdowns.

The measures we have taken will save the state and local governments $6.4 billion over 15 years. Those dollars count in a year like this. This kind of restructuring needs to be adopted across all levels of government in New Jersey.

We have scrubbed departments for inefficiencies - line by line - and implemented consolidations. We’ve sold cars, cut up state credit cards, and moved out of half-filled, leased warehouse space.

By measures big and small, we have reshaped and resized state government. We have also confronted and put an end to the entrenched ways of doing business in the State House. We ended Christmas tree spending. We approved a constitutional amendment to give voters a voice on state borrowing. And by executive order, I required that recurring expenditures be matched with recurring revenues. Other governors have talked about doing these things. I did them.

This budget continues a 4-year pattern of making the right choices - choices that may not be politically popular today, but which put our state on a stronger footing for tomorrow.
In a time of crisis, we must all share in the responsibility for balancing our finances and that’s why I’m asking those who are the most fortunate among us - the one percent of New Jerseyans with incomes of a half-million dollars or more - to carry a little more of the burden.

To this end, I am proposing a one-year, only, rate increase of ¾ of a percent for those earning more than $500,000. This new revenue, along with small increases in alcohol and cigarette taxes, will allow us to finish closing that $7 billion gap.

As I’ve said repeatedly, the unprecedented circumstances of our national economic crisis requires choices we might not otherwise make. Our responsibility requires us to have the courage to meet these challenges, deliberatively, honestly, with compassion and good judgment. And that is precisely what we have done in crafting this budget.

We faced down a $7 billion shortfall with roughly $4 billion in spending cuts, $2 billion in federal aid, and $1 billion in new revenue.

That left us with $29.8 billion in which to prioritize our children, our seniors, and those who play by the rules but find themselves in dire straits. I’m asking you all to review the proposed budget. Offer alternatives where you find them - as long as those alternatives honestly meet the challenges of full funding, meet legal requirements, and fit within the broad priorities laid out.

I welcome ideas from everyone. I only ask that the ideas be real, be specific, and be fiscally responsible. The last thing that New Jersey needs in today’s environment is political posturing. Posturing won’t save one job, it won’t help one family with property taxes, it won’t improve a single school or save a single business.

As I close, let me be clear, this budget is one part - only one part - of our responsibility to meet head-on the challenges of the global economic crisis. It is not our first step - and it won’t be our last.

Last fall, when the banking and credit sectors collapsed, my administration was ahead of the curve in dealing with the global economic crisis. We were the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive economic recovery plan. I thank the legislature for your forceful and timely response in passing the nine pieces of legislation that made up that recovery package.

Our mortgage mediation and modification program is stabilizing our state’s housing sector, and now, other states - and the federal government - are making similar efforts.

With our Invest New Jersey initiative, we offered a $3,000 grant for every new job created and sustained for at least a year, along with a sales tax exemption for the purchase of new business equipment. In the ten weeks since that grant program has been in place, we’ve received over 800 applications representing 20,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. Each of those 20,000 people represents a New Jerseyan who has the opportunity to wake up every day, knowing that he or she has a job.

We also reformed New Jersey’s corporate tax code to make our state more business friendly. We enabled businesses to carry forward tax loss benefits for up to 20 years. We eliminated the Throw-Out and Regular Place of Business Rules that penalized companies headquartered in New Jersey. We enacted permit extension provisions. We created a clean energy fund and put in place incentives for public investments in energy efficiency.

All of these measures have cushioned us against the blow of this global recession. These actions may even produce growing revenues for future state budgets.

Now, I’ve taken some heat from our neighbors — particularly up north. Some have accused me of trying to steal their companies. I get accused of a lot of things, but this is one offense I’m willing to cop to. Let’s be clear - our economic recovery plan sends a clear and unequivocal message to employers: New Jersey is a great place to do business.

When we move legislation to expand the urban hub tax credits, when we pass the revenue allocation district act, when we move forward on allowing license site professionals to certify brownfield cleanups, we’ll lay an extraordinary foundation for New Jersey’s strong economic recovery. When the global and national economy rebounds, New Jersey will be in a stronger position than its neighbors and competitors.

We will prosper tomorrow because of the decisions we make today.

Now, I’d like to close by citing President Obama, who reminded us two weeks ago in his address to Congress that we are in the eye of an economic storm, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the breadline days of the 1930’s.

That said — with a strong national recovery program, and with a true partner for New Jersey in the White House, we will come through this storm. While today’s crisis is challenging and often painful, we will pull together as a community and a nation and build for a more prosperous tomorrow. History is clear - the economy will turn.

With the talent, the work ethic, and the strong character of our people, New Jersey will lead the way. I believe in our common desire to do what is right. I hope and expect to see that spirit reflected in the final budget, a budget that values children, seniors, and the most vulnerable, and asks a little more from the rest of us.

Thank you.

May God bless each of you, and God bless New Jersey.