Sweeney Condemns Jersey City School Funding Lawsuit

Costly Employee Contract Exacerbates Fiscal Problems

Trenton – Senate President Steve Sweeney condemned the school funding lawsuit filed by the Jersey City schools, saying the district is attempting to evade its shared responsibility for supporting its own schools and pass on the costs of contract givebacks to taxpayers throughout the state.

Senator Sweeney said the costly contract agreement between the Jersey City Education Association and the Jersey City Board of Education will severely undermine the school system’s ability to serve the educational needs of their students.

“This lawsuit is nothing more than a brazen attempt to evade responsibility for supporting their own schools and their own students,” said Senator Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland). “They want to ignore the need to pay their local fair share and to pass the costs to taxpayers throughout the state with little accountability. Their lawsuit takes aim at the state’s school funding law that is serving the needs of all the school districts in New Jersey.”

The legal filing seeks to allow Jersey City to evade the funding formula’s local fair share.

Senator Sweeney also criticized the contract agreement, which was recently made public, but with no cost breakdown from the school board.

“The agreement is a giveaway to the local NJEA, and the consequences for the students, taxpayers and teachers of Jersey City will be harsh and they will be real,” said Senator Sweeney. “The givebacks will take money out of the classrooms, force teacher layoffs and make the school’s budget problems worse.”

The Board of Education’s last contract for 2017-2019 included over $5 million in estimated givebacks to the JCEA, including “stipends” of 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent of their salaries to cover part of their healthcare premium costs.

The contract the board approved this week added another estimated $9 million giveback on its healthcare contract by limiting employee premiums to 3 percent of salary for individual coverage, 4 percent for member/partner and parent/child, and 5 percent for family plans. That adds up to approximately $14 million that could have been going into the classroom and that the Jersey City Board says that state taxpayers should make up, Senator Sweeney said.

Jersey City’s healthcare plan still costs far more than the State Health Benefits Plan’s new Direct PPO plan negotiated by the Governor and the CWA. That’s why merging the School Employees Health Benefits Plan into the SHBP makes so much sense. Instead of costing taxpayers’ money – and taking dollars out of the classroom – Jersey City could be saving millions of dollars on its budget.