BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

JACKSON - Residents have to let the governor know they are not happy with the present state of school funding in New Jersey, according to Jackson officials.

Mayor Mark Seda said petitions will be circulated in the community and eventually sent to Gov. Jon Corzine to let him know that Jackson wants its share of the public education pie.

Seda said officials are seeking "substantial and lasting property tax relief."

According to information provided by Seda last week, school taxes in Jackson are responsible for 57 percent of the property tax bill. In other words, for every $1 a property owner pays in taxes, 57 cents goes to fund Jackson's K-12 public schools. The remaining 43 cents is divided among the township, the county and local fire districts to fund those operations.

Seda said he believes that by focusing on changes in school funding, a significant impact on local property taxes can be achieved.

He noted several reasons for the disproportionate school funding. He said the Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act (CEIFA) of 1996 has not been funded since 2001-02. Seda said that means public schools in New Jersey have missed out on $1.1 billion in state funds they were due to be paid during the past five years.

He noted that in 2006, 5 percent of the school districts in New Jersey received 40 percent of state education funds. The 31 special needs districts (known as Abbott districts) shared $4.2 billion of the state's $10.4 billion education pie. The remaining 580 school districts split $6.2 billion.

Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said he is happy to have the support of the mayor and Township Council on an issue the district has been talking about for years.

"We welcome any attention to the issue of school funding, which has been a source of frustration for us for five years," the superintendent said, referring to the time frame when state aid to many New Jersey districts has remained frozen at the 2001 level.

Gialanella said he and Board of Education members have met with District 30 state legislators on this issue and even carried thousands of signed postcards to Trenton two years ago to try to bring this same issue to light.

"We are desperate to have changes enacted that will give Jackson taxpayers the funding they deserve for education," Gialanella said. "All of Jackson should be getting behind this issue because everyone in Jackson has been paying the consequences of insufficient state aid."

Board President Linda Lackay said, "There are a lot of towns like ours in a similar situation, towns that have had a lot of growth in the past five years. But we see the same flat (state) funding that every other town gets regardless of whether their enrollment has expanded or not."

Speaking of the day when school district and township representatives made their plea for more state aid in Trenton a few years ago, Lackay said, "They listened but it didn't have an effect."

Lackay said people are unhappy about having to pay a greater share of the school tax.

"It's not because we're spending more money than we ever did on children," she said, "The taxes are going up because we are not getting as much from the state. We've [actually] done more with less every year."

Lackay said the school district and the Township Council have to work cooperatively.

"A united voice will definitely have a greater impact," she said. "We're together on this. It's something we believe in and we're not going to stop until we can make some sort of a difference. It will benefit everyone."

Lackay said the key to the issue lies in how the state funds New Jersey's school districts, whether they are special needs Abbott districts or districts that do not have that classification.