Education Funding

State Journal: Late returns; Loose lips; School finance

By Karen Diegmueller — April 13, 1994 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Want to cast your ballot for school board members or your local school district’s budget after the vote is in?

That’s what some politicians and members of the education community in New Jersey feared might happen in the elections set for April 19.

As a courtesy to the new Governor, the legislature gave Christine Todd Whitman an extra month to present her budget. But lawmakers did not extend the same courtesy to school districts, which had less than a month to prepare budgets for the 1994-95 school year because they, too, got their state aid figures late.

To alleviate some pressure, the state education department gave absentee voters a three-day extension to file ballots, an idea some policymakers said could lead to fraud and lawsuits.

But the education department says the ballots must be postmarked by April 19.

Thus, says Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, “there won’t be any effort to change election results.’'

But it still might take three extra days to find out who won and who has to go back to the budgetary drawing board.

Gov. George Voinovich of Ohio drew fire recently for remarks he made about a pending school-finance lawsuit.

“I think we’re going to lose it because the judge is elected in Perry County,’' he said on Ohio Public Radio last month.

Supporters of the lawsuit--which contends that Ohio’s reliance on local property taxes has resulted in unconstitutional inequities--criticized the Governor for implying that Judge Linton Lewis Jr. would be influenced by the fact that he must answer to voters in one of the state’s rural, less affluent counties.

“He meant to express sympathy for the tough position the judge is in,’' a spokesman for Mr. Voinovich said.

Floridians can now give a little extra support to the state’s schools when they renew their auto registration.

The state legislature just passed a bill authorizing license plates bearing an apple with a diploma and a mortarboard superimposed on it and the words “support education.’' Proceeds from the $15 fee for the speciality plates will go to schools in the county where each tag is purchased.

The tag would compete with a growing array of tags--such as licenses featuring the space shuttle or manatees--for motorists’ contributions.

A version of this article appeared in the April 13, 1994 edition of Education Week as State Journal: Late returns; Loose lips; School finance

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Biden's Budget Proposes Smaller Bump to Education Spending
The president requested increases to Title I and IDEA, and funding to expand preschool access in his 2025 budget proposal.
7 min read
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on lowering prices for American families during an event at the YMCA Allard Center on March 11, 2024, in Goffstown, N.H.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on lowering prices for American families during an event at the YMCA Allard Center on March 11, 2024, in Goffstown, N.H. Biden's administration released its 2025 budget proposal, which includes a modest spending increase for the Education Department.
Evan Vucci/AP
Education Funding States Are Pulling Back on K-12 Spending. How Hard Will Schools Get Hit?
Some states are trimming education investments as financial forecasts suggest boom times may be over.
6 min read
Collage illustration of California state house and U.S. currency background.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Education Funding Using AI to Guide School Funding: 4 Takeaways
One state is using AI to help guide school funding decisions. Will others follow?
5 min read
 Illustration of a robot hand drawing a graph line leading to budget and finalcial spending.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding A State Uses AI to Determine School Funding. Is This the Future or a Cautionary Tale?
Nevada reworked its funding formula hoping to target extra aid to students most in need. What happened could hold lessons for other states.
13 min read
Illustration of robotic hand putting coins into jar.
iStock / Getty Images Plus