Laid-off N.J. teachers await action on funds

TRENTON - With the news that New Jersey will receive nearly $270 million in federal money to spend on saving teaching jobs, many of the state's unemployed educators are waiting to hear whether they will be rehired.

Under the bill passed by Congress, the money must go toward rehiring laid-off teachers or to ensure that more will not be let go before the school year begins.

According to estimates, the money is enough to cover every laid-off teacher in New Jersey, but that doesn't mean the state has to rehire them.

Gov. Christie's administration on Wednesday said that it was still looking into how to distribute the money and that it was talking to federal officials about the effect the onetime infusion of money would have on schools.

Although Christie has criticized former Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine for using stimulus money to balance the budget, the Republican governor will apply for the jobs money to keep control of it, spokesman Michael Drewniak said Tuesday.

The state would still be eligible for the money even if the governor chose not to apply for it, but the U.S. Department of Education would then be in charge of doling it out.

According to the New Jersey Education Association, about 3,000 teachers were laid off as a result of the $819 million Christie slashed in education money for the 2011 budget year, which began July 1. An additional 7,000 teachers retired, about twice as many as usual in a year, the NJEA said.

The president's Council of Economic Advisers estimates 3,900 teaching jobs in New Jersey will be saved by the money.

NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer said it would be up to the districts whether they rehired laid-off teachers, rehired retired ones, or looked for fresh faces.

"We don't think the governor has the authority to tell districts how to use the money, other than to tell them to hire people for positions already lost," Wollmer said. "Even if it's a short-term infusion, it's good news."

However, since the start of the school year is so close, it may force districts to scramble to get teachers back.

"There is no way I could do anything as far as interviewing and hiring anyone until we have the money in our account," Charles Earling, superintendent of the Monroe Township School District, said last week.

Some South Jersey superintendents expressed reluctance to hire with the onetime money. With the state's lower tax-levy cap, rising costs, and the ailing economy, next year also is expected to be a tough one for districts.

"With no sustained funding for the jobs," Robert Goldschmidt, superintendent of the Riverside School District, said last week, administrators in the 2011-12 school year could face "a funding cliff."