N.J. school-construction bonds near vote

In Camden, scaffolding surrounds part of a high school to protect visitors from chunks of falling facade. Some elementary-school students head to classes in a building that predates the Civil War.

In Pemberton, 4-year-olds learn in structures officials call "temporary classroom units" but most people would describe as trailers.

They are among the districts across New Jersey that are closely watching a proposal to borrow $3.9 billion to pay for school construction.

The controversial idea is not included in Gov. Corzine's $32.9 billion budget, but it has become intricately linked with the spending plan. Urban lawmakers have tied their crucial budget votes to passage of the construction bonds, which could see final legislative approval this week.

Corzine doesn't need convincing. When he discusses the need for construction, his voice goes taut with intensity and his often-meandering diction focuses. He recounts touring a school in Newark that was built in the late 1800s and teaches some special-education students in a converted closet.

"This is something I'm passionate about," Corzine said. "We have an obligation to deal with that as if it were any other crisis, because that is exactly what it is. We no longer have the right to turn our back on those challenges."

In a year when Corzine is cutting funding for most areas, he has made education a priority, boosting aid to schools by $534 million and pushing for the construction bill. He adds that the state, under the

Abbott v. Burke

Supreme Court cases, is facing court orders to provide school facilities for the 31 districts covered by the rulings.

Those districts include Camden, Pemberton, Burlington City and Gloucester City. State officials acknowledge, however, that $3.9 billion - $2.9 billion for the 31 districts covered by the court and $1 billion for the rest - is only a start. They estimate it could cost around $27 billion for all of the needs listed throughout the state.

But revamping the school program comes at a time when Corzine has said the state needs to control spending and, especially, borrowing. He has previously called for any bonds to be approved by voters. This measure, however, would not go to the public. Corzine cited the court order as the reason to move quickly and not wait until a November vote.

The funding infusion would also set up the first test of a new state agency after its predecessor, the Schools Construction Corp., became an emblem of wasteful government spending by burning through $8.6 billion, including $6 billion set aside for so-called Abbott districts, with expensive projects and few controls, leaving hundreds of schools incomplete.

The corporation built on environmentally contaminated sites, requiring costly cleanups, and let expenses balloon through change orders. Although it had a 270-person staff and $16 million payroll, it did not have a chief financial officer, according to a scathing 2005 report by Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper.

Corzine and his top education officials say that three years and a new administration later, reforms have taken hold at the building agency, now called the Schools Development Authority, that make it efficient and ready to deliver.

Republicans, who backed the first school-building program when they controlled the Legislature, aren't so sure. Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R., Burlington) sponsored the bill creating the first agency but has become one of its sharpest critics after seeing the results.

"It is something I will never forget as long as I live, as to the good intentions I sponsored a number of years ago and what happened to it," Malone said Friday, adding later: "I take this as personal as I do political because I feel I was let down."

Sen. Leonard Lance (R., Hunterdon) said voters should have the final say on borrowing. The new bonds could cost $6.8 billion to repay, he said.

"We will put our children and their children in debt for decades," Lance said.

Other Republican critics point to the process that has driven the school bill to the verge of final approval. While Democrats debated a budget that cut property-tax rebates and aid to hospitals, colleges and towns, they have inflated the borrowing amount, with the package growing from $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion and finally $3.9 billion.

Scott Weiner, chief executive officer of the Schools Development Authority, said at a recent hearing that the state's school needs go much further. He estimated that in the 31 districts covered by court mandates, there are 371 projects needed that could cost up to $17 billion.

Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said an additional $10 billion could be needed in the rest of the state.

The figures stunned Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, (D., Union), chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, when Weiner testified this month.

"The numbers just take your breath away," Cryan said.

According to Weiner, the latest round of funding would cover about 27 projects left on the drawing board after the first round of funding and an additional 20 to 25 new proposals, leaving hundreds still waiting.

"It's not even the tip of the iceberg. It's the point of the tip of the iceberg, and there's a long laundry list behind it," Weiner said.

Weiner is eager to show that the Schools Development Authority has implemented reforms and can handle the new funding wisely. His agency now requires that all projects have thorough budgets before work can begin, and two agents from the Inspector General's Office are a constant presence in the authority's offices.

Corzine, who calls new schools both a moral and legal obligation, said it could take three or four years to meet all of the demand.

In Camden and Pemberton, the money can't come fast enough.

Pemberton has about $80 million in capital needs, according to business administrator Pat Austin. Tops on the list is an early-childhood center to help replace the district's 13 "temporary classroom units" for 4-year-olds.

"It's totally inappropriate to continue educating younger children in that setting," Austin said.

Camden schools need $1.2 billion of construction and rehabilitation, said Wendy Kunz, the district's director of Abbott facilities construction.

The district hopes to repair Camden High School and build a new Lanning Square Elementary school to replace the one that was closed in 2002. Students who would have attended that school have instead been siphoned to the Fetters school, built in 1858, and Broadway elementary, dating to 1868.

Kunz said Camden needs to eventually replace all of its 35 buildings.

"Some of the schools are in fairly good shape, but they just don't meet today's needs. Other schools are just worn out," Kunz said.

The money for replacement schools became a flash point in budget negotiations last week, but it was ultimately approved in two committees, readying it for votes by the full Legislature. In the Assembly, Republicans voted no, but said they did so reluctantly. Democrats said they were proud to vote yes.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) voted for the bill, but issued a warning based on history.

"If what happens in the past happens again," Sweeney said, "you will never be able to get any money from this state."