Governor Corzine's new school funding formula will almost certainly negatively impact the children in Ridgewood who need the most help - our special needs students. I am a Ridgewood resident, a parent of a special needs child, and the chairman of Somerville School's Advocacy Committee so obviously I am upset but...
Do not ask for whom Governor Corzine's bell tolls, it tolls for every child in Ridgewood - not just special needs children.
The new formula will not only negatively impact Ridgewood's special needs students. As funding for special needs programs in Ridgewood dries up due to Governor Corzine's misguided plan some resources from other areas will undoubtedly need to be siphoned off so we can at least meet the bare minimum for the special needs children. This is a zero sum game. When budget money moves to special education, other general ed programs in Ridgewood will need to be cut back (or eliminated) in order to balance our school budget which will likely include little or no state funding under Governor Corzine's new school funding formula.
This new formula will adversely affect every child attending Ridgewood Schools and will have a lasting, negative impact. Parents with very young children or those even contemplating raising a family in Ridgewood should also sit up and take notice.
As far as I can tell, Governor Corzine's logic is that special ed children in less affluent areas deserve more funding. Admittedly, this sounds like a good idea on the face of it. But state funding is already so ridiculously over weighted to the Abbott districts that children in Ridgewood and other like communities are going to be punished so the Governor can appear to be a man of the people to his political base. Children with disabilities have a rough road to hoe no matter where they live.
Parents with children in the Ridgewood School System need to take action and we need to do it quickly. I will be posting more info in the coming days regarding a specific plan of action. In the interim, please write a letter to the Governor asking him to stop the political grandstanding and pick on someone his own size - and leave our special needs children alone. They have plenty of other issues to deal with.
Below is an excerpt from Saturday's (12/8/2007) New York Times.
"The new approach for special education financing has won support among some legislators who represent poor districts, but it is drawing fierce opposition from school officials and parents in wealthier suburban districts who say that they fear receiving a dwindling share of state aid even as their costs are rising. Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, an advocacy group that represents primarily suburban districts, said that as many as 200 districts could be penalized under a wealth-equalized approach."
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