TESTIMONY OF EDUCATION LAW CENTER
BEFORE THE
ASSEMBLY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
ON
THE ABBOTT SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM
JULY 30, 2002
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY

 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on status of the school construction program in the Abbott districts. As counsel to the school children in those districts, Education Law Center (ELC) is charged with ensuring full, effective and timely implementation of the programs and reforms ordered by the Supreme Court in the Abbott v. Burke rulings, which includes the school construction program authorized by the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act (EFCFA). Since 1998, ELC has carefully monitored State implementation of this program, and since February 2002, we have been meeting regularly with the McGreevey administration -- through the Abbott Compliance Council -- to ensure prompt action to correct serious design flaws in the implementation framework among the key State agencies responsible for the program – the Economic Development Authority (EDA), Department of Education (DOE) and Attorney General’s Office.

It is obvious, even to the casual observer, that implementation of the Abbott school construction program under the prior administration produced virtually no results, even in the face of Court-specified deadlines. In contrast, the McGreevey administration has attempted to move the program forward, particularly regarding health and safety projects, with repair work actually beginning in earnest this summer for the first time since 1999. Recent EDA data show that:
  • 83 health and safety construction contracts have been awarded so far, totaling $161 million, only 27% of the $600 million in identified work.
     
  • Only 1 permanent preschool project is under construction – in Burlington City – with 2 other projects out for bid.
     
  • No new K-12 schools or substantial school renovation projects are in construction, and only 3 new construction projects – designed before the enactment of EFCFA in July 2000 – are out for bid.
     
  • Only 2 parcels for new schools have been acquired.

It is clear that overall progress in starting and completing school construction projects in Abbott districts remains painfully – and unacceptably -- slow. Efforts are underway, however, to address many of the problems identified by ELC, superintendents, the Coalition for Our Children’s Schools, the ACNJ and others that have plagued this program from its inception.

First, the Governor just yesterday announced a State reorganization of the school construction program by creating "Schools Corporation" within EDA, by appointing an experienced construction manager to head the Corporation, and by ordering all relevant state agencies to work under the Corporation’s umbrella. Such restructuring is long overdue and, if implemented carefully, should go a long way to ending the inter-agency turf wars and lack of coordination that has stymied progress on school construction projects over the last two years

Second, the administration has formed a Facilities Work Group in response to a recommendation from the Abbott Compliance Council. The Work Group consists of representatives of stakeholder groups and facilities experts – superintendents, architects, contractors, parent and community groups – who have been meeting since May on a number of thorny policy and regulatory problems that all agree must be quickly resolved. Indeed, the Governor, in the Executive Order issued yesterday, affirmed the administration’s commitment to these policies, and recognized the efforts of the Facilities Work Group to address the details of how to implement them. Specifically, the Work Group is presently considering the following critical questions:
  • How to decentralize tasks to the districts to expedite the process and empower local stakeholders, especially in the area pre-development activities such as site acquisition and project planning and design?
     
  • What capacity -- expertise and staffing -- is needed in Abbott district central offices to effectively handle appropriate implementation tasks in partnership with the State?
     
  • How to advance and promote active participation among local stakeholders – teachers, municipal officials, redevelopment and neighborhood groups, parent and community organizations – in the process of planning and designing new or renovated schools?
     
  • How to encourage inclusion of needed community features in all new and renovated schools; to harness alternate funding sources to pay for those features; and to link schools to larger community redevelopment efforts?
     
  • How to rationally and collaboratively plan for new pre-K classrooms, with a meaningful opportunity for non-profit providers of Abbott preschool programs to be included in district long-range facilities plans?
     
  • How to maximize opportunities for local business participation and employment in Abbott school construction projects?

We expect that the Work Group will, by the end of August, begin making recommendations on these issues, which will then lead to the issuance of emergency guidelines by EDA and DOE in September, especially regarding community participation and preschool facilities planning. We expect the Work Group to continue well into next year, leading to the adoption of new regulations by EDA and DOE. Since the schools the State builds must serve the Abbott communities for decades to come, it is essential that policies promoting full community engagement be embedded into the State’s regulatory framework.

In closing, we commend the Committee for holding this oversight hearing. This program is very difficult to implement, and we need your vigilance to keep the administration on track. It is also unclear at this juncture whether legislative amendments to EFCFA will be needed to remove obstacles to effective implementation. Accordingly, ELC urges the Committee re-convene in December to assess the status of implementation efforts, and to ensure that real progress is being made.

Thank you.