So here's another reason to pay more attention in math class.
The state Office of Legislative Services has come out with its annual report on the proposed Department of Education budget. Included on pages 25 and 26 is an analysis of the potential impact of the much-ballyhooed wage freeze on school district budgets.
After the professional number-crunchers crunched the numbers, it seems that the wage freeze and the 1.5 percent contribution to health benefits wouldn't compensate for lost state aid as much as had been touted. What it does do is keep the aid shortfall from getting worse, since the freeze would apply to next year's budget.
The New Jersey Education Association is kicking itself for not having spotted this before the school election, but is already hammering the issue as the defeated budgets head to the municipal governing bodies,which have until May 19 to make more cuts.
Click here to get the OLS report.
