TRENTON — Faced with mounting criticism of proposed new spending rules, state education officials Wednesday said they are only trying to help disabled students by making sure the money is spent on their behalf at the private schools that serve them.
Before a standing-room only crowd of parents of children with disabilities, acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington tried to alleviate concern that the state’s plan would end up hurting students and the schools that serve them on the taxpayer dime.
Specifically, the state is trying to address high salaries, luxury cars and nepotism, which were revealed in audits and an investigation by The Star-Ledger, officials said.
“These regulations are not about closing schools. These regulations are not about removing children from their placement,” Harrington said at a state Board of Education meeting. “These regulations are about ensuring funds are being spent responsibly and on our students’ behalf.”
New Jersey has 159 approved private schools for students with disabilities serving about 9,900 students statewide, according to the state.
Many of those schools teach K-12 students with autism, severe physical or mental disabilities or other learning or behavior challenges that public schools are unable to handle. In exchange, school districts pay an average tuition of $65,000 per student to the private schools each year, according to the state.
However, The Star-Ledger found many of the private schools spend taxpayer money in a way that would never be occur in public schools. Luxury cars charged in part to taxpayers, $225,000-plus school director jobs and deals with food, bus rental or other companies owned by relatives were all flagged in audit reports.
That’s why the state wants to put a freeze on maximum salaries, lower the maximum spending cap on administrative costs and require schools to disclose business transactions with relatives, among other changes, state officials said.
Even with those changes, the state would also grant the schools more leeway in spending on positions such as physical and occupational therapists, said Kevin Dehmer, chief financial officer for the state Department of Education.
“These are very high demand positions,” Dehmer said. “What we sought to do is increase flexibility and increase the salary for these folks.”
The plan earned preliminary approval from the state board but needs another affirmative vote from the board before taking effect.
Parents and private school officials who attended the meeting said their concerns were not alleviated. Some parents said they worry about even the slightest changes at their schools because of the severity of the childrens’ conditions.
Ken Berger, executive director of CTC Academy in Oakland and Fair Lawn, said the state is painting the private schools with a broad brush. Anecdotes from some schools aren’t reflective of others, he said.
“To characterize the majority of those schools in that way is so widely out of proportion to the truth. That really is very misleading,” Berger said. “If you’ve got a problem with one or two actors, then go after those actors. Don’t create pages of new regulations for all of us to have to suffer under.”
Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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