Gov. Chris Christie

The other day, Gov. Chris Christie issued a press release trumpeting the fact that his administration will be increasing state aid to school districts around New Jersey by $850 million under the new budget. As he noted in his prepared statement, this restores all the money that he cut in the previous budget cycle and adds $30 million. Sounds great, right?

Maybe. Sort of. The increase in aid is an increase: $275,171 over what Verona had already been awarded, which was $345,983. So that brings up to $621,154 in state aid.

But here’s where things get tricky. The governor’s press release does not say what we can spend this money on, and Verona’s budget for the 2011-2012 school year has already been created and approved by voters.  You may recall that the federal government sent us a small amount of money a while back ($25,000) that came with numerous strings attached. Verona was able to use it to revamp the school district’s Web site.

And then of course there’s the double punchline: The money we are getting back from Trenton was our money to begin with, and the money that we are getting back is still far less than we are sending. Before Gov. Christie cut to school aid to Verona, we used to get about $1.4 million a year, or seven cents for every income tax dollar we sent to Trenton. At the “restored” aid level, we are getting back about three cents for every tax dollar we send.

Gov. Chris Christie presents his budget today at 1 p.m.

New Jersey News, the state’s public television and radio station, is making it possible to watch Governor Chris Christie’s budget speech live over the Internet. The broadcast begins at 1 p.m. today and you can access it here.

The governor is expected to present a $29.3 billion budget proposal predicated on sharp cuts in state aid, including an $820 million slash to school funding and $445 million less in aid to municipalities. New Jersey has a budget shortfall of almost $11 billion.

Star Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine has a scathing piece today on the school aid cuts, and how they will fall hardest on suburban districts like Verona.

That could be bad news for Verona, which has a surplus–barely. “I think such an action would be disastrous for schools”, says Verona schools Superintendent Charles Sampson. “Currently we are allowed to keep a 2% surplus. To use this money for state aid would force a district like Verona to operate dangerously close to the red. The 2% surplus allows us to mitigate unanticipated large scale expenses. To cut into that money would be potentially problematic.”

But before you head to the ramparts, know this: Corzine’s plan needs the OK of the state legislature and, if approved–a BIG if–wouldn’t take effect until February, after Corzine is out of office. Which means, of course, that it might not happen at all. Sampson seems optimistic this will be the course of events. “I do not believe this proposal will come to pass,” he says, “but stranger actions have occurred.”