Speaking of caps on municipalities and school districts, Bob Ingle remarks on the Star-Ledger’s analysis of Corzine’s 4% cap, “nearly a third of the state’s 566 municipalities went beyond the cap with the state’s permission last year. Many, the paper said, could show the town was almost dysfunctional. Of 33 school districts wanting to exceed the limit, 25 were approved.”

The New Teachers Project “provides a roadmap for layoff rules that teaches will support and will allow schools to retain their best teachers.

The Daily Record argues that New Jersey School Board Association’s proposal to eliminate budget votes this year because of the tight calendar is a violation of democracy.

Gina Genovese, Executive Director of Courage to Connect NJ, writes in New Jersey Newsroom, “Before our state is forced to declare bankruptcy and our business base relocates to more affordable areas of the country, we need to make sweeping changes now. Let’s begin the conversation about how best to consolidate our municipalities and end the legacy of waste that has our state teetering on the brink.”

Schools boards are struggling to sell their budgets to the public without state aid numbers, reports the Star-Ledger.