11/15/2023 0 Comments Horizon direct access design 10![]() ![]() Out of 158 districts surveyed by the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials, 85% indicated that Chapter 44 would cost them more money. NJ sex education standards: State school board says it won't review sex education standards until NJ attorney general weighs inĬhapter 44 “results in greater costs to individual school districts and should therefore be enjoined as to those districts,” the three districts and their supporters wrote to the Council on Local Mandates. Gloucester City in Camden County said its school district anticipates spending $260,000 more than under the previous plan.įranklin Township in Somerset County did not offer the new plan to employees as mandated, saying the cost would have increased by more than $1 million, it they could not shoulder without help from the state. Lower Township in Cape May County said the new health plan will cost its school district an additional $44,000. In 2021, a number of school districts, the New Jersey School Boards Association and the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials asked the state Council on Local Mandates to stop implementing Chapter 44. The council, which can overturn a law if it finds the state has not provided resources to fund it, rejected the groups’ request in December. Districts said the plan does not offer relief to taxpayers universally, as it was designed to do. They ask to be released from having to offer the new health plan to staff if they are not going to see savings. In complaints filed with the state Council on Local Mandates, school districts provided documents arguing they and, in turn, taxpayers are shouldering the cost of the new law while health care costs continue to rise. Staff hired before that date must be offered the plan that offers a contribution schedule linked to a percentage of teachers' salaries instead of a percentage of the total premium.Īfter it was implemented 15 months ago, 2022 is the first year that savings from the new plan will be reflected in local tax levies.Ī New Jersey actuary will analyze the plan and submit a report by the summer of 2023 on whether it saved at least $300 million a year if not, the law calls for the state treasurer to design changes that will achieve those savings. School districts are required to automatically enroll staff hired after July 1, 2020, in the New Jersey Educators Health Plan unless they refuse coverage. State officials and the NJEA don't agree with local districts' assessment of the plan, saying that providing teachers with affordable health benefits is not an "unfunded mandate." ![]() Some district officials have called the law an unfunded state mandate that is causing "significant hardship," as it also adds layers to their negotiations with local employee unions. Local school officials agree the plan reduces the contributions teachers make to their health plan, but the costs are passed on to districts and therefore taxpayers. It replaced Chapter 78, a similar health benefits law passed under then-Gov. Chris Christie, which was criticized by the NJEA for driving teachers out of the profession due to its high cost. The law passed unanimously with a 34-0 vote in the state Senate in June 2020. It was touted as a plan that reduces costs by cutting out-of-network reimbursements and offers teachers lower premiums. The law is the result of a deal between former Senate President Stephen Sweeney and the New Jersey Education Association. Ridgewood is not alone, as other districts have told similar stories of inaccurately estimated savings or additional costs, unlike what the law intended. The law requires all health plan savings to be used to reduce the property tax burden. Had the savings materialized, they would potentially have impacted other programming and school services, said Ridgewood school board President Hyunju Kwak. While preparing the 2022-23 budget, local officials learned that the actual savings would amount to $27,000. In Ridgewood, school officials said the state estimated the district would save about $4.7 million in health benefits under the new plan. ![]() Three districts have told the state they want out of the new health plan, with support from seven more. Phil Murphy in 2020 and supported by the state's powerful teachers' union, may end up costing some districts more than the old plan. ![]() The Chapter 44 plan, signed into law by Gov. Many New Jersey school districts say they did not see the cost savings promised to them by the state when they implemented the mandatory New Jersey Educators Health Plan in 2021. Watch Video: State of the State 2022: Education in New Jersey ![]()
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