Can NJ borrow $500M for schools? It’s your call, voters

New Jersey’s elected officials want to borrow half a billion dollars to expand vocational schools and bolster security across K-12 school districts. But, first, they need you to give the OK. 

When voters go to the polls on Tuesday, they will be asked whether they support the Securing Our Children’s Future Act, a $500 million bond measure that also includes funding for county colleges and improving water systems in K-12 schools. 

New Jersey’s Constitution requires that new state borrowing be approved by a majority of voters.

The bulk of the money would go toward expanding access to vocational schools and better preparing students for good jobs that desperately need trained workers, advocates say.

Getting more young people into those careers would be a win for the state’s economy, said state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester.

Proponents push $500M school bond

“There’s a lot of jobs that are going unfilled because people aren’t trained to do them,” Sweeney recently said. “I can tell you as an Ironworker Union ironworker, it’s OK to be a union ironworker, welder, plumber, electrician, carpenter. They make pretty good careers. They make pretty good livelihoods.”

The state’s career and technical schools need to expand in order to serve more students, according to the state association that represents them. For every seat at the schools, there are 2.3 applications, said Judy Savage, executive director of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools. Last year, 17,000 students were turned away.

Expanding those facilities, such auto technology shop or a manufacturing lab, doesn’t come cheap, Savage said. 

Vocational school and labor leaders have said the technical skills gap between New Jersey’s workforce and industry needs is holding back the state’s economy, while limited admissions are depriving students of training for careers in welding, clean energy, construction and logistics.

The Democrat-controlled state Legislature initially approved a $1 billion bond question that was cut in half by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who warned against adding to New Jersey’s already high debt burden.

 Of the $500 million, $350 million would fund county vocational technical school expansions and enhanced k-12 school security. Another $100 million would upgrade water infrastructure to remove lead. And $50 million is earmarked for community colleges.

At $1 billion, the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services projected the new debt would add $57.5 million to $72.3 million in new borrowing costs every year through 2048, for a total of $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion.

State officials have not said how much they expect the $500 million in new borrowing to cost each year. New Jersey is one of the most indebted states and is paying more than $4 billion this year to service its debt.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.