New Jersey lawmakers say they will introduce legislation that would merge some school districts, encourage municipalities to share services, and change the state’s pension and benefit structure in a bid to stave off billions of dollars in deficits and make governing more efficient in the Garden State.
The mergers would not require closing individual schools, according to Ray Caprio, director of the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University; and Lucille Davy, the state’s former education commissioner.