While there are few things New Yorkers enjoy more than making fun of New Jersey, EJ McMahon pointed out to me yesterday that nothing like the idea of selling or leasing the Jersey Turnpike, which could be worth upwards of $20 billion for the state, has come up in New York, even in the midst of a gubernatorial election. The Turnpike Authority is the third largest toll-collecting authority in the nation with more than $700 million in annual revenue, more than $500 million of which comes from the Turnpike, which spans from the Delaware to New York crossings into the Garden State.

Part of the appeal of such a move would be to free up money that’s presently locked into debt and school construction payments for new investments .

And Jersey’s schools have problems of their own:

In Newark, sky-high spending and a state takeover of a public school system that had previously functioned as more hiring service than educational provider has led to nothing in the way of academic results. New mayor Corey Booker is looking to reassert control over the system, beginning with creating a safe and orderly environment within the classroom, prior to the return of the school system to the city next year, at which point he’ll be pushing for direct mayoral control, new charter schools and possibly vouchers, which he’s flirted with supporting in the past.

The control battle is headed in the opposite direction in Camden, which presently faces a grade and test falsifying scandal, a grand jury investigation, a state AG’s investigation of a former superintendent for paying herself unauthorized performance bonuses, and an ongoing probe by acting State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy.

In response, the district kicked off its year with a pep rally, where School Board President Philip Freeman bragged that "This board has not hesitated to take on issues time and time again, and not only take on issues, but effectively move forward from one crisis to the next." I can believe it.