The Board of Ed is caught between a rock and a hard place - the new Governor of New Jersey, and the powerful Teachers Union.
It seemed to me that the meeting itself was very carefully worded to point this fact out to the people of our town. Hey, folks, it isn't us. We didn't know that the state was going to cut our budget so severely. We, too, are horrified. We are madder than we can even express. Don't blame us.
The meeting, while well attended, was no where near the sell out crowd that was expected. Rumors were afloat that the Fire Marshal would be in attendance to keep count of the room occupancy, to shut the meeting down in case the crowd grew too large. He wasn't needed. Also surprising, to me, was the lack of speakers. I expected many impassioned speeches by audience members who wanted to make sure that the cuts did not extend to either their favorite school program or their job. There were a few very calm speeches. Nothing overly dramatic, in my opinion.
Woodbridge Township's Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Crowe, made a speech that was very slow, considered, and deliberate. It was paced so slowly that I almost thought it was funny. (I tend to be irreverent, unfortunately.) He spoke about how fundamentally horrified and upset he was. The example that he used, that hit home with the audience, was that when he asked the state representatives where else we could possibly cut, a suggestion was raised that we cut Kindergarten. "But we don't HAVE a full day kindergarten," Dr. Crowe objected; and the response he got was, do we really need kindergarten at all?
On a few occasions, the idea of opening up the teacher's contracts for negotiations was raised.
That is a Pandora's Box, isn't it? Of course, it is exactly what the Governor wants. And it's probably one of the best ways to save some significant money. Unions protect their workers, though, and once the contracts are opened, what happens next?
I attend two different school districts BOE meetings in NJ. (not Middlesex county) and the speakers are definitely impassioned and strong willed. I think once cuts begin to affect people directly or at least their children, they will become more involved. Unfortunately, it usually is AFTER the cut takes place that people get upset, more reactive than proactive.
ReplyDeleteI believe the governor is making some necessary cuts and do hope that more is taken from unions than before. No one can be guaranteed raises regardless of work. It depends on if the money is there. if it isn't how do you pay raises. Can't get water from a stone even though NJ keeps ringing water out of the taxpayers year after year,,, beginning to harden the taxpayers into stone.