Quality Public Education for All New Jersey Students

 

 
     3-20-12 Education Issues in the News
     4-29-11 BOOMERANG! Near 80 per cent of School Budgets Passed in Wednesday'sSchool Elections
     4-26-11 School Elections, Randi Weingarten in NJ, Special Educ Aid, Shared Services bill
     4-3-11Press of Atlantic City - Pending Supreme Court ruling could boost aid to New Jersey schools
     4-2-11 The Record - Charter school in Hackensack among 58 bids
     3-31-11 Charters an Issue in the Suburbs - and - So far, only 7 Separate Questions on April School Budget Ballots
     3-22-11 Special Master's Report to the Supreme Court: State did not meet its school funding obligation
     Attached to GSCS 3-7-11 Testimony: Marlboro Schools strike historic agreement with instructional aides, bus drivers, bus aides
     GSCS Take on Governor's Budget Message
     Gov's Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Today, 2pm
     2-16-11 Commissioner Cerf talks to educators on Tenure, Merit Pay , related reforms agenda
     GSCS FYI
     2-7-11Grassroots at Work in the Suburbs
     1-25-11 Education in the News
     1-24-11 GSCSS Testimony before Assembly Education Committee: Charter School Reform
     Public Hearing on the Impact of Education Aid Cuts, Thursday January 20
     1-20-11 GSCS Testimony before Senator Buono's Education Aid Impact hearing in Edison
     Assembly Education Hearing on Charter School Reform Monday, 1-24-11, 1 pm
     GSCS Board of Trustees endorsed ACTION LETTER to Trenton asking for caution on Charter School expansion
     GSCS testimony on Tenure Reform - Senate Education Committee 12-09-10
     12-7-10 Education Issues continue in the news
     12-5-10 New York Times 'A Bleak Budget Outlook for Public Broadcasters'
     12-5-10 Sunday News - Education-related Issues
     11-19-10 In the News - First Hearing held on Superintendent Salary Caps at Kean University
     11-15-10 GSCS meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver
     GSCS Education Forum Stayed Focused on Quality Education
     Nov 10 Program Announcement - GSCS & NJSDC Fall Education Forum
     Mark Your Calendars: GSCS-NJ Schools Development Council: Education Forum November 10, 2010 Douglas College Center
     8-23-10 S2208 (Sarlo-Allen prime sponsors) passes 36-0 (4 members 'not voting') in the Senate on 8-23-10
     8-13-10 East Brunswick Public School seeks stay on Hatikvah Charter School opening this fall (re: Hatikvah not meeting minimum enrollment requirement)
     7-22-10 'Summer school falls victim to budget cuts in many suburban towns'
     7-18-10 Troublesome sign of the times? Read article on the growing trend for education foundations - the pressure to provide what the state no longer supports for education...California's Proposition 13 cited
     7-16-10 GSCS Information & Comments - S29 Property Tax Cap Law and Proposal to Reduce Superintendent salaries ....
     7-15 & 16 -10 'Caps - PLURAL!' in the news
     GSCS - High costs of Special Education must be addressed asap, & appropriately
     7-1 and 2- 10 Governor Christie convened the Legislature to address property tax reform
     GSCS On the Scene in Trenton: State Budget poised to pass late Monday...Cap Proposals, Opportunity Scholarship Act in Limbo
     4-21-10 DOE posts election results
     Hear about Governor Christie's noontime press conference tonight
     4-21-10 News on School Election Results
     4-20-10 Today is School Budget & School Board Member Election Day
     4-18-10 It's About Values - Quality Schools...Your Homes...Your Towns: Sunday front page story and editorial
     4-19-10 GSCS Testimony before the Assembly Budget Committee on State Budget FY'11
     4-18-10 Sunday Op-eds on school budget vote: Jim O'Neill & Gov Christie
     4-13-10 Testimony submitted to Senate Budget Committee
     GSCS 'HOW-TO' GET TRENTON'S ATTENTION ON STATE BUDGET SCHOOL ISSUES FY '11' - Effective and Well-Reasoned Communication with State Leaders is Critical
     Administration's presentation on education school aid in its 'Budget in Brief' published with Governor Christie's Budget Message
     PARENTS ARE CALLING TO EXPRESS THEIR CONCERNS FOR THE SCHOOL AID PICTURE - GSCS WILL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE
     GSCS 'HOW-TO GET TRENTON'S ATTENTION ON STATE BUDGET SCHOOL ISSUES FY '11': Effective & Well-Reasoned Communication with State Leaders is Critical
     3-5-10 HomeTowne Video taping + interviews of GSCS Summit@Summit
     3-5-10 GSCS Summit@Summit with Bret Schundler to be lead topic on Hall Institute's weekly 2:30 pm podcast today
     3-4-10 GSCS Email-Net: Summit @ Summit Report - A New Day in Trenton?
     3-3-10 'Public Education in N.J.: Acting NJ Comm of Educ Bret Schundler says 'Opportunity'
     3-4-10 'NJ education chief Bret Schundler tells suburban schools to expect more cuts in aid'
     Flyer: March 2 Education Summit Keynote Speaker - Education Commissioner Bret Schundler - Confirmed
     2-25-10 Gov. Christie's Red Tape Review Comm., chaired by Lt. Gov. Guadagno, to hold public hearings In March
     Flyer: March 2 Education Summit Keynote Speaker Confirmed
     Flyer for March 2 Education 'Summit@Summit'
     GSCS at TRI-DISTRICT MEETING IN MONMOUTH COUNTY January 27
     GSCS Report on its Annual Meeting June 2009
     6-23-09 Grassroots at Work re A4140, A4142 and A1489
     6-26-09 Executive Director to GSCS Trustees; Wrap Up Report - State Budget and Assembly bills this week
     5-27-09 GSCS 18th ANNUAL MEETING - All INVITED GUESTS HAVE CONFIRMED, INCLUDING GOVERNOR CORZINE
     4-17-09 Model letter to community re required language on budget election ballot
     FIND OUT & STAY TUNED - www.gscschools.org has nearly 1,000,000 verified hits and approximately 90,000 individual visits to date ... and counting
     3-27-09 GSCS Travels the State
     March 25 GSCS-HADDONFIELD OPEN MEETING 7pm
     Haddonfield On Line posts Commissioner Davy's appearance with GSCS at Wednesday March 25 meeting hosted by Haddonfield School District Board of Education
     GSCS-Leonia 3-18-09 meeting Press Release
     March 25-GSCS-HADDONFIELD GENERAL MEMBERSHIP-OPEN MEETING 7pm
     RESCHEDULED to MARCH 18 - GSCS MEETING IN LEONIA
     CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR SCHOOLS? YOU ARE INVITED-GSCS General Membership Open Meeting Leonia Feb 25 7 pm
     SAVE THE DATE - GSCS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING IN BERGEN COUNTY
     More good examples - Grassroots advocacy: letters- to-the-editor published
     11-6-07 GSCS Parent Advocates help clarify election issues...the Millburn Example
     10-23 Media reports & Trenton responses to date re GSCS Press Conf
     GSCS 'NOV 6th LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 'ADVOCACY PACKET
     7-10-07 EMAILNET GSCS ADVOCACY PACKET Need for new school funding formula, more
     2-20-07 FAIR HAVEN SCHOOL FUNDING & PROPERTY TAX FORUM
     3-15-07 Millburn-Short Hills Advocates for Education ask for you help in contacting Governor
     Grassroots Forum set for 3-8 in Millburn-Short Hills
     GRASSROOTS SPEAK UP re State Aid for FY07-08 & Recent Legislation that can negatively impact school communities
     11-2-06 GSCS Parent Press Conference Coverage
     11-1-06 Press Conference packet
     10-31-06 PRESS ADVISORY
     DIRECTIONS to Statehouse
     SPECIAL SESSION ADVOCACY TIPS
     Parent & Member Information Packet on Special Session
     October 2006 Quality Education At Risk
     7-18-06 Summit PTO-PTA communication
     7-17-06 Bernards Twp communication to citizens
     Contact info for Letters to the Editor - Statewide newspapers
     6-22-06 GSCS Parent Coordinator Letter to the Editor
     NEW to our website...WHAT'S THE 'BUZZ' ?
     4-24-06 Citizens for Hopewell Valley Schools letter to Senator Shirley Turner
     4-16 Courier Post 'Do Nothing Leaders'
     Grassroots at work - Ridgewood Board member testimony of FY07
     3-24-06 Schools learn who wins, loses in Corzine budget
     3-9-06 Governor speaks to S1701 at town meeting
     EMAILNET 3-9-06 to South Jersey districts
     COFFEE a coalition of families for excellent education
     1-29-06 Asbury Park Press Sunday Front Page Right
     Posted 1-17-06 December 2005 article from the NewsTranscript of Monmouth County
     12-16-05 EMAILNET
     1-17-06 Asbury Park Press "Viewpoint" comments by parents Kim Newsome & Marianne Kligman
     1-12-06 Asbury Park Press letter to the editor
     12-12-05 EMAILNET Bills move out of Assembly Education Committee
     Nora Radest Summit Parent, Glen Ridge Supt. Dan Fishbien, Glen Ridge Parenet and Board of Education President Betsy Ginsburg
     UPDATE on 12-8-05 Assembly Education Committee hearing
     12-2-05 Hopewell Valley letter to Senate Education Committee Chair Shirley Turner re: school budget amendment bills & S1701
     Madison parents and Morris County Outreach Efforts on S1701 Amendment legislation 11-28-05
     Parent Network FYI re EMAILNET 11-28-05 on S1701
     10-14-05 EMAILNET Parent question for Gubernatorial Candidates aired on 101.5 debate, SCC funds, Next Board meeting, press briefing notes
     Readington Forum on School Funding & Meet the Assembly Candidates 11-1-05
     Bergen County's 'Dollars & Sense' organization hosts informational meeting on
     Bergen County's 'Dollars & Sense' organization hosts informational meeting on "Bergen County United" Wed. Oct 19th Paramus High School Cafe 7:30 p.m.
     Parents in Trenton 9-21-05 Press Conference
     Annual Meeting President Walt Mahler's Good News on NJ Public Schools
     Glen Ridge community group 'New Jersey Citizens for Education Equity in Funding'
     Glen Ridge Schools and GSCS Dec 9 Meeting
     Red Bank Area December 6, 2004 Forum
     Rumson PTA, Monmouth Parents, May 2005
     Princeton Marh 2005 Education symposium
     Grassroots 'faces'
     Regional Forums: Quality Education Counts - School Funding Reality and S1701
     A99 and S1701
     GSCS Web Servey Results
4-21-10 News on School Election Results
'N.J. voters reject school budgets in heated elections' -Star-Ledger
"New Jersey voters took a stand on school spending and property taxes Tuesday, rejecting 260 of 479 school budgets across 19 counties, according to unofficial results in statewide school elections..."


The Record 'Bergen passes majority of school budgets, while Passaic voters reject most'

"Voters approved school budgets in 55 of 74 Bergen County towns Tuesday, ignoring Governor Christie’s call to reject spending plans in districts where teachers refused to take a wage freeze...Bergen voters appeared to buck the state trend."


Philadelphia Inquirer- 'Most school budgets fail in S. Jersey'


"Rejections far outnumbered approvals in yesterday's voting on school budgets in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties, according to available results. Voting yes were Haddonfield and Gloucester Township in Camden County; Bass River, Easthampton, Morristown, Riverton and Woodland in Burlington County; and Deptford, Glassboro, Greenwich Township, Logan, Paulsboro, Washington Township and Woodbury Heights in Gloucester County..."


Asbury Park Press 'NJ voters in 'no' mood for school tax hikes...30% of budgets pass in Monmouth, 39% in Ocean'


My Central New Jersey 'Passions, turnout high as school spending plans rejected in Central Jersey'

EAST BRUNSWICK — "If school districts in Central Jersey were to receive a collective report card yesterday, after asking voters to approve their budgets, the grade would have been a C-minus..."

N.J. voters reject school budgets in heated elections

By Star-Ledger Staff

April 21, 2010, 12:25AM

New Jersey voters took a stand on school spending and property taxes Tuesday, rejecting 260 of 479 school budgets across 19 counties, according to unofficial results in statewide school elections.

In the proposed state budget he unveiled last month, Gov. Chris Christie slashed $820 million in aid to school districts and urged voters to defeat budgets if teachers in their schools did not agree to one-year wage freezes. The salvo ignited a heated debate with the state’s largest teachers union.

Christie said the cuts were necessary to help plug an $11 billion state budget gap.

More election results :

Morris County
Essex County
Somerset County
Union County
Middlesex County
Hunterdon County
Gloucester County
Cumberland County
Salem County
Mercer County

In many districts Tuesday, the governor made himself heard as 54 percent of the spending plans were rejected, according to unofficial returns. If the trend continues, it would mark the most budget defeats in New Jersey since 1976, when 56 percent failed. Typically, voters approve more than 70 percent of the school budgets.

Key districts where budgets failed yesterday included Edison, Parsippany, Bridgewater-Raritan and Woodbridge. Budgets passed in Mountain Lakes, Piscataway, Livingston and Jersey City.
In wealthy Somerset County, voters defeated 15 of 17 spending plans; in Hunterdon County, 23 of 28 budgets failed. In the governor’s hometown, Mendham Township, the budget was narrowly approved.

Jeffrey Brookner, president of the Bridgewater-Raritan school board, said "lots of factors played into the defeat. One of those factors is the role that the governor played."

Voter turnout was also high in elections that typically draw little interest. In Sparta, where turnout rivaled some presidential elections, the budget was defeated by roughly a 3-to-1 margin. Sparta teachers agreed to a one-year wage freeze late last week, but the budget still called for a nearly 10 percent tax increase for residents in the Sussex County community.

"I think the governor’s rhetoric hurt us. The governor dumping all of the state issues on the local level hurt us," Superintendent Thomas Morton said. "It’s going to be a long, hard road. We’ll start to work tomorrow."

In towns where they failed, the budgets will now be presented to the local governing body, which can cut or leave the spending plans as is.

Sparta Mayor Scott Seelagy said he wanted to analyze the budget before commenting on where the council would look for cuts.

"The voters in Sparta have sent a very strong message about how they feel about taxes," said Seelagy, who said he couldn’t recall the last time a Sparta school budget had failed. "I think people voted with their pocketbooks."

In North Brunswick, where the teachers union also agreed last week to a one-year wage freeze, the budget passed.

"The cooperation, I think that was the difference," Superintendent Brian Zychowski said. "People recognized that everybody was trying to contribute to maintain the educational integrity of the school district."

School elections in New Jersey are usually a low-key event, with voter turnout typically around 15 percent.

This year was different, with weeks of harsh rhetoric and a bare-knuckles political battle between the governor and the 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association leading up to the vote.

When it came time to cast ballots, residents like Dru Patel of Parsippany sided with Christie.
Patel, 45, who voted at Lake Hiawatha School, said he turned down the district’s $127 million budget because "there was nothing like a salary freeze ... in these tough times.

Previous coverage:

N.J. school elections Q&A: What happens when school budgets fail

N.J. voters cast ballots on school budgets amid Gov. Chris Christie's budget cuts

Gov. Chris Christie calls N.J. students union 'pawns' in teacher layoff protests

Bergen County teachers union chief seeks to survive after 'prayer' memo

N.J. teachers unions in 17 of 590 districts agree to wage freezes so far

N.J. teachers union is skeptical of Gov. Christie's letters on wage freeze

Complete coverage of the 2010 New Jersey State Budget

"At our work place, we have had a salary freeze for two years, and the budget and property taxes keep going up," said Patel, a research scientist at a chemical company.

Don Wheeler, of Linden, voted against his district’s $102 million budget, which included $78 million to be raised in taxes. The budget failed.

"There is such a thing as belt-tightening and if the educators don’t recognize it, they’re going to," Wheeler said.

Not everyone felt that way.

Anthony Cordasco, 38, of Parsippany, said he voted for the budget to preserve the quality of the schools. "I think our governor was irresponsible in his comment urging people to vote no. Individual communities should take their own local needs into consideration," Cordasco said.
Clem Gibeault of Roselle Park, a former school board president, said he voted for his district’s $29.2 budget, which would still mean the loss of 58 jobs. The budget failed by two votes, but election officials are going to tabulate provisional ballots today.

"The school system is the only thing they’ve got in Roselle Park, and you’ve got to support it," Gibeault said.

Districts were sent reeling by the cuts Christie proposed, which slashed aid to each district by an amount equal to 5 percent of their overall budgets, but resulted in eliminating 40-, 50- or even 100 percent of many districts’ state aid. School boards proposed laying off teachers, slashing programs and increasing class sizes.

Most also planned to raise property taxes: About 83 percent of districts sought property tax hikes, according to a survey by the New Jersey School Boards Association.

The rhetoric grew heated. The governor wanted the head of the Bergen County union to resign after the affiliate sent out a memo with a joke alluding to Christie’s death. On the eve of the election, Christie accused some union members of using children as "drug mules" to find out whether their parents planned to vote.

Tuesday, NJEA President Barbara Keshishian demanded an apology.

Christie cast his own ballot Tuesday morning in Mendham Township and declined to say how he voted. "I’m going to vote my conscience," Christie said. "It’s my business."

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said in an email the governor would not comment last night on the results.

The NJEA’s communications director did not immediately return a phone call late last night.

By Jeanette Rundquist and Kristen Alloway/The Star-Ledger

Staff writers Victoria St. Martin and Rohan Mascarenhas, and New Jersey Local News Service reporters Eliot Caroom, Eugene Paik, Dan Goldberg and Halley Bondy contributed to this report

Bergen passes majority of school budgets, while Passaic voters reject most

Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday April 21, 2010, 9:00 AM

BY LESLIE BRODY AND PATRICIA ALEX

The Record

STAFF WRITERS

Voters approved school budgets in 55 of 74 Bergen County towns Tuesday, ignoring Governor Christie’s call to reject spending plans in districts where teachers refused to take a wage freeze.
 
Bergen voters appeared to buck the state trend. According to unofficial results, voters turned down 260 of 479 budgets in 19 counties Tuesday night — a rejection rate of 54 percent. Budgets were on the ballots in a total of 537 districts across the state’s 21 counties.

 The rate of defeat statewide eclipses the 27 percent failure rate in recent years, and represents the first time voters have rejected a majority of school budgets in 34 years.

In Passaic County, most budgets went down, though one more passed than last year. Six budgets passed in Passaic County and 12 were defeated.

Tuesday’s vote came after one of the most emotionally charged school election seasons in memory; despite property tax increases, most local budgets will still require cuts in staff and programs due to steep declines in state aid.

Steve Wollmer, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, expressed concern about early reports that significantly more budgets had been defeated than usual.

“Everyone knew it was going to be a tough election,” Wollmer said Tuesday night. “People are just not happy on a lot of levels, and the governor hasn’t helped with his grandstanding and bully pulpit.”

In recent weeks, Christie attacked the NJEA on an almost daily basis and demanded that already-negotiated contracts be reopened to freeze salaries. Teachers in most school districts did not concede, while Christie called teacher pay and benefits beyond the reach of recession-weary taxpayers.

In Bergen, only one more district’s spending plan failed than last year, and budgets went down in hotly contested districts, such as Teaneck, Ridgewood and Rochelle Park.

“Considering the fiscal environment we’re in, I think the school boards, administrations and citizens really looked carefully at the needs of the districts, and overall I think it’s a favorable outcome,” said Aaron Graham, executive county superintendent of schools in Bergen.

In Passaic County, Clifton’s and most upcounty budgets were defeated. Budgets passed in Little Falls, Wayne and the city of Passaic.

The governor signaled Tuesday that the votes would not be the end to his standoff with the NJEA. The administration is still pushing for teachers to take wage freezes and is expected to put forth new measures shortly to rein in public employee pensions.

“These are generally very low turnout elections. We’ll see what happens,” said Christie. “But at the end it’s not going to change the overall dynamic. Because the overall dynamic is that people in this state are fed up with being overtaxed, fed up with the addiction to spending that government has had, and they’ve hired me to change it.”

David Verducci, superintendent in Glen Rock, said he was “elated” by the almost 2-1 ratio by which the budget passed. Glen Rock is one of two districts in Bergen County where teachers accepted a one-year pay freeze. “People understand this election was more than just about the budget,” he said. “This election in Glen Rock was about support for public schools, about people working together for the common good. I’m overwhelmed.”

In Rochelle Park, however, officials were sorely disappointed. Voters rejected a budget that would have boosted the tax levy 8 percent. Superintendent Fredrik Oberkehr said the vote “was more about politics than education. I’m talking about the banter going back and forth between the governor’s office and the NJEA. None of those conversations in my mind had anything to do with educating kids.”

The budgets presented to voters already called for hundreds of layoffs in Bergen and more than 1,200 in schools in Passaic County, along with many program eliminations. The defeated spending plans now go to the municipal governing bodies, which can decide to make more drastic cuts in light of voter dissatisfaction.

Parents in many districts prodded neighbors with e-mails, text messages and robo-calls Tuesday urging them to vote. School elections typically draw only about 14 percent of voters.

Some at the polls said they wanted to save teachers’ jobs and programs, while others said they felt too squeezed by property taxes to approve bigger local outlays for schools.

In Upper Saddle River, resident Sam Hochberger voted against the budget, saying the governor was on the right track in trying to cut spending. “He’s putting his neck on the line,” Hochberger said. “We need fiscal responsibility, and that’s what he’s trying to do.”

Some voters said Christie’s attack against teachers was unfair.

“I don’t see him taking a pay cut,” said Kathy Bove, after voting at Clifton High School. “If there’s going to be cuts in government service, it should be across the board.”

Elaine Minervini of Westwood said that as much as she wanted to support education, she had no choice but to vote against the budget.

“I’m all taxed out,” she said. “It’s enough. It comes out of every pocket and corner. We need to make smarter choices.”

A majority of local budgets have passed each year since 1977, when state income tax began to help pay for local schools and relieved some of the burden on property taxpayers.

Christie cut direct state aid to schools for the upcoming year that begins in July by nearly $820 million; in most cases, the cut amounted to 5 percent of districts’ budgets.

That step brought howls of protest from educators who charged the cuts would jeopardize the quality of education. The aid cuts came on top of Christie’s announcement in February that he was freezing $475 million promised to districts for the rest of this fiscal year.

Christie followed those two rounds of cuts by declaring that voters should reject budgets if teachers refused to share in the sacrifice by taking a one-year pay freeze. Teachers in only two North Jersey districts — Midland Park and Glen Rock — agreed to give up raises for 2010-11, but teachers in several other districts made smaller concessions.

Statewide, teachers in 13 of roughly 600 districts took wage freezes, while administrators in about 125 did so, according to the Education Department.

This report contains information from the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the NJEA poured its formidable energy into mustering its more than 200,000 members to get out the vote to support the budgets.

The New Jersey School Boards Association also urged voters to back their districts. Executive Director Marie S. Bilik said, “School boards have done the best job possible with the hand they’ve been dealt.”

The Star-Ledger contributed to this article. E-mail: brody@northjersey.com and alex@northjersey.com

NJ voters in 'no' mood for school tax hikes

30% of budgets pass in Monmouth, 39% in Ocean

By BOB JORDAN and ERIK LARSEN • STAFF WRITERS • April 20, 2010

With record-breaking turnouts for a school board election, tax levy proposals in Monmouth and Ocean counties mostly went down in flames on Tuesday, as a backlash against school spending won the day.

View the school budget election results for Monmouth, Ocean counties

Less than 30 percent of the Monmouth districts saw their budget questions approved, according to unofficial results, the lowest in at least a decade. In Ocean County, the passage rate was 39 percent, with 11 budgets approved and 17 defeated.

Related

The voter turnout in each county was approximately 24 percent of registered voters. For comparison, the statewide turnout in the school vote was 13.4 percent a year ago. No statewide turnout has topped 18.6 percent in the 27 years of records compiled by the New Jersey School Boards Association.

Also at stake Tuesday were seats on local school boards, with Brick voters allowing Warren H. Wolf, 82, to return to the spotlight as he won a three-year term.

Wolf is a retired township deputy schools superintendent. He was also a longtime football coach in the district who retired, only to end his retirement in January when he was named the football coach at Lakewood High School. Wolf has also served in Brick as mayor and township councilman and has been an Ocean County freeholder and state assemblyman.

The march to the polls came in the wake of a contentious dialogue between Gov. Chris Christie and the leaders of the state's teachers union, which fought Christie after he rolled out a proposal to cut $820 million from local education. The cuts left school districts juggling the options of layoffs, tax increases or program cuts.

Residents finally got their chance to weigh in. They mostly said they wanted no part of tax increases. For the defeated budgets, more cuts of programs or personnel, or both, may be required, with rejected spending plans being sent to a town's governing body for review and possible changes.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer- Most school budgets fail in S. Jersey

By Peter Mucha

Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Rejections far outnumbered approvals in yesterday's voting on school budgets in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties, according to available results.

Voting yes were Haddonfield and Gloucester Township in Camden County; Bass River, Easthampton, Morristown, Riverton and Woodland in Burlington County; and Deptford, Glassboro, Greenwich Township, Logan, Paulsboro, Washington Township and Woodbury Heights in Gloucester County.

That list of is likely incomplete, because results for many Camden County districts were unavailable early this morning.

Among the dozens of school districts voting no were Pennsauken and Cherry Hill in Camden County; Burlington Township, Cinnaminson, Delran, Evesham, Maple Shade, Medford, Mount Laurel and Willingboro in Burlington County; and Gateway Regional, Monroe Township, Pitman, West Deptford and Woodbury in Gloucester County.

Where the budgets were defeated, town and city councils will determine what funds will go to local schools.

For more details, see links to listings at right.

 

My Central New Jersey - 'Passions, turnout high as school spending plans rejected in Central Jersey' By RICK MALWITZ • STAFF WRITER • April 20, 2010 EAST BRUNSWICK — If school districts in Central Jersey were to receive a collective report card yesterday, after asking voters to approve their budgets, the grade would have been a C-minus. For a district-by-district look at the votes, visit our Politics page. Nine budgets were passed, but 16 were rejected, in the most contentious school board elections in a generation, following major cuts in state aid to education by Gov. Chris Christie, and belt- tightening cuts throughout the state. Budgets were approved by voters in Metuchen, Highland Park, North Brunswick, Cranbury, South River, Piscatwawy, South Brunswick, West Windsor- Plainsboro and Rahway. Budgets were rejected in Middlesex Borough, Dunellen, Monroe, East Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, Milltown, Jamesburg, Old Bridge, Franklin, Edison, Linden, South Amboy, South Plainfield, Woodbridge and the Spotswood-Helmetta district. The budget vote in Carteret was still not clear, as the borough clerk reported the spending plan had passed but the mayor said absentee ballots had resulted in the spending plan's defeat. The most emphatic "no'' vote was in Edison, where the budget was rejected by a 7,366-4,568 margin. The narrowest defeat was in Franklin, where the budget lost by 34 votes, with a 3,226-3,192 margin. Results that became available after the newspaper deadline can be found at www.mycentraljersey. com/politics. When voters reject a budget t then is sent to the municipality's governing board, which has the authority to order dollar-amount cuts. The school district can appeal the cuts to the state Department of Education. Following a tense war of words between the governor and the New Jersey Education Association, the union that represents teachers, the voters had their chance to pass judgment on the budgets. The governor asked voters to reject budgets unless teachers had agreed to a pay freeze. Less than two dozen teachers unions agreed to a pay freeze, including two districts in Middlesex County - Metuchen and North Brunswick. Among voters at polling places yesterday, passions were strong - both for and against the budgets. Mary Walsh voted at the Kendall Park Fire and First Aid Station in South Brunswick. "I hope the parents are more involved. We need to put the pride back in education,'' said Walsh, a teacher by trade. "Parents pick the town they live in for the schools. And people are moving here, so we must be doing something right,'' Walsh added. Vinay Manchanda, who also voted in Kendall Park, said, "The budget issue was the main thing. It is for the teachers and the kids.'' Marianne Carroll voted "yes'' in South Amboy. "Right now, seventh and eighth grades in the middle school don't have any sports whatsoever and now they want to take theater away from them,'' said Carroll. "Any activity that you can do after school is keeping these kids out of trouble. I want the kids to have whatever programs they can have,'' said Carroll. "We need to have some more observation of the budget and we need to have a little closer look at keeping teachers salaries in line with everybody else's in society,'' said Vincent Mackiel, who voted against the South Amboy budget. In Linden, Tracey Birch, a mother of three children who attend elementary School No. 9, said she voted for the budget. "I think it's very important we keep teachers in place or our children are the ones who will suffer. They (the children) are the leaders of our future,'' Birch said. "My prayer is that it (the budget) will pass.'' Birch said without voter approval of the budget, more and more will be taken away from the children. Her children told her the art program in in jeopardy. "They are worried about that. Education is important and extra curricular activities are just as important. If we keep cutting there will be nothing for them to participate in,'' Birch said. "This is my first year voting on a school budget,'' said Ed Dalley, outside Edison High School, after c asting his vote. "I've had it up to here,'' he said, pointing to over his head. Dally said the teachers union is getting out of hand and has got to be reined in. "It is costing the taxpayers too much. Everybody is making cuts, why not them?'' he said. He voted against the budget. Annette Colterelli said she and her husband are not always able to make it to the polls. But this year they made the time. "Our taxes are going up,'' said Colterelli, whose children are no longer in the school system. "I'm sure there are other cuts you can make to the budget besides teachers, like principals and administrators who make all the money,'' she said. Colterelli also voted no on the budget. "I came out to vote because I'm tired of high taxes,'' said Annabel Figueiredo who voted at the East Franklin Firehouse in Somerset. "I voted against the budget. They're going to eliminate teacher positions instead of the union t aking a pay freeze. That really aggravates me. Everyone is hurting - I have two jobs. But the teachers are not willing to pitch in.'' "I came out to support the budget even though I don't have children,'' said Linda Haboush, outside the East Franklin Firehouse. "I want the children of America to have a good education.'' "I voted for the budget because our kids need a good education,'' said 70-year-old Bill Ward. "We're doing a lousy job when the rest of the world is turning out scientists. But I believe the teachers and the union should take a hit like everybody else.'' On the electronic billboard outside Monroe High School the message was simple: "Please Vote.'' "I teach technology and my job has been cut,'' said Karen O'Connell of Monroe, as she walked from the Oak Tree Elementary School, where she teaches. "I've been on the job for five years, and now this.'' Staff writers Lalita Aloor Amuthan, Mary Ann Bourbeau, Leo D. Rommel