GIVE OR TAKE a few, there are 600 school districts in New Jersey. Think of them as 600 ocean liners. Think of them as 600 Titanics. And think of Governor Christie as one big sharp piece of ice.

There’s a countdown going across the state this week. By Saturday, school districts must file their budgets for next year. Many are grappling with significant cuts in services and personnel. Christie has slashed $800 million in state education funding. That could equal as much as 5 percent of a district’s annual budget.

On the surface, 5 percent doesn’t sound that bad. On the surface, the iceberg that cut open the Titanic didn’t look bad either. It’s said that there was a level of civility among some of the passengers on the sinking ship. A small orchestra continued to play as the ship listed. Yet common sense and James Cameron tell us that as the ship began to break apart, all hell broke lose.

That’s the part of the film that is playing in school board rooms. The governor has chosen to take on the New Jersey Education Association. They were enemies before the election and things have gone from bad to terrible quickly. Christie wants teachers to accept a one-year pay freeze to help reduce costs. In turn, the state will give back to districts the money it saves through reduced tax payments for Social Security and Medicare. It’s estimated that for every $1 million saved, a district would get back $76,500.

That would not save all jobs and programs, but $76,500 could pay for a teacher or possibly an athletic program. It is not an insignificant sum. Yet it is unlikely that the majority of the 99 school districts in Passaic and Bergen counties are going to jump into this lifeboat.

The good and bad of union leadership is that it speaks for its members. Individual teachers may agree that a one-year freeze is not an unreasonable request, but unless there was a mass revolt, the top union brass intends to ride the big ship to the bottom of the ocean.

Some argue that Christie is picking solely on teachers. Police, for example, get paid handsomely in many suburban communities where the risks of harm or injury are low. Why hasn’t the governor brandished the same big stick at them? He will. If he doesn’t after this weekend’s school budget deadline passes, he weakens his argument of “shared sacrifice.” But if teachers do not accept a one-year wage freeze, they risk losing public support.

Approximately 10 percent of New Jerseyans are unemployed. A small percentage of New Jerseyans make the big bucks with big bonuses that union leaders say is the norm. As for teachers, it would be hard to find another profession that offers lifetime employment and an annual wage based on less than 10 months work. Teachers may bring work home on weeknights and weekends. But they do not work in July or August and have every major holiday off to boot.

They must wake up and smell the Starbucks; many New Jerseyans are working two jobs every day. Maybe they get a few weeks off. When the economy tanked, many received no raises. Ten percent of them received no wages at all. They lost their jobs.

New Jersey has been writing checks it can’t cash for decades. Everybody is to blame. State government is guilty. But so are voters who continued to reelect irresponsible officials.

It should not have come to this, but it has. There is no happy ending. Some folks are going to be cast adrift. But fewer folks would have to be sacrificed if everyone works together. Let’s be honest, if Christie was playing Mr. Nice Guy no one would listen to him and districts would continue to borrow or tax their way into another budget. Teachers would be happy. Students would be happy. And administrators and contractors who make big bucks off of school districts would be happy, as well.

Meanwhile, taxpayers would be bailing water faster and faster. The ship is sinking. On the Love Boat, a Captain Stubing is ideal; on the Titanic, not so good.

The NJEA either can hold firm while it watches hundreds of its members lose jobs or it can blink and save many union jobs while gaining credibility with taxpayers. The answer is so easy to see. But the same might have been said on April 14, 1912, about a large chunk of ice.

Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of The Record. Contact him at doblin@northjersey.com. Follow AlfredPDoblin on Twitter.