Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/28/07

BY JOSEPH A. PALAIA

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Irecently voted against a Senate bill that would remove parents, other voters and even elected boards of education from the process of education in our communities.

New Jersey's public schools are the best in the nation. Our teachers are the best in the nation. They hardly need a politically appointed bureaucrat looking over their shoulder.

The CORE bill I opposed would be a significant detriment to public education. A major premise behind the bill seems to be that parents, voters and elected boards of education can't be trusted. All counties in the state — regardless of how ethical and fiscally efficient they have been — would have an executive county superintendent of schools imposed on them.

These county superintendents would be political patronage positions and appointed by the governor, unlike county superintendents who now are an arm of the state Department of Education. Our schools would be politicized, with a partisan official overseeing all education decisions made in the county. It is highly likely that our Democratic governor would appoint Democrats loyal and supportive of him to these powerful new positions. Putting political people in charge of county and local school budgets is a recipe for disaster. Will school budgets be cut or increased with political ideology in mind? Will political operatives be put on the payroll?

These county superintendents would not be accountable to elected boards of education, which are democratically elected to represent the interests of parents and other voters in local school districts. Instead, they would exercise authority over local school boards.

These county superintendents would have broad powers over each school's budget, able to make budget cuts at will. They would decide if students receive or are withheld new textbooks, whether technology — so essential to what it takes to succeed — would be included in the budget, whether there would be funding for extracurricular programs, or excluding or including whatever else is deemed necessary or unnecessary.

When so much is wrong with state government in New Jersey, we should not create another layer of it. The last thing we need is an appointed official presiding over local school budgets. He is likely to seek the approval of the governor, who would want to advance political agendas. This scenario would be a significant step backward for public education in New Jersey and a dangerous precedent for possible future politicization of public schools.

For a long time, New Jerseyans have been speaking up about the myriad problems in their government. Increasing the size of government, giving it more power, and at the same time taking power away from citizens, would be hypocritical. It only would increase the long-standing mistrust government has fostered in the people it is supposed to represent.

The governor of New Jersey is already among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, governor in the nation. The CORE bill is supported by Gov. Corzine. He and future governors would wield dangerously enhanced power.

This enhanced power would come with the increase in political patronage — the authority to appoint all 21 executive county superintendents. The county superintendents would be paid salaries in the six figures and have the final say in hiring the staff of his office.

Lastly, taxpayers, who have for decades been on the losing side of the rise in property taxes and who pay the highest property taxes in the nation, would pay the salaries of the 21 county superintendents. I will continue to work to stop the bill that would create these positions.

Joseph A. Palaia is a state senator from the 11th Legislative District, which includes 25 Monmouth County municipalities.