Some of you know that I grew up amidst the strip malls of South Jersey, departing for Charlottesville in late Summer 1983 and returning since only as a visitor. That said, I must express great pride in the State, its Governor, and its voters for having the courage to say "enough is enough". Standing up to the teachers unions and other public unions has been difficult, but it is not without its reward. Voters across New Jersey this week sent 54% of their education budgets back to the drawing board--mostly as a result of Governor Christie's leadership.
Good for you, Jersey.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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5 comments:
I love that guy but wouldn't trust him around a bucket of chicken.
He's doing some great things and also some not so great things but at least he's shaking things up. NJ has 600 plus school districts. Consideration should be given to consolidation but nobody wants to lose their "home rule". The Abbott districts (Abbott vs. Burke) are a joke. Money keeps getting tossed into that pit, while districts like mine are run on shoe string budgets. My district shares principals and nurses between schools. Not thrilled about the nurse thing. We also have libraries staffed by parents at the grade schools. We also don't have the administrator glut like most districts. We have a lot against us but we still have a top rated system here.
I voted YES for my district's budget as I got a copy of the line item budget and there wasn't a whole lot of fluff in it. As you may or may not know, I was elected to two school boards so I know where to look for the fluff. I have voted NO in the past but only after reading a line item budget.
Radio show topic?
Another thing is the administrators. It's not the administrator salaries but the amount of administrators including vice principals and specialists. Camden School district pays someone $125K per year as the Abbott facilities manager. What the hell is that? I have written to get clarification but never an answer.
I was skeptical of Christie, because most NJ Republicans are just lite versions of Democrats. But so far he's exceeded my expectations.
Be even prouder of Burlington County -- 87% of budgets were defeated. My own district failed to pass a budget for the 7th time since I moved here in 2001, so we're old hands at the next part of the process...
Sam, thank you for your prior service as a school board member! I'm riding the same horse right now.
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