NJ - Education Crisis

[njprincess601]

We're in Union County, and 100% of our funding got cut.

 

[Cindy B]

Could you tell me where to find it?

www.courierpostonline.com

(Camden county newspaper) It has a link with a pull down menu according to county. The link on the top bar says something like projected school changes.

 

[BeenHereB4]

Bergen County here too. Just got an email from my son's school. We lost 52% of our state aid which is I believe 5% of the total aid we receive. I'm sure even though 5% seems small, it's a lot of money.

 

[Cindy B]

The important number to see is the percentage. Some districts in S. Jersey (Burlington and Camden county) is losing quite a large amount of funding.

I want to say Haddonfield is losing 100% of its funding and Moorestown is losing a large amount of funding as well-- but the percentage is quite low.

There are many districts that have so much waste. Does one suburban high school need one principal and 12 vice principals? No, they don't. One projection for my district is a loss of 176 FTEs. Of course that really doesn't mean 176 jobs-- many will be consolidated and rearranged so there are going to be less job losses.

I think my district stated that the worst case scenario is a loss of 176 FTEs and the new projected number is about 80 FTEs. Every level is getting hit-- teachers, secretaries, educational assistants, superintendents, etc. Each vice principal doesn't need thier own secretary.


I also had affiliations in Camden school district. There was so much waste it wasn't funy. I saw teachers that had small classes or teachers that didn't show up the entire time I was there (3 months). Supplies were either overabundant or non existant.

 

[RitaE]

Illinois too - Governor is trying to cut education spending by around $2billion ... basically a power play to get the State Income tax raised. Funny how they always manage to hold education hostage in order to get people to agree to higher tax rates.

By the way, he wants to raise taxes by 33% across the board in the midst of a recession -- From 3% to 4%. Our State is so ridiculous.

 

[gina2000]

I have a ton to say about the lack of cuts in special needs districts (formerly known as Abbott Districts) verses the rest of the states' school districts. It has been proven that throwing money at poor school districts has not improved test scores. I suspect cutting money from middle class school districts won't improve scores either.

The more things change the more they remain the same.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Finally, a little fiscal responsibility. Now, let's see how the local districts respond.

 

[Cindy B]

I have a ton to say about the lack of cuts in special needs districts (formerly known as Abbott Districts) verses the rest of the states' school districts. It has been proven that throwing money at poor school districts has not improved test scores. I suspect cutting money from middle class school districts won't improve scores either.

The more things change the more they remain the same.

I hear you. I worked in Camden and another Abbott school for a brief time. I will say that Camden did not improve test scores but the other one did

 

[mom2boys77]

Thank you.

www.courierpostonline.com

(Camden county newspaper) It has a link with a pull down menu according to county. The link on the top bar says something like projected school changes.

 

[Hillbeans]

There are many districts that have so much waste. Does one suburban high school need one principal and 12 vice principals?

Every level is getting hit-- teachers, secretaries, educational assistants, superintendents, etc. Each vice principal doesn't need thier own secretary.
.

While I hate the thought of people losing their jobs, especially teachers who work very hard, I agree that we need some of these cuts to fix the broken system. There is so much waste, and I honestly think it should come more from the top down - no, why in the world do you need 12 Vice Principals?
Our district is one of those that goes K - 8 and has to go out of town for High School - not happy about that but it is what it is.

Christie also wants Teachers to pay a portion of their health insurance because now it's free.

 

[java]

26% cut here.

Now what worries me is property tax increase. They normally don't respond to the cuts with budget cuts. The superintendent for our school sysytem makes about half what they are talking about cutting.
Instead of trying to get towns to CONSOLIDATE (which really is needed) through these funding cuts- why not force the issue another way. What way that is I don't know.
But if my taxes go much higher we'll have to move. We are currently paying $16500. We don't have any more. In the 10 years we've lived here we've gone from $9000 - to 11,000 first year then $1000 bump ups after that. And almost 85% is towards education. Something does have to change I just don't think this will force it. The last cut Corizine did just made my taxes go up. No consolidation at all.

 

[MM27]

We got cut 30%, 4% of our budget. So glad the BOE thought it was a good idea to give our teachers 4% raises in this economy....

You do understand that when they say 4% raises were given that it does not mean that TEACHERS get a 4% raise across the board, right? 4% is spread across the entire pay guide and includes secretaries, nurses, custodial staff, etc. People see 4% and they assume that every employee got a huge raise when in fact, most never see anywhere near 4%. My last raise worked out to 1.035% although the newspaper claims I got 4%.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

Finally, a little fiscal responsibility. Now, let's see how the local districts respond.

There is a huge amount of waste in many, if not most or all, of our school districts and it is disturbing. I'm very curious to see how the schools are going to handle this, maybe they will stop the waste and tightened the purse straps like the rest of us do

 

[gina2000]

All the Governor has done is shift the burden of the deficit onto local municipalities. He has not created jobs, has not increased revenue, and has not come up with a viable plan to help NJ residents afford to continue to live in the state. He not only cut the educational state aid but also the municipal state aid. Count on huge property tax increases. There is no quick fix magic bullet for this problem. Christie is just playing with smoke and mirrors.

Oh, and for the record, I am untenured and I pay almost $1400/month for family medical/dental benefits. How many private sector jobs require an employee to work for 3 years before family coverage is part of their salary package?

 

[Donnainnj]

Oh, and for the record, I am untenured and I pay almost $1400/month for family medical/dental benefits. How many private sector jobs require an employee to work for 3 years before family coverage is part of their salary package?

My sister in the private sector pays over $900 per month for herself and her husband, and it goes up every year. The employer will never pay more. What happens with your medical insurance when you retire? I know when DH retires we are entirely on our own. I would think the majority of new teachers don't have families to cover before they receive tenure. There are advantages and disadvantages of each system.

 

[pixiedust23]

My sister in the private sector pays over $900 per month for herself and her husband, and it goes up every year. The employer will never pay more. What happens with your medical insurance when you retire? I know when DH retires we are entirely on our own. I would think the majority of new teachers don't have families to cover before they receive tenure. There are advantages and disadvantages of each system.

Yes and our salary is reflective of that. I think people forget that we make much less than people in private sectors and part of the way we make some of that money back is through benefits. If I were to make career choices all over again and had seen this coming, would I have been a teacher? Probably not. And unfortunately, as college students start to pick their majors, they are going to be asking themselves if it is even worth it. Which could result is bad teachers, which results in poorer education to your children. When you peck away at the bottom of the totem poll eventually the whole thing is going to come crashing down. And I don't know who thinks districts have 12 VPs. We have about 1300 kids in our high school and only have 2 VPs, that's 650 kids/VP.

 

[Kathi OD]

Illinois too - Governor is trying to cut education spending by around $2billion ... basically a power play to get the State Income tax raised. Funny how they always manage to hold education hostage in order to get people to agree to higher tax rates.

By the way, he wants to raise taxes by 33% across the board in the midst of a recession -- From 3% to 4%. Our State is so ridiculous.

While I feel your pain, most of us in NJ would be happy to have a tax rate of 4%.

 

[mjkacmom]

You do understand that when they say 4% raises were given that it does not mean that TEACHERS get a 4% raise across the board, right? 4% is spread across the entire pay guide and includes secretaries, nurses, custodial staff, etc. People see 4% and they assume that every employee got a huge raise when in fact, most never see anywhere near 4%. My last raise worked out to 1.035% although the newspaper claims I got 4%.

Hey, it's still more money. DH's company has had a salary freeze for the past 5 years, and many professionals I know have taken a 10% salary cut. Our schools cut out many things last year, and I can't imagine what is going to happen now. Our town employees got nothing this year. The majority of our BOE have family members who are teachers in town.

 

[allison443]

The majority of our BOE have family members who are teachers in town.

That is the same situation in my NJ town. The BOE members also have family members who are crossing guards and cafeteria workers (earning $15-$20 an hour with benefits for a part time job!) They have refused to consider privatizing the food services, although they have been steadily losing money for years.

Our teachers also started a new contract last September, and they get a raise each year for the next three years.

I have no idea what the district will do. Their budget meeting is tonight where they are supposed to adopt the budget. Unfortunately I doubt they will cut the waste which is definitely present. They are talking about cutting all busing, middle school sports, music and art, all librarians. This was even before they got the final numbers on Tuesday.

 

[agnes!]

This is an interesting Letter to the Editor...
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2010/03/south_hunterdon_high_should_no.html

Some quotes:

At the same time, they are telling teachers they can’t afford to replace disintegrating books or call a heating company when the temperature is so hot in the building that you have to open windows in winter to control the temperature.

South Hunterdon offers more sports activities than advanced proficiency (AP) courses (6) and the number of students in any single AP course (4 to 6) pales in comparison to any single sport roster.

My DD's school has about 2200 students and every single AP class is filled to the brim and there are multiple classes per subject, but I can see that with such a small enrollment that 4-6 students per subject might not be so bad, it just looks *awful*.

South Hunterdon also boasts a large administration for a school whose student enrollment barely averages 350. The school has a superintendent, principal, assistant principal and business administrator. With an administration whose salaries account for nearly half a million dollars,

... At a 2008-09 per pupil cost of $21,163,...

Wow...$21,000 per student? You could get quite a good private-school education for that price, even around here.

The important number to see is the percentage. Some districts in S. Jersey (Burlington and Camden county) is losing quite a large amount of funding.

I want to say Haddonfield is losing 100% of its funding and Moorestown is losing a large amount of funding as well-- but the percentage is quite low.

There are many districts that have so much waste. Does one suburban high school need one principal and 12 vice principals? ...

Which school has 12 vice principals?

agnes!