Have you ever been sitting outside enjoying a perfect summer day at the beach or a family picnic, basking in the sun’s warmth, when suddenly the wind picks up, clouds darken and a rainstorm hits? As you scramble for cover, you wonder whether this is just a passing storm or if it is here to stay, ruining your day. After the recent school election, when 75% of the district budgets passed, many board members were feeling good about their district, but I suspect a storm is on its way when the legislature comes back in session. The storm I see brewing is over school board elections. It may happen as quickly as a summer squall and catch some off guard.  (more…)

School districts and school boards took it on the chin at the Assembly Budget Committee hearing this past Thursday April 10^th.   When I put this meeting on my schedule, I expected it to be the “same old, same old.”  I would hear the Commissioner Davy give the same presentation I have heard many times.

As luck would have it, the day before her testimony, news broke of some financial irregularities that allegedly occurred in Union City. Apparently, overtime was paid to bus drivers for charging cell phones; there were also additional issues uncovered by the Department of Education’s audit of Union City. While the situation, if true is bad news for Union City, it actually affects all school districts, if only because lamwkers tend to lump together all of us together inaccurately and unfairly.  As I stated in a previous blog, Paying for the mistakes of others perceptions of all school districts can be sullied by the actions of one.  (more…)

How high a priority is public education to Governor Corzine?  “Education is absolutely at the top rung,” Governor Corzine stated on Saturday, April 5, to more than 100 board members who sit on various NJSBA committees.  While the governor believes that both his actions and words exemplify his commitment to public education, this does not mean his aid increase is a blank check and that accountability is also not a priority. In fact, as he said, “accountability is more important for the kids than it is for the taxpayers.” That is an idea I believe most board members would concur with.  The meeting was called “A Conversation with Governor Corzine,” and the governor spent a little over an hour with the board members. (more…)

New Jersey’s budget mess has Governor Corzine calling on all of us to accept some hard choices to solve the crisis.  The governor feels his proposed solution has made some of those hard choices.  His solution has taken a two-pronged approach. First he introduced his plan to raise the tolls and then he unveiled a proposed budget with deep cuts in many areas.  While his supporters may call this politically courageous, his opponents on both the left and the right call for different kinds of courage.  Those on the left seem to lean more towards  having the courage to enact a small tax increase while those on the right prefer to see larger government cuts.   Any one of these “solutions” may or may not be courageous but all three are likely to be politically unpopular (As Governor Corzine can attest, too).   This got me to thinking what is “political courage”?  (more…)

 Even at my ripe old age, there is still that teenage boy in me that could sleep all day on Saturdays.  There are very few things that can rouse me from my slumber.  The NJSBA Legislative Committee, however, is one of those things for which I rise early.  Last month’s meeting did not disappoint by any stretch of the imagination! (more…)