By

Ray Pinney 

Sometimes, when you want to gauge what people are thinking, you have to ignore the people who are doing the most talking.  I am angry with myself in that I fell into the trap of starting to believe that all those people who post online comments on newspaper stories and who call into 101.5 FM radio reflect the sentiments of the average citizen.  If this week’s school elections are any indication, those people are voicing the minority opinion.  My advice to you is to disregard these comments because they represent very little in the great scheme of things except one person’s opinion and in many cases, an ill-informed opinion at that. My further advice is don’t let these postings get to you and cause you to become a bit shallow and petty, as I have. (More about this below. )

Let me give you a few examples of what was posted on articles about the vote on school budgets.  Please keep in mind these are just a few samples and I did not edit their comments one bit.  (I wouldn’t think of editing these jewels of the English language!)

It’s way past the time when the teachers union, the administrators and the school boards in New Jersey are sent a strong message. The vast majority of these people are in denial and have no clue what it is like in the real world. With their cushy contracts, benefits and pensions, they are bankrupting New Jerseyians. (more…)

By

Ray Pinney 

In 1998 Major League Baseball was enjoying a magical season.  There was record attendance and interest, much of which was spurred on by the quest of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to break the single season home run record held by Roger Maris. The number of home runs by major league baseball players began to surge beginning in the mid-1990′s and continuing for about ten years.  During that time, there were plenty of magazine and newspaper articles, as well as sports talk radio and ESPN shows, devoted to answering the question of why there was an explosion in home runs.  Was the explosion caused by smaller stadiums, bad pitching, or better conditioned athletes? There was even speculation that the baseballs were being stitched differently, causing them to travel farther then the old baseballs. Some reporters and universities even spent time cutting baseballs in half just to prove this.  Looking back on it now, everyone looks a bit foolish. We never really discussed steroids, even though there were a few rumors and a substance was (albeit a permittedone) found in Mark McGwire’s locker. In the end it was not the baseballs that were ‘juiced” as they say, but the ball players. 

I bring that story up because in New Jersey there is much consternation from legislators, the general public and even some school board members that the settlement rates of teacher contracts are too high.  (more…)

 By Ray Pinney 

If there are any school board members or school administrators who believe that the school elections of 2009 are no different than any other year and are very confident that their budget will pass handily, you may now stop reading!  You are obviously in a good mood (or in denial) and I do not want to be responsible for ruining your good mood.

The school budget vote is fast approaching and I do not sense that local school administrators and board members are as confident about their district’s budget passing as they have been in previous years.  Strangely, it is not because they feel their budget this year is particularly bloated or will have any more of a tax impact than in previous years.  In fact, I have noticed that this year there are a significant number of budgets that seem to be cutting staff and are very lean budgets.  We all sense that the economic climate has changed the communities’ and the voter’s attitudes. We will find out how much those attitudes have changed on April 21^st when New Jerseyans come out to vote in their annual school election.  (more…)

Have any of you ever had a job where you were given an assignment that you knew was doomed for failure?   Privately, you tell your boss some of the obstacles and concerns you have, but your words fall on deaf ears.  Your job now is to be the good soldier and carry out the duties that you feel may be doomed for failure or, if you are lucky, will result in one or two small successes.   Now I have not been told this by anyone at the DOE (and they would probably deny it), but I believe some at the department probably feel this way with the CORE act and what the Executive County Superintendents (ECS ) will have to do in terms of the feasibility studies and regionalization.   Now the boss they have to answer to is not really the Commissioner of Education but the legislators who passed the law.  While the ECSs may know in their heart what these feasibility studies will say and that there is almost no way most of them will get voter approval, the law is the law.  And the law says they must do this. (more…)