April 20th is the other election day, the one where many people don’t vote. It is often a tumultuous time in New Jersey,and this year even more so.
New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie is locked in battle with the NJEA union over teacher salaries, benefits, pensions, and health insurance. Mr. Christie has been employing his bully pulpit, with some saying the emphasis is on bully. In the other corner, the NJEA is praying to God that Mr. Christie drop dead.
Mr. Christie ended a tax surcharge on residents making $400,000 or more which brought in over a billion dollars to state coffers, the amount cut from the state aid provided for local municipalities; this instigated a financial crisis for many school districts. On the other hand, the teachers union is fighting tooth and nail to avoid surrendering any perk provided by their civil servant stature: early retirement, free health care for life, and tenure after only 3 years on the job.
Mr. Christie has called for residents to base their vote only on whether teachers in their town agreed to a pay freeze. Some municipalities have been lucky enough to have teacher’s agree to a pay freeze for at least one year, saving hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars. Other towns have practiced fiscal restraint and do not believe a freeze on teacher salaries is needed to deliver a responsible budget.
The Governor’s office has proposed a plan to encourage teachers to take early retirement in order to qualify for existing provisions like free healthcare for life. The NJEA responded with hysterics that this is “…an all-out assault on the very future of public education in New Jersey…He is threatening to do irreparable damage to every public school system in the state, and to the 1.4 million students we teach”.
There is really only one choice for the voters who go to the polls this April 20th. As John Quincy Adams said, “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”
In my opinion, don’t vote just because the governor said not to, but don’t vote yes just because the school says to. You should seriously look at the budget, see what is really going to happen, and decide if you should vote yes or no if it will have a major impact on you. From what I can see, the local Oakland/Indian Hills budgets are not horrible, but for other towns, it might. I know someone who is voting “no” in a town farther from here because their property taxes would go up over $100! Take your time, don’t be persuaded by anyone, and make a judgment for yourself.