Below is the text of another email that is circulating around that was written by Middletown resident Kathy Noah. This email is a direct counter to the anonymous letter posted by someone calling themselves " Jersey Strong" that was making the email circuit tour and was posted on another out of town, local blog that has been known for its right-wing views:
Yikes! People like this scare me!
I did a little checking into this group/person. The word around town is that the 3 guys running are fairly well tied to some of the people on the Middletown Town Council. I don't have a big problem with that, except I hear that the Town Council is looking to have more say over the Board of Ed. I don't think people should be voting in less qualified people just so it will make life easier for the Town Council. I think we should be voting on the best qualified person for the job. I guess using the word "job" is not right considering it is not a paid position.
This person/group who wrote this seems to think that the Middletown Board of Ed should be breaking the union. This is a very big fight, and it would need to be addressed at the state level. When the contract with the teachers was negotiated it was considered to be fair and comparable with other local teacher's union contract. The BOE did request that the teachers consider taking a pay freeze, the the local union leadership did not allow the teachers to take that vote. The union does have the right to work out their contract as written. I do think you will see some changes in the upcoming contract negotiations.
The idea that "you don't like how life is, so let's bring in all new people" is just crazy. The fact that our Real Estate taxes are tied to the quality of the education that our children receive is another broken system. This is not something that the BOE or the Town Council can fix. It must be dealt with in Trenton. We need people who are smart and dedicated, and they must have the children's needs at heart. I think the people on the BOE work very hard to do that. I question the dedication of some of the gentleman this person is recommending. Mascone did not show to the 1st Candidate Forum, nor did he even have the courtesy to respond that he would not be attending. Brand also did not attend the forum, but he sent a very long statement that did not really say much. Hard to know what you are really getting with them.
They also seem very concerned with the number of Administrators that the district has. They do plan to cut 7 (15%) with the proposed budget! These people have big job descriptions including curriculum, state testing, staff oversight & evaluations, student discipline, security, oversight of sports & clubs, etc. I am sure years ago you expected 1 vice principle to handle all the discipline for 1,500 students, and security was not a big issue. Times have changed. In a corporation of 1,500 employees, 10,000 daily guests/students and 17 buildings how many managers and Vice-Presidents would you expect to have?
One of the only things I do agree with them on is nobody wants their taxes going up. Unfortunately, New Jersey is in a fiscal crisis, and Governor Christie has forced large cuts everywhere. He decreased state aid to our school alone by 34%, and some schools lost all state funding. We all pay a lot of income tax to the State of NJ, so I personally have a hard time understanding how this is fair. Considering these drastic cuts the Board of Ed did their best to come up with the proposed budget.
Voting down the school budget on April 20th will still mean Middletown will lose 72.5 teachers positions, 7 Administrators, 20 Para professionals, etc.
If this budget fails, these cuts will still happen and even more will be cut. That means more teacher cuts and larger class sizes. Most likely all Middle School sports and clubs will be eliminated. Maybe the Freshman teams will be lost too. To stay on a sport you cannot miss too many days of school & you must keep your grades up. Not all kids are the perfect academic student by nature. We need ways to keep them interested in going to school and learning.
APRIL 20th VOTE YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 PM - 9 PM
7 comments:
This other slate represents nothing more than lap dogs for the mayor and deputy mayor.
The authors of "that other letter" circulating are more lap dogs.
The agenda in all this barking means just one thing....ruf,ruf Scharfey!!!
Vote FOR the kids in this township,NOT the politicians!!!
The value of education in this township affects the value of real estate in this township . Don't be fooled by this rhetoric against the current BOE. Remember some of the turmoil when "back to basics" served.
DO YOU WANT MORE OF THAT??
God help us, NO WE DO NOT!!!
Finally here's a voice of reason and well stated. This is a very complicated issue and people can be easily misled and manipulated by the anger out there. We're all upset by the situation we're facing but the anger should not be directed at the BOE.
Voting no will only hurt the kids with more cuts to programs and larger class sizes.
VOTE with your head and your heart.
Vote YES.
VOTE NO- Teacher's take a freeze. You will not have to lay off any teachers or cut the children's programs- It's very simple.
How can you say for the sake of the kids, when you are taking from the kids. Take a freeze or eventually you will have to take a hike.
There is a great need in this state to reconsider the way education is funded !! Get it off the back of the property owner and make that funding more equitable.
The time has come to bury many of the aspects of home rule and create 21 school districts in this state as is done in many other states where property taxes don't TAX residents out of their homes. In N.J. property taxes have a stranglehold hold on it's residents and they are in revolt against the greedy politicians......MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT THAT!!
But the only direct control or vote we are given is during the voting for a school budget.Our BOE has done a good job, considering the times. Now onsider our kids when you cast your vote.
Also consider how poorly the local TC has failed in their responsibility to control the expenditures in this township. It's politics,cronyism and ignorance and disregard for the citizens here. It's all about Gerry & Cronyism....that's what you will be getting IF you vote against the school budget and for the lap dogs.
I do not have trust for this TC,except Sean Byrnes,to handle one single cent of my money. They have failed miserably under this mayor.....and his cronies.
Do not trust the TC with the future of your kids.
Why do people still think the teachers can take a pay freeze?
Union said no, ain't going to happen even if they wanted to. Stop blaming the teachers and BOE.
The Gov stole our/your money and BOE was stuck with trying to fix the problem.
Let the Gov try and break the union and deal with it. No one has ever succeeded.
The following comment is from Kathy Noah but she posted it to the wrong blog post, so I am reposting it it here.
Just a little update: I am a happy to say that all the candidates have now been attending forums and PTA meetings around town. I think this is especially important for those candidates who are new to the BOE campaign. People need to get to know everyone before they can make an educated decision.
I am thrilled to announce that all candidates have said they support the budget.
Please vote yes for our kids and our schools - VOTE YES April 20th!!
VOTE NO! enough is enough already.
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