>BOE : for it before they were against it
According to a Letter to the Editor written by Bob Hutton and published in The Record on January 14th, the BOE voted in November of 2011 not to move the election. Why the flip flop?
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Regarding “Losing a say” (Opinion, Page O-1, Jan. 8):
I agree. As a member of the Ridgewood Board of Education, I introduced a resolution at our last meeting clearly opposing moving school board elections from its traditional date in the spring to November. Incorporating school board elections into the general election in November is not a prudent change. The resolution passed.
I have always wondered why school board elections are treated differently from general elections. Annually, a board oversees the creation of a budget, passes a budget resolution and then starts a road show throughout the community to seek support for the budget. What other governing body is charged with that responsibility? None, in New Jersey. Why?
Should not all the elements that make up the property taxes of a municipality be determined by a vote of its electorate? Should not the voting public have a say on all bonding matters that affect their property taxes?
Where is the outcry that public education — a cornerstone of our democracy — is treated differently at every turn? One could look at eliminating the public vote on the school budget as leveling the playing field that our other municipal brethren have enjoyed for years. I don’t know if that is right, but I am one who would like consistency.
Bob Hutton
Ridgewood, Jan. 8
