>I was infuriated by the members of the BOE, who seemed to be patting themselves on the back for raising our taxes, AGAIN, in last week’s RN article about the budget! Does anyone else agree that the BOE does NOT have a mandate to propose a budget that uses every bit of Trenton’s “allowable” annual increase, every year.
Isn’t it the BOE’s responsibility to try to deliver a budget that does NOT increase automatically every year? Only infrequently and in unusual circumstances should the annual allowable increase actually be used.When is enough really going to be enough?
If Rudy Giuliani could reduce or eliminate 23 different taxes in NYC during eight years, why can’t Ridgewood manage to even hold taxes (let alone reduce them)? In the past six years the average increase from the BOE has been 4.59% per year and the cummulative increase from the BOE in that time has been over 25%. This is a disgrace. Our BOE members don’t seem to understand that it is NOT “OK” to keep dipping into our pockets. Perhaps it is time to take back control of our village’s educational destiny from the teachers’ union…
>Amen!
>How about some budget cuts and a resultant tax decrease for once?
>What happened at last night’s meeting?
>If you had even a tiny idea of what you were talking about vis-a-vis the budget, you would realize how lame you sound. Have you ever actually looked at the budget? Have you ever actually looked at district’s costs and how much they rise? Have you ever paid an iota of attention to the year-after-year mandated expenses that the state says we must spend, and then the promised state aid that year after year does not arrive, leaving taxpayers to make up the difference? The fact that NJ school funding is the most screwy in the country is not the fault of my kids, their teachers, their administrators or us parents. The formula needs to be fixed by the spineless jellyfish in Trenton. In the meantime, if you spend time in the schools, talk to teachers, take the time to see and understand what’s going on, you would quiet down real quick. I am not willing to take my kids backwards and start cutting the education they are currently getting. And don’t immediate jump to the “bloated” administration. That my friend is a MYTH. Honestly, Just get a copy of the budget and look at it line by line. Then have an opinion. Vote.Or better yet, have the backbone to run for the BOE and fix all the broken stuff that is so clear to you. Thank you.
>Just one more thing…I just noticed your last comment about the teachers’ union. On THAT note you and I may just agree! The NJEA is a big cause of the problem but there’s nothing we can do about that in our annual budget vote, right? If anyone had an actual workable idea that would get some relief from the union stuff I would be happy to discuss!
>NJEA is there own worst enemy ,the internet will soon replace public education ,so these “teachers” will need to get real educations and real jobs
>hahahaha! that’s funny, home school. what you said about the internet replacing public education. Ha! oh brother.
>sorry BB but the internet makes public school a big waste of time and money
>I’m not even going to dignify that asinine comment. OK, I’ll say one thing but just because I’m susceptible to idiotic “bait”: Public education will evolve certainly, and I’m sure the Internet will continue to be a valuable tool, but if you consider what we know about the many ways that humans learn, it is clear that the single dimensional aspect of sitting in front of a computer falls far far short of being capable of doing the whole job. Period. Now go back to your “educational” TV.
>You folks keep bickering all you like. I’m out of here and out of NJ. This communist concentration camp is just too expensive for me, the middle class that pays for this nonsense. The state will be bankrupt in a few years time and education unionist complex in this state is big part of the problem. What will you Wobblies do when all that’s left in the state works for or lives off of the state? You have a nice life but don’t expect me to pay for your pensions, extensions, scams and games.