NJ Voters Send a Message
Posted on 22 April 2010
On Tuesday voters sent a message loud and clear to the status quo education establishment in New Jersey. For too long in our state, education has been the primary driver for pushing up local taxes. The arguments are always the same (‘it’s for the kids’) and opponents have been branded as ‘anti-children’ should they have the temerity to question why it seems impossible for school budgets to halt their continuous march higher every year. Voters Tuesday said “enough”(from USA Today):
The state has the highest property tax rates in the nation. Last year, voters approved 73% of school budgets, which included new levies.
Voters rejected 314 of 537 budgets. Here are the official results from the New Jersey School Boards Association.
Christie, a freshman Republican, called yesterday’s vote “a seismic change that reflects, I believe, a changed attitude in New Jersey.”
“They’ve had enough. They want real, fundamental change,” Christie said at a press conference this afternoon.
Everyone is free to draw their own conclusions however it seems that given voters past history, this election represents a serious statement from citizens much as the election of Chris Christie made a statement last year. However, not everyone seems to get it:
“Clearly, the voters sent a message yesterday to the governor and the Legislature,” said Barbara Keshishian, president of the New Jersey Education Association. “They need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new budget plan, because this one is killing public education and driving property taxes even higher, neither of which is on the public’s wish list.
“The governor should start by reinstituting the ‘millionaire’s tax,’ which would restore $800 million in revenues.”
What an interesting assessment by the NJEA. The governor asks teachers to accept a pay freeze and not only did the NJEA oppose it, they went on the attack. It was interesting to note that 80% districts that accepted pay freezes passed their budgets (USA today). That tells me that the ‘millionaire tax’ notwithstanding, voters knew what they were doing. And the NJEA clearly wants recast this debate to be about gouging another class of voter to continue to pay for out of control education spending.
The problem the NJEA has is that the many of us in New Jersey in the private sector have accepted wage freezes for several years now. It isn’t just the past two years issues. Ever since 9/11, companies have been scaling back wages and benefits. And the downturn has made the average person more appreciative of maintaining their employment. In this climate, “demands” for pay increases for the highest paid teachers in the country are not resonating with the average person.
On Tuesday evening I went to my local polling place in Burlington county after my son’s baseball game. When we walked up to the door of the polling place, I couldn’t help but notice that 4 people were standing just off the walkway with a giant bag emblazoned with NJEA on the side. The bag measured roughly 36 inches wide and about 24 inches tall. I mentioned to the polling judges that standing outside a polling place and politicking is normally considered illegal in our state they went and investigated. The teachers claimed they didn’t have any signs. But it was clear what they were doing. They were looking for voters with children in the school to remind them that “it’s all about the kids”. The problem is that we know and they know it isn’t-it’s about them. And just like they don’t get simple rules like keeping polling places free of intimidation, they don’t get that we have had enough of their never ending money grab.
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