On to the BOE!

Many thanks to the people who supported me with a vote in yesterday's BOE election. I finished with the second-highest vote count among the five candidates (for three seats) and am eager to join a Board that, in my humble opinion, has done a great job of overseeing our district's expenditures and being fiscally responsible without compromising education. As testament to this argument, Tinton Falls was one of few budgets to pass in what was seemingly a statewide taxpayer revolt against NJEA's oblivious unwillingness, in many cases, to share the pain felt nationwide amid reported (and likely understated) unemployment of 10% and stagnant economic recovery. For anyone in the private sector who pays $1k per month to get lackluster health coverage or has not had a raise in years, the outcries about a 1.5% healthcare contribution or flat salary lack any compassion and border on a mix of absurdity and selfishness.

I will be but one of many voter-chosen voices on the TF BOE and appreciate anyone's input during my three years on the BOE, although I'm hopeful to introduce two primary ideas off the bat: going after the federal government for the impact aid that TF deserves for educating Navy dependents who live at Earle (at present, TF only gets about $2,500-$3,000 per child, far below the $14k it costs us to educate one child in our district and equating to about a $750,000-$1 million annual subsidy to our borough) and seeking structural reform on the state-level with regard to collective bargaining, for next year - or perhaps recurring annually - we'll be in the same budget mess and probably face taxpayer revolt without any major structural change in the way public schools do business. In my view, a resolution is not as simple as freezing teachers' salaries this year or merging 3 districts into 1, but rather, will entail collective effort on behalf of ALL state BOE's to unite to pare healthcare and recurring employee retirement benefits on the state level and push for changes in the collective bargaining system that return at least SOME power to local officials.