School Board Election Recap

In analyzing Tuesday’s School Election results I’m always reminded of a quote from a man who voted against the budget in his town. When asked
why he voted it down the man replied “because it’s the one time each year I get to say no to how my tax dollars are spent.” Sadly he is not alone and you can be sure many who turned “thumbs down” to budgets yesterday did so for no reason other than they could. As much as I like the opportunity to vote on candidates and issues maybe it’s time to change the system in New Jersey because clearly a small minority is deciding the fate of education in towns and districts across the state.

My argument against the public voting on the school budget is simple…why is that the only expense of our tax dollar that is on the line each year? Does the federal government ask us about spending…or the state….or the county or even the municipalities we live in? The answer is “no” as that’s left up to elected officials to decide but yet we allow 15% of registered voters to make the call on the investment in education. New Jersey is in the small majority when it comes to this as in most states towns, districts or counties set their own school budgets. Let’s be honest even the defeated budgets from yesterday when all is said and done will not look that much different after they are scrutinized by local and state officials because there is only so much you can do without. However what often does get cut are improvements in areas like technology that are so badly needed but yet to some are considered waste.

Call me a fool but I admit I don’t know as much about education spending as the professionals who put together budgets. So as long as there are checks and balances along the way and caps on spending I’m fine with trusting officials to present fair budgets that insure quality education while keeping the taxpayer in mind. You may find it hard to swallow but leaving school budgets up to voters does not make sense.