School Board Elections

Most of you who are eligible to vote in today’s school board elections won’t bother. Last year just over 16% of the registered voters in Ocean County cast a ballot, meaning almost 84% did not participate in the process to vote on proposed school budgets and select candidates to serve on local and regional boards of education. Those numbers will probably be about the same today in Ocean County and throughout the state despite all the attention paid to education and the dollar figures associated with it. The reasons for this are apathy, frustration, ignorance, laziness…you get the picture.

Nothing I or anyone else says is really going to motivate those 84% who won’t be voting today but I would like to congratulate the relatively small percentage of you who will find the time and head to the polls where you probably won’t have to wait very long. By now I hope you have spent a couple of minutes looking at the budgets and those asking for your support to serve in the often unappreciated position of school board member.

School Districts are working harder than ever to present lean, no-frills spending plans, most of them even coming in under the cap. The general public may look at the whole number as being excessive but keep in mind most of those costs are built in and non-negotiable, including teacher salaries, transportation, maintenance, books and supplies. Districts that are under the cap should be applauded and are deserving of voter support, even if you don’t like the formula in New Jersey whereby our property taxes fund education. That’s an argument for a different day.

As for those who want to serve on the Board of Education, it should not be just about the spending of your tax dollar. For me it’s always been about those who will best balance what’s in the interests of the students and staff as well as the taxpayer. That is especially important today with all the talk about consolidation of school districts…you want representatives with the background to navigate through what surely will be challenging times.
Schools are a source of pride in the community and I’m happy to be among the 16% who will vote today and do what I think is best to keep if that way.