The Governor & The Teachers Union

If you’ve been following the fiscal woes in New Jersey you know that education is front and center when it comes to much of the talk about money. Governor Christie has announced drastic cuts in state aid to public schools and that comes after he had already taken surpluses some districts had in their budgets. Attention has now turned to teachers who are being asked to make personal sacrifices, including salary freezes and direct contributions to their health benefits. It’s a critical time for the New Jersey Education Association because frankly they face intense public pressure if they don’t go along with the Governor’s wishes and the initial response from the teachers union was to reject the idea. The NJEA believes there are better options to plug the budget cap then go into the pockets of teachers, many of whom have worked many years to finally earn a decent salary. The truth is that teaching and education was a grossly underpaid profession for a long time and only in the last decade or so have positive strides been made.

Part of that was due to support from the public and lawmakers to make adjustments to salaries but now the worm has turned. At a time when many have had salaries cut and frozen and benefits reduced and lost the public is generally not going to be sympathetic to the teachers union. Here’s hoping that some agreement can be reached because if not an already bad situation may get much worse.

Community Medical Center is hosting its 6th annual Colorectal Cancer Awareness Fair on Tuesday, March 30th from 9am to 3pm in the outpatient lobby. Dr. Paul DeMartino is once again spearheading the effort in which he and other health care professionals will provide a better understanding of risk factors, prevention strategies, the importance of early detection, treatment options and nutritional considerations. Doctors and nurses will be on hand to answer questions about Colorectal cancer which is the third most common cancer found in adults but is preventable, treatable and “beatable.” There will be free parking with validation.