Schools

Letter to the Editor: Resident Supports Christie Education Cuts, Asks Governor for More Time for BOE to Cut

Harrison prefers cuts to not borrowing.

Editor's Note: This letter was also sent to Gov. Chris Christie. Ms. Harrison also sent the governor a copy of her letter to Westfield PTO presidents regarding fundraising in light of the cuts, which appeared yesterday and can be accessed here.

Dear Governor Christie -

I write to you today like many I am sure, coming home from a long and sad Board of Education meeting. I am not sad and disappointed I am inspired to see radical change  and forced decisions being made to stand together.  I have three children in the Westfield Public School System. A very well run school system already under the state average per pupil.

I agree with the cut of our state aid, as I do not want you to leverage borrowed money any longer to pay for items we can not afford. So we know the well is dry, there is no money to give us for our children.

The real question becomes how can we meet the present needs of our children's education without compromising the results of their future.  Funny as that is a similar definition of sustainability which is my profession.

So now we roll up our sleeves and work together trying to meet a deadline of March 30th only six days away hoping to mobilize many plans to make up for our shortfall. I have sent the following ideas to my PTO groups in hopes of securing several dozen parents teachers and students to help meet an intended goal.

But I ask you, can you please give us more time!  This is not a plea for the money, it is gone! But time to swallow the medicine you have given us and time for the wound to heal; it is only fair.  I beg you to consider extending the budget due date by a month to all districts willing to make the cuts.  

If we can gather the support from community to show assistance and self sacrifice, we can gather the teachers to stand shoulder to shoulder giving back to the districts that work so hard to protect them. They as a whole can stand up to associations and look out for each other, because frankly their associations are not.  

With the impending cuts to the school budgets across the state how many unemployed teachers will we see in the coming weeks? Hundreds I assume!  If they band together and all join in sharing the burden with us parents and communities we all can win. Employed NJ teachers, great school systems, and well educated children that learned the lessons of working toward a common goal.  

Will you please consider an extension for all school systems in NJ? Give us the time to react and provide a plan of action that is sustainable year after year, without state funding or increasing taxes?

I do hope that you will.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Anastasia Harrison

Westfield

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here