Some Parent Leaders Outraged by Christie Education Cuts

Gov. Chris Christie's decision to slash Westfield's state education aid by $4.22 million, or 90-percent, has caused anger amongst some parent leaders in the community.

During a budget briefing from Schools Superintendent Margaret Dolan at Thursday's meeting of the Parent Teacher Council, parent leaders continued to express anger at Christie, state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler and legislative leaders for the cuts. During the briefing, Dolan said that one worst-case scenario that could close the current $3.5 million budget gap caused by Christie's actions would be to layoff between 50 and 60 BOE staffers. The $4.22 million equals five percent of the total BOE budget for the current fiscal year.

Parents showed support for the position Dolan and BOE leaders have been placed in with the last-minute announcement of the larger-than-expected cut in state aid. Dolan and the board had been working under the assumption of a no more than $750,000, or 15-percent decrease in aid, based on Schundler's remarks to suburban education leaders in early March. Christie announced the larger cuts on Tuesday with Schundler formally releasing the aid numbers on Wednesday. The BOE has to have a balanced budget submitted to the county schools superintendent on Tuesday with final adoption on March 30.

"How can the state take five percent of our budget when they don't provide it?" PTC President Rose Hughes said.

Hughes' comments echoed those of many in the room, with concerns being expressed over the steep cuts and several of the proposals Christie is touting as his "toolkit" for municipalities and school districts to control property taxes. A central issue is the governor's proposed constitutional amendment limiting property tax hikes to two and a half percent a year. A school district could get around the proposed hike by getting voters to approve spending more money. Presently the tax cap is four percent.

Parents questioned the proposal which the governor said would reduce property tax hikes. During his campaign last year, Christie said he would make property tax reduction a top focus of his administration. Some PTC members questioned the need for the amendment, saying that the current system, which allows voters to agree in a referendum to raise taxes, allows residents to have a say in how much they want their taxes to go up.

"It seems anti-democratic to me," one parent said. "If we are allowed to vote on our budget, we should vote on our taxes."

PTC members started discussing the possibility of encouraging residents to lobby Westfield's legislative delegation—Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-Summit)—to reverse the cuts and oppose the constitutional amendment. Kean has announced his support for the amendment and Bramnick has said he is still reviewing the details. Munoz is a co-sponsor of legislation implementing other parts of Christie's "toolkit" including pension and benefits reform. Kean helped write the pension and benefits legislation, which Bramnick also supports.

No formal lobbying campaign is being implemented but several parents said they would be contacting the legislators and encouraging others to do the same. Kean, the parent of two Westfield students, seemed to get the brunt of the anger at the meeting.

"We can start with Tom Kean and he's the minority leader," one parent said. "He lives here in Westfield. You can send e-mails and leave messages for him, Munoz and Bramnick. No offense to Senator Kean and I know him and he's a nice person, but I am angry. I am angry at the politicians who are taking away our aid. They are not letting us spend our own money."

PTC members were opposed to Schundler's announcement that he has instructed county schools superintendents to scrutinise any spending over the four percent cap this year. Districts are allowed by law to ask voters to approve raising taxes above the four percent max. Schundler said he wants county superintendents to be prepared to veto line items over this cap in order to limit property tax hikes. Dolan and BOE leaders have said that they likely will not go much above a four percent cap, in order to avoid vetoes from the county superintendent and present a budget voters would approve.

Parents were privately asking each other whether Schundler, a Westfield High School alum, should be impeached for the reversal of the state aid figures in a two week period from a 15-percent cut to a 90-percent cut. During a brief brainstorming session on potential cuts, one parent proposed one potential job cut—Schundler's.

"How much would we save if we eliminated his job?" a parent said.

As Dolan outlined some of the work she and district staff were doing to identify potential cuts, parents showed concern with several of the potential cuts. In addition to the doomsday layoff scenario, Dolan outlined another doomsday proposal of eliminating all extracurricular activities and athletic programs, which would save $1 million. Parents expressed concern that the lack of such programs would hurt WHS students in the college admissions process.

Dolan said she agrees with the opinions she was hearing from parents and said that whatever is agreed to by the board in cuts will have a lasting impact on the school system.

"There should be outrage," she said. "There is no way the Westfield schools will look the same next year."