From the Press of Atlantic City, Sunday, May 2, 2010
Fran Mazza, Mullica Township
Recession had impact
Fran Mazza talked to her coworkers, friends, family and Facebook friends to assess their mood.
“Maybe if we didn’t have a recession, it would be different. People are losing jobs, their unemployment is ending, they’re losing their homes,” she said. Then, she added, the public is asked to vote on whether to increase their property taxes in part so that school personnel can get raises: “How is our children’s education affected by teachers not getting a raise?”
“One guy said to me, ‘So I’m on unemployment, I’m back two mortgage payments, no benefits for myself and my family, and the school board asks me to approve their budget, which will raise my taxes ... and they’ll get raises on top of that. Yep, sure I’ll vote for you.”
Districts need to cut their administrative budgets rather than cutting from the bottom, she said: “It’s all about the janitors, the cooks, the kids’ music programs, and nobody says anything about administrators.”
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Mullica Resident of Press Citizens Editorial Board Weighs in on School Budget
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24 comments:
When will people understand it is not the teacher's salaries alone that cause the budget increase. Busing is one of the largest costs of the school budget and now the governor is going to raise the gas tax, so it will go up even more. We still need to by supplies, keep class sizes down and give our children the extra help they need. We have lost our latchkey, specials, extra help for struggling children and sports. Not to mention teachers and larger class sizes as a result. Please understand what our money pays for other than teacher salaries, yes they are part of the package, but that is part of public education. I don't see any of you complaining about the cost of movie tickets or pizzas. Everything is going up in price-don't hurt our children to prove a point.
Re 12:56pm
It's always the same message put out. "Don't hurt the children" The teachers of the NJEA should have put on their signs:
"We're taking the wage freeze"
"We're contributing the same as the private sector for our insurance"
"We will take the freeze to save the busing, small class sizes,latch key,sports,class trips,supplies,etc,etc,etc
The MTEA decided to black out the children's bulletin boards and wear arm bands to promote their negotiations for higher wages while the public is suffering.
That's what the public sees. The teachers are fighting for their own benefits and care nothing about the children's conditions.
The MTEA negotiation team is the biggest culprit that will "hurt our children".
All the administrators that got laid off in other towns are jealous of the ones in Mullica. No administrators get laid off here. Just teachers, lunch ladies, aids, and everything else. Go by the school in the summer and you'll see the administrators there maybe. and only for an hour or two. The cars come and they go. They probably get a full day pay for that.
Of the nine people from the Press Citizens' Editorial Board who were quoted in the article, all of them, except the person from Atlantic City, said that school taxes need to be reduced, not increased.
Fran Mazza's post suggests looking at the top for cuts rather than at the bottom. Can anyone tell me why such a small school,K - 8,has to have two principals?
Now that Mr. Goldberg is retiring,I am wondering if a replacement for him can be hired for a lower salary. There are a lot of highly educated people that are looking for positions right now.
Er 12:56 pm
You're right! The teachers' salaries ARE part of the package. If they agreed to a freeze and gave more toward their health insurance, there would be money left over for the children.
Cutting the latch key program will have a devastating effect on the parents who depend on this service. How many parents can afford to hire someone to care for their children until they get home from work?
I'm really afraid that many children will be left alone after school because the parents just don't have the extra money. These same parents are the ones watching the teachers, who already make a high wage, demand more and more money every year.
The MTEA negotiation team could care less about the effects on the children. They won't even give the reasonable teachers any offers from the BOE.
I care about the children. They are being used as pawns by a few greedy people and it has to stop now.
re12:56pm
Please explain to me how giving the MTEA everything they ask for will help the budget?
To me it is a simple equation:
Teachers get less money = Children get more money
The goose that laid the golden eggs in this country has been cooked and eaten by the bankers and ceo's. Any leftover eggs have been fried and dispensed by the government.
The private sector has been enduring bankruptcies,foreclosures,unemployment,lost businesses, homelessness and wage freezes. Even Social Security was frozen for the elderly.
It is ludicrous that the MTEA won't even present offers to the teachers. It is evident that the gap between private sector reality and public sector greed is very wide. It is time for the MTEA negotiators to poke their heads out of their insulated shells and take a look around.
Maybe the shock of what they see will inspire some compassion for the children,their fellow workers who will lose jobs and the rest of the community who are struggling day to day to make ends meet.
Would it be possible to replace Goldberg with one of the school principles? We could keep our people but still lose a position. I don't think we need two principles in our school.
Mullica administrators agreed to freezing their salaries, took increased health costs on. They are over-worked, stretched to the limit. The last Board Administrator could not handle it within a year. We have 4 administrators doing the job of 7. They will take over several new duties due to budget cuts. The last Board Administrator could not handle the amount of work, he was done in a year. If we lost an administrator, 3 administrators could not do 7 jobs so Washington Township would be given up. That would be a huge mistake on several levels including future further sharing. It is understandable why people with opinions and votes don't know reality. Kind of the American way right now, with emotions trumping reason
I agree with Ms Mazza. The BOE should look into administration cuts. If the Board made an offer to the MTEA and it was not offered to the teachers,then no more offers should be presented.
Let the teachers work without a contact under the old rates forever if the MTEA is being so unreasonable.
FOR THE TEACHER WHO WROTE THE 12:56 POSTING .IN TODAY'S WORLD THE WORD BY IS SPELLED BUY NOT BY, BUT THAT WAS A GOOD TRY ANYWAY.
6:23
Sorry for the typo... people make mistakes. But I guess your "perfect"
I am a teacher at Mullica school. I have been VERY FRUSTRATED with all of the budget issues. I have already voiced my opinion on agreeing to a pay freeze and paying more toward my health benefits. However, it doesn't matter what I say. I agree with many things that Ms. Mazza said in her comment. I also agree with the 12:56 poster. Even if we get the freeze it will not make a difference in the cuts. It will not save teachers or programs. The Gov. has cut too deeply and will make it extremely difficult for us to successfully educate our children in the future. Please keep an open mind when reading either side's posts on this issue. We never really know the entire story. I just hope we can all work together like the great community we are and do what is best for our children.
Re 5:47pm
How would you reasonably handle the budget problem since you are so knowledgeable of reality and you seem to think the people of this town voted purely on an emotional basis?
I think the majority of people voted the budget down because personal financial concerns. If emotion was involved,it was probably from people who are sick and tired of the phrase "hurting the children" being used by people who just want more money in their own pocket.
To 8:42 Good question. Salary freeze for a year through the whole town. Encourage retirement of most veteran teachers. Find creative ways, fundraisers etc. to keep programs going. Hope that the governors toolbox elements come true. Involve the whole town more in school life as the school is our social center and identity. Encourage parents to be more involved in education to help their children succeed (maybe most important). Remind everyone of the lifelong value of education, even the education of voters beyond family-raising years. Encourage further joining with Washington Township. Try to save money on the replacement for the Superintendent. Support the teachers in their work, especially next year when their jobs will be tougher.Attend school board meetings, educate ourselves on the multiple issues. Encourage pride in Mullica Township.
The biggest cost to the taxpayers are the teachers salaries,their pension plan and their health insurance.
If these costs are not reduced or frozen, in a few years you will have 50+ kids in a class,no bus service,old outdated books,no extra activities and an increase of juvenile delinquents who have lost interest in school and have been left on their own after school to find ways to get into trouble.
Only the oldest,tenured teachers will be left to teach and they will be overwhelmed to the point of giving up on students.
This is the reality that the MTEA will create in their pursuit of more,more,more for the few teachers and less,less,less for the students.
re 7:46 pm
I see you acknowledged the typo but you didn't deny that you're a teacher.
Re: 9:29
I didn't feel it was needed , but no I am not a teacher. Just a concerned taxpayer...
5:47 - Mullica school does not have 4 administrators doing the job of 7. Mullica has 5 administrators. Where do you get doing the work of 7? Some of the administrators do work for Green Bank, Washington Township. HOWEVER, this work is done during regular school hours. They take time away from their day at Mullica to do work for Green Bank.
That means that Mullica taxpayers are paying them to work a full day at Mullica BUT part of the day is spent at Gren Bank. I have been informed that these Mullica administrators get a stipend for the work they do at Green Bank. Why do Mullica taxpayers pay these people for a full day's work to spend part of their day at Green Bank when they are also being paid by Green Bank? Would your employer pay you for a full day of work if you left a few hours early to go work and get paid at a part time job? I don't think so.
Either these people's salaries paid by Mullica needs to be adjusted for time not worked at Mullica or the stipend needs to handed over as additional money paid by Green Bank to the Mullica school.
Re 9:12 pm
I like all of your ideas. You have given me hope, that with the leadership, our community can get through these hard times.
I see that we could actually be stronger and more united if your suggestions were promoted and instituted. Thank You
9:31 AM comment. I'm glad you're not a teacher because your 7:46 PM comment stating "But I guess your 'perfect'" should have said "you're" instead of your. If you are a teacher, is it any wonder our English/Language test scores were so low this year for the school?
re 1:26 pm
You have written a VERY interesting post! I had no idea that the Green Bank money was given directly to the administrators.
If this is true,how does sharing with Green Bank benefit Mullica? We are draining our man-power and money on another town and only the administrators benefit by the double dip.
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