Ever wonder why local school boards are loathe to the idea of putting their budget plans on the ballot?
Take a gander at what happened across the river in New Jersey yesterday.
It was a bloodbath.
Fueled by a bare-bones budget by new Republican Gov. Chris Christie and a spitting match between him and the state teachers’ unions over spending cuts, voters showed up at the polls in much larger numbers than normal.
Keep in mind that, unlike here in Pa., voters in N.J. routinely vote on their school budgets.
Most of the time it’s little more than a rubber stamp of the fiscal plan developed by the school board.
Not yesterday.
The early count indicates as many as 260 of 479 budgets across the state got shot down by voters.
One place where voters made their voice clear was Cherry Hill, where a budget that called for a 4 percent tax hike and the loss of 89 teachers was soundly rejected by voters. It was the same story in a lot of towns across South Jersey, such as Maple Shade, Voorhees and Woodbury.
What’s not yet clear is whether the budgets were rejected because they call for tax hikes, with the blame going to Christie’s austere budget, or if residents rejected them out of a fear of what staff cuts would do to their education system.
What is clear is that we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for school boards here to put their budget plans on the ballot.
The voters are made as hell, and at least in New Jersey, they’re not going to take it anymore.
Take a gander at what happened across the river in New Jersey yesterday.
It was a bloodbath.
Fueled by a bare-bones budget by new Republican Gov. Chris Christie and a spitting match between him and the state teachers’ unions over spending cuts, voters showed up at the polls in much larger numbers than normal.
Keep in mind that, unlike here in Pa., voters in N.J. routinely vote on their school budgets.
Most of the time it’s little more than a rubber stamp of the fiscal plan developed by the school board.
Not yesterday.
The early count indicates as many as 260 of 479 budgets across the state got shot down by voters.
One place where voters made their voice clear was Cherry Hill, where a budget that called for a 4 percent tax hike and the loss of 89 teachers was soundly rejected by voters. It was the same story in a lot of towns across South Jersey, such as Maple Shade, Voorhees and Woodbury.
What’s not yet clear is whether the budgets were rejected because they call for tax hikes, with the blame going to Christie’s austere budget, or if residents rejected them out of a fear of what staff cuts would do to their education system.
What is clear is that we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for school boards here to put their budget plans on the ballot.
The voters are made as hell, and at least in New Jersey, they’re not going to take it anymore.
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