2006/07 School Budget
Aside from May flowers, April showers bring forth a crop of lawn signs, advising taxpayers to support the school budget because education is “priceless”. Such rationale supports unchecked spending and implies that a vote against the school budget will harm the children of Hazlet. We all want the best for our children, but a strong education comes with a price. In fact, behind this spring’s bloom of empty rhetoric, the school board actually named a rather high price for a budget increase that includes obvious pandering to the interests of a few.
Why, when academic needs such as a science lab upgrade or additional teachers are expensive enough, does the school board create a new sports team, such as a wrestling program at the middle school or a freshman soccer program at the high school, to justify another huge tax increase? The answer is that few people actually vote on the school budget. With each newly proposed sports team, the school board can expect both parents of each potential player to vote YES. These thirty or forty votes will often change the outcome of the usually poorly attended school elections.
Legitimate high-ticket items, such as a new weight room (to fortify existing sports programs) or new science labs, seem to be included in the budget as expendable. If the budget does not pass, the school board can blame the taxpayers when they “cut” these needed items. If the budget does pass, we end up paying for more than is needed. At a time when major corporations, small companies, and state aid programs are streamlining their expenditures, it seems unreasonable for our public administrators, whether they be a member of the school board or the governor himself, to ask us to support a substantial tax increase. Especially, when in order to capture a special interest vote, they attach new and/or non-essential programs to the budgets of programs we do need.
As voters, we do not have to support the games that many public officials play with our tax dollars. I, for one, resent that while one hand tugs at our heartstrings, the other hand is reaching in our pockets. On Tuesday, April 18, I will to vote NO on Hazlet’s school budget proposal. If enough residents do the same, perhaps “for the sake” of our children, the next board of education will present Hazlet residents with a more honest and responsible school budget.
Rich Kohler is a longtime resident of Hazlet. Please send comments to richkohler@comcast.net.
Why, when academic needs such as a science lab upgrade or additional teachers are expensive enough, does the school board create a new sports team, such as a wrestling program at the middle school or a freshman soccer program at the high school, to justify another huge tax increase? The answer is that few people actually vote on the school budget. With each newly proposed sports team, the school board can expect both parents of each potential player to vote YES. These thirty or forty votes will often change the outcome of the usually poorly attended school elections.
Legitimate high-ticket items, such as a new weight room (to fortify existing sports programs) or new science labs, seem to be included in the budget as expendable. If the budget does not pass, the school board can blame the taxpayers when they “cut” these needed items. If the budget does pass, we end up paying for more than is needed. At a time when major corporations, small companies, and state aid programs are streamlining their expenditures, it seems unreasonable for our public administrators, whether they be a member of the school board or the governor himself, to ask us to support a substantial tax increase. Especially, when in order to capture a special interest vote, they attach new and/or non-essential programs to the budgets of programs we do need.
As voters, we do not have to support the games that many public officials play with our tax dollars. I, for one, resent that while one hand tugs at our heartstrings, the other hand is reaching in our pockets. On Tuesday, April 18, I will to vote NO on Hazlet’s school budget proposal. If enough residents do the same, perhaps “for the sake” of our children, the next board of education will present Hazlet residents with a more honest and responsible school budget.
Rich Kohler is a longtime resident of Hazlet. Please send comments to richkohler@comcast.net.
posted by Rich Kohler at 4:41 PM
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