Mount Arlington Mayor Arthur Ondish also confessed to being a bit surprised with the defeat.

Looking at the Mt. Arlington Results

“The increase was modest, but I think that what happened is that people were unwilling to accept a budget in which the teachers did not accept a wage freeze, at least for a year,” Ondish said Thursday.

“I think a lot of people are looking at change. People wanted to see teachers take a wage freeze, like they did in some districts,” he said.

Ondish said teachers’ claims that the spending is “for the children” is off base. “I think a lot of people thought the teachers should be a part of the solution to the problem by accepting the wage freeze. In my opinion, we should cut the budget in the exact amount that the wage freeze would have saved,” he said.

“People want to see change, and this is what Governor Christie recommended. He is an agent of change, and I think that is what we need right now,” he said.

“I support our school board. I think they did a commendable job on this budget. It was a good budget, but the teachers did not take the wage freeze,” he said.

Despite that, Ondish said he expects the school board and the Borough Council will work through the process amicably.

Mayor Ondish is correct that people want change and that’s why they voted for Governor Christie. As far as Ondish’s approach to cutting the school budget – “we should cut the budget in the exact amount that the wage freeze would have saved” – I think the Mayor is right on track. For any employee to get a raise of any amount is crazy when inflation was negative over the last twelve months and the private and nonprofit sectors are laying off people left and right. I like the Mount Arlington Public School District (of which I am a product), but the miserable economy has dictated a different course for this budget and I’m looking forward to seeing what Mayor Ondish and his team put together.

I know that my friends living across the nation are thinking, “Wait – you guys are getting upset over people making more than $75,000 having their property tax rebates cut? Shut up!” Look, I understand that mindset and if this was going on in any other part of the nation, I might agree with you. But New Jersey is the most expensive state in the union! Property taxes in most of the state are between $7,000 and $10,000 each year. Each year! Most New Jerseyans wouldn’t mind paying so much in property taxes if the level of services that were received for the expense matched. However, in New Jersey most property tax revenues are shoveled into Newark and Camden and any other number of these so-called “underserved” Abbott school districts. Let me tell you something. I’ve toured many of the schools in these Abbott districts as well as many of the schools in the regular school districts. Trust me, the kids in the Abbott districts have a much better learning environment than their suburban counterparts. It’s bull.

Some thoughts from a posting on the Daily Record website:

Corzine struck a sober tone in his fourth budget address, saying tough choices are necessary now to ensure New Jersey emerges strong when the global recession lifts. He also reminded the Legislature of reckless spending in the past, saying years of irresponsible spending contributed to the state’s dire fiscal circumstances this year.

“You can’t correct 15 or 20 years of bad decisions in 38 months,” Corzine said. “The steps we’ve taken have put our state’s finances on more solid ground.”

What a sorry SOB this guy is. How out of touch with reality must one man be to say, “Hey, the last 15 years were a disaster,” when he operated the state for 3 of those 15 years!? Come on! When does reality sink in? When do the masses in Essex and Camden county finally stop and say “WAIT! Enough! We’re NOT voting for the New Jersey Democrats any more!”

I’m not advocating for everyone to vote for the Republicans (except for Chris Christie – see below), but damn it – STOP voting for these ridiculous Democrats who have no idea what it’s like to try to survive in this state. Vote for the Libertarians or the Constitution Party – vote for someone other than the Democrats already! They’ve ruined this state and they’re not going to stop.

And Governor Money Bags’ budget gets better… If you make more than $500,000, you could have your taxes raised this year only as a way to raise more funds for the state treasury. So if you were making all of this money, why wouldn’t you find a way to be listed as a Pennsylvania resident for this tax year? What stupid, stupid idea from this idiot governor.

Governor Money Bags also wants to money to hospitals and small towns (which are proven to be operated more efficiently and in a more cost-effective manner than their larger counterparts). Good grief! The next thing you know he’s going to start taxing the shore towns for how much sand is in their jurisdiction! Maybe he can go to an old folks home and tax them for each gray hair they have on their heads, too!

This man needs to be stopped as soon as possible. Chris Christie MUST win the upcoming gubernatorial election or this state is going to continue its out of control spiral towards being an unhealthy place for middle Americans to live, work, and retire.

As school districts both poor and prosperous struggle to finance such basics as teacher salaries, utilities, building maintenance and textbooks, many are asking parents to purchase more — and more particular — school supplies. Gone are the days when back-to-school shopping meant making sure each child had new shoes and a three-ring binder. Now, according to the New York State School Boards Association, supplies run an average of $100 for high school students and $60 for middle schoolers.

The article talks about how parents are asked to buy clay for their students. CLAY?! Our school districts can’t afford CLAY any more?!? Come on! At least in New Jersey, aren’t our property taxes supposed to pay for this stuff?

I don’t like this trend of spending more on the basics of administration and less on the fundamental “needs” to teach today’s students. Very bad trend and it needs to be changed right away.