EDITORIAL
Taxes are frustrating especially school taxes. On Tuesday, voters will be asked to give the OK to yet another huge tax increase on behalf of the public school system. It’s not easy to vote yes, but a vote in favor of the school budget is the correct choice.
This year, the East Windsor Regional School District is asking voters to pay 6 to 9 percent more in school taxes. The property-tax rate in East Windsor for the school district would jump 26 cents to $3.08 per $100 of assessed property value. Hightstown residents would pay 18 cents more per $100 of assessed property value, making for a rate of $3.19.
Average homeowners would pay $216 to $429 more per year.
We sound like a broken record, but until the state decides to fund education differently, it’s going to cost local residents a lot of money to educate the children.
Superintendent Ronald Bolandi has been in the district for only one year. He’s taken heat for the district’s sagging academic results. But it would be unrealistic to expect results so soon. It takes a year simply to figure out what’s going on in the district, and to go through everything once.
Starting now, Mr. Bolandi will be the focus of attention, and rightfully so. He recently outlined his vision of the district for parents, and he wants a common sense blend of accountability and reality. He wants to test students every year, while acknowledging that not every student learns the same way or at the same pace. Improving standardized test scores is a monumental task; we will wait and see if Mr. Bolandi’s plan helps.
Another regular complaint involves teacher salaries and benefits. The median teacher salary in the district rose to $61,610 in 2003-04. The figure is above the state median of $50,554; but this difference can be explained when one sees that the median district teacher has 17 years of experience, compared to the statewide median of 10 years.
Budget critics may have a point in that the faculty does not yet have to contribute toward medical benefits. When the next teacher contract is negotiated, look for the district to press for teachers and support staff to begin paying into their health care plan.
Some accuse the district of wasteful spending, yet the cost per pupil in the East Windsor Regional School District is in line with the state average. School board members have drafted a budget that is not frivolous.
If voters defeat the budget, the municipal governing bodies will be pressured to cut it, and there isn’t much to cut. The board took a stand for the Music Department and insisted that new instruments be purchased this year. But even cutting that $43,000 would fall far short of achieving the $317,000 in cuts necessary to reduce the tax rate by one penny.
The board already cut a $71.9 million budget to $66.6 million. Staff increases totaling $3 million were slashed, including the addition of 30 new employees. Maintenance costs were reduced by $1 million, and desired supplies and technology were nixed as well. Despite the 6-to-9 percent tax rate hike, the budget increased only 3 percent.
The proposed spending plan is not excessive, even though it may seem so from looking at the tax impact. On Tuesday, vote yes, and support the children of East Windsor and Hightstown. After all, when programs are cut, it is the children who suffer.

