Democrats have made voter approval of charter schools an issue in the local township and state election.
Hillsborough resident Maureen Vella, a candidate for state Senate from the 16th District, along with Aldo Martinez and John J. Reddan, candidates for the Hillsborough Township Committee, have urged the Township Committee to support voter control over possible charter schools and education funding.
The candidates say they have sent a letter to the governing body asking it immediately consider and adopt a resolution in favor of Senate Bill S-2243.
As of Tuesday, the Republicans say the township hasn’t received any such letter.
S-2243 allows for voter approval over the creation and tax-based financing of charter schools in their districts, and to allow for voter approval before funds are diverted from the regular public education program already limited by the 2 percent levy cap.
”This bill represents an opportunity for residents to help control how their tax dollars are spent,” said Ms. Vella, who is running against Republican incumbent Christopher “Kit” Bateman of Branchburg.
”We have already seen hundreds of millions of dollars in education aid slashed or lost and the significant negative impact that has had on our children’s education with larger classrooms and huge program cuts. Instead of being told where our tax dollars are going to be spent, taxpayers should have the ability to vote on where their public education dollars are being spent in the district,” said Ms. Vella in a release.
Mr. Bateman called local input “very important,” and said he would support the bill.
”As a former local mayor I recognize the importance of local input in the decision-making process,” said Mr. Bateman.
Mr. Martinez said in the release, “With the huge cuts to education we have already had to absorb, our local school board is continually facing challenges to maintain the quality of education we have come to expect in Hillsborough. The mayor and the Township Committee should join us and adopt this resolution today to allow for taxpayers to have a say on where their taxpayer dollars are being spent.”
His running mate, Mr. Reddan, said, “Perhaps charter schools will ultimately have a role in educating our students. However, we should not impact our quality public education system without putting it to a vote of Hillsborough’s residents.”
Mayor Gloria McCauley, who is a Republican standing for re-election, said she hadn’t seen the letter, but generally agreed that voter approval was a good tool in many cases “to take responsibility and put it into the hands of the people.”
Sometimes, though, she said, when you put money questions to the voters the response winds up being no, she said.
She said she was aware the local schools were potentially facing the need to send $1 million or more in 2012 to two regional charter schools that are seeking Hillsborough enrollees for their schools.
She said she’d look into the possibility of a resolution, but hadn’t talked to her Township Committee colleagues, she said.
Doug Tomson, also on the local Republican ticket, said he favored the amended version of the bill, which says an appeal of a vote against a charter school should go to the appellate division of Superior Court, rather than to the state Board of Education.
But, to the point of the letter, “I’ve never seen any politician that doesn’t want public input,” he said.The Democrats’ letter called on the Township Committee to adopt the resolution at its earliest opportunity. The bill is pending in the state Legislature.
