I took a trip to Trenton recently. I boarded a school bus as the rain fell. The trip gave me an enhanced concern for both the state’s “unfunded” transportation fund and my aging back. OK, so I am a “mature” citizen who can’t take the bumps as well as a student, but I don’t envy them their commutes on these yellow behemoths that seem devoid of shock absorbers.
The purpose for the trip was to attend the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the education budget. Commissioner of Education David Hespe testified before the committee. At times during the hearing, I actually longed for the bus trip home.
I was one of 35 people sitting in the audience wearing a bright orange T-shirt with an appropriate logo. There was a 36th person also wearing the same T-shirt, but she was sitting with the Senate committee. That was Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth).
The hearing gained my interest when Sen. Beck asked Commissioner Hespe about the inequities in school funding (and) the need for additional funds for schools like those in Freehold Borough and Red Bank. There were at least a dozen folks from Red Bank in gray T-shirts sitting in front of our Freehold Borough sea of orange.
Sen. Beck spoke of the disparate distribution of aid to education which forces our borough taxpayers to pick up the tab. Freehold Borough is the third most underfunded school district in a state with more than 650 school districts.
Sen. Beck inquired about the delay in Commissioner Hespe’s decision on the $32.9 million bond issue for expanded construction of the Freehold Borough schools. Commissioner Hespe said his decision would be coming soon, but “soon” did not have a definition when Sen. Beck asked when.
After listening to the hearing for a few hours, we headed back to the school bus after Sen. Beck concluded her questions. Did we have any definitive answers? No!
The night before we left, someone asked me why we would bother to go. He said, “nothing is going to change.” The truth is that any change in funding and an answer on the construction bond issue were not provided. So, he may think he was right.
If I can presume to speak for the parents, my co-Borough Council member Sharon Shutzer, or the Board of Education and PTO/PTA members who took a day off from work for this adventure, I believe he is wrong.
Apathy does not foreshadow change and a lack of instant gratification does not define failure. I applaud the men and women who took this ride to Trenton.
Freehold Borough schools will only get the annual aid to education we are entitled to by continuing to make these sacrifices and by taking every opportunity to show their concern for the students in our overcrowded schools.
If the state adequately funded aid to education for Freehold Borough, in accord with their own formula, you would see a decrease in your property taxes. If we were treated equally for construction funding, like the prior Abbott districts, the state would pay for the full construction costs. There is no question Freehold Borough needs the expansion.
There is also no doubt that the taxpayers of Freehold Borough cannot afford to foot the bill through property taxes when they are already over-taxed by $2 million because of the unjust parceling of state aid for education.
By the time you read this, there may have been another bus ride to Trenton. That trip would be to attend the Assembly hearing on aid to education. I hope to be among the sea of orange again.
Councilman Ron Griffiths
Freehold Borough