Earlier today, I wrote about the squeeze on education budgets and the need for the teachers and staff to recognize that wage and benefit cuts were essential in the current economic climate. Results are now in from nearly all of the locales in New Jersey that voted yesterday on approval of proposed school budgets. In a major expression of unhappiness, New Jersey voters rejected 54% of the school budgets presented to them. This is the highest rate of rejection in over thirty years.
It seems that in New Jersey, governor Christie's push for a teacher wage freeze and a partial assumption of healthcare costs by the teachers (1.5%) has resonated with the voters. It certainly does not surprise me. Teachers unions will have to choose between layoffs and salary freezes. The old tactic of bemoaning the cruel fate of the children in order to get raises for the teachers will just not work any longer.
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