Post by admin on May 10, 2007 20:54:17 GMT -5
I hope the Press covers this meeting well.
Freeholder McMorrow read a resolution supporting funding from the state for Freehold Borough. She also read a letter she wrote to Governor Corzine in reference to our schools. I hope to get copies of both for you readers.
As a nice surprise, Senator Karcher attended and spoke. She mentioned three things that might be done for our schools.
The first is a one time shot in the arm for next year. The figure was over one million dollars.
The second was a program where the state helps out county seats that lose revenue due to county buildings and the loss of rateable.
The third was the pilot program where the county helps out the county seat. This is where things got interesting. Freeholder Director Barham did a good job of defending against this bad idea. For Karcher to bring this up was politics and blame shifting. She claimed to have examples of precedent where this has happened. One is Trenton receiving funding from the state and the other is Princeton University helping out Princeton Borough.
I can not opine about the Princeton example, but in the case of the state, I would say there is no model there. The state of New Jersey is a prime example of a severe lack of fiscal responsibility. Monmouth County, on the other hand, has a AAA bond rating. I do not think that NJ should be telling our Freeholders what to do until they clean their own house.
Speaking of NJ, Barham asked what the state has been doing for the past many years. Karcher did not answer. This is the problem. All of our funding problems come from the state. Blaming the county now, is cheap. A it is, the county recently lost federal money for the vocational programs.
I give credit to Senator Karcher for trying. But, there is a great deal of work ahead and we did not hear what really needs to be done--change Trenton.
There was no talk about challenging the Abbot finding. There was no hope offered in changing the funding formula. There was no talk about funding the schools from other sources besides property taxes.
Too much of what I saw appeared to be enough to get politicians through election day. I am skeptical of all of it. The people I was with seemed to fall for it, hook line and sinker. I hope I am wrong. Dead wrong.
Senator Karcher, if you should read this, I am not writing you off. Just the contrary. I am challenging you to really put the blame where it lies--in Trenton. We need to hear about real reform. In the mean time, beggars can't be choosers and we will take what we can.
Freeholder McMorrow read a resolution supporting funding from the state for Freehold Borough. She also read a letter she wrote to Governor Corzine in reference to our schools. I hope to get copies of both for you readers.
As a nice surprise, Senator Karcher attended and spoke. She mentioned three things that might be done for our schools.
The first is a one time shot in the arm for next year. The figure was over one million dollars.
The second was a program where the state helps out county seats that lose revenue due to county buildings and the loss of rateable.
The third was the pilot program where the county helps out the county seat. This is where things got interesting. Freeholder Director Barham did a good job of defending against this bad idea. For Karcher to bring this up was politics and blame shifting. She claimed to have examples of precedent where this has happened. One is Trenton receiving funding from the state and the other is Princeton University helping out Princeton Borough.
I can not opine about the Princeton example, but in the case of the state, I would say there is no model there. The state of New Jersey is a prime example of a severe lack of fiscal responsibility. Monmouth County, on the other hand, has a AAA bond rating. I do not think that NJ should be telling our Freeholders what to do until they clean their own house.
Speaking of NJ, Barham asked what the state has been doing for the past many years. Karcher did not answer. This is the problem. All of our funding problems come from the state. Blaming the county now, is cheap. A it is, the county recently lost federal money for the vocational programs.
I give credit to Senator Karcher for trying. But, there is a great deal of work ahead and we did not hear what really needs to be done--change Trenton.
There was no talk about challenging the Abbot finding. There was no hope offered in changing the funding formula. There was no talk about funding the schools from other sources besides property taxes.
Too much of what I saw appeared to be enough to get politicians through election day. I am skeptical of all of it. The people I was with seemed to fall for it, hook line and sinker. I hope I am wrong. Dead wrong.
Senator Karcher, if you should read this, I am not writing you off. Just the contrary. I am challenging you to really put the blame where it lies--in Trenton. We need to hear about real reform. In the mean time, beggars can't be choosers and we will take what we can.
