NJ Education Report

The Express-Times has a piece on Senate Bill S-1861, which would move school board elections to November and eliminate public voting on budgets that come in below the 4% cap. The bill has passed the Assembly, the Senate Education Committee (though by a hair: 5-4), and is due to come before the full Senate this Spring.

Fear-mongers rattle the empty threat that a change to November elections would “politicize” the process by injecting “partisan politics” into the event. For instance, Kevin Brennan, Executive County Superintendent for Warren County, says, “I just think it adds a factor to a process that isn’t a factor right now.”

We beg to differ. As any school board member knows, elections are a competitive, stomach-churning business. We may not call it Democratic or Republican, but that’s just semantics. Moving school board elections to November saves money, promotes public participation, and removes the canard that a lack of party affiliation somehow makes it less of a bloodsport.