NJ Education Report

Sounds like quite the circus at last night’s school board meeting in Trenton, as hundreds of food service workers, teachers, aides, and custodians protested lay-offs of between 400 and 500 staff members. The crowd staged a mock funeral and, according to the Trenton Times, serenaded the school board:

“We are the world, we are the workers,” they sang to guitar accompaniment, as board President L. Diane Campbell banged her gavel repeatedly. “It’s a choice you’re making. You’re killing our own lives.”

At issue is the fact that food services in the Trenton City schools lose about $3 million a year. The State regs mandate that districts have to break even so the school board there is stuck between public sentiment and economic common sense. At least they don’t have to run for reelection, since the board members there are all appointed by Mayor Doug Palmer.