NJ Education Report

Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald gloats about the success of the legislation he sponsored that allows school boards to bypass budget votes and move elections to November:

“This idea has been talked about for decades but was always killed by inertia or the special interests,” said Greenwald (D-Camden). “By bringing all the stakeholders to the table and forging a compromise, we passed this major reform measure in a matter of weeks. Now, my solution is proving to be a quick and astounding success, with nearly 42 percent of the state’s elected school boards already making the move to November school elections. This truly remarkable momentum benefits both taxpayers and democracy and shows we can get things done when we work together for sensible reform.”

As of today 230 boards have passed resolutions moving elections to November, with benefits cited such as raising voter turnout (typically no more than 15% in April), saving money, and eliminating the major distraction of marketing budgets, as long as they come in below the 2% cap.

Not all boards are so sanguine. In Princeton, for example, the board voted unanimously to keep elections in April. Said board member Mia Cahill,

I understand that for financial and administrative reasons, it overwhelmingly makes sense to move to November, but I do feel afraid that the election of board members in the future will not be partisan so much, but that it will be political just by its nature by being in November. I fear this could be the first step in a downward spiral in making education more political than it already is.