Belinda Dark signs in to vote at the Evergreen Terrace Community Room yesterday afternoon.
Monmouth County voters approved school budgets in 74 percent of districts in yesterday’s board elections, the Asbury Park Press reports today.
Out of 54 budgets, 40 were approved, the highest rate of approval in the county in seven years, the Press said. It was also a six percentage point improvement over last year’s results.
The Red Bank district’s $11.6 million budget passed by just a hair: 173 to 170.
Out of 6,051 registered voters, just 343 votes were cast.
The vote tally for the three unopposed candidates:
Rosemarie Kopka 240
Janet Jones 244
Peter Noble 253
Official results are due out from the Monouth County Clerk’s office next Tuesday.
343 people voted out of 6051???? This is 75% of your taxes !!!!!
If 6051 people voted the budget down the council would just approve it anyway. Save the gas. It's a joke and people know it. Suckers vote at these events.
The school bill will allways be high. With overpaid teachers and big benefits, Teachers with holidays and vacation,work six months a year. 48,000.00 for six moths of work? They should wear a mask and drive a getaway car after school! The time has come to say NO! NO! NO! But the kids, the kids, the kids, the kids waaa waaa waaa! They are using the kids as hostages. Watch the comments pour in after this one! Please don't use the computer at school to attack me. I know every teacher has a few in each class hooked up to the internet. At my work you would get fired for stealing time. They say do that on your own time, but I get home late not 3:00pm
Darn unhappy, if you do not have any children I can understand your frustration. But It is NOT just about the kids, its about the federal government allowing the tide of illegal's to not be stemmed, and that is what is placing a heavy burden upon the not just the schools across America but the whole infrastructure of this country. Is there anyone who can tell us what the percentage is of Latinos (from South America), over that of African American and Caucasian students within the four schools..
Your right that the council could just pass the budget anyway, but I strongly disagree with the comment of them being over paid, These professionals are preparing our/my children for the world out there, they are giving them the education and the tools to succeed, and darn unhappy, you cannot put a price on that. Pay them more if needed, but get a grip on the waste, get a grip on the real problems not the teachers pay (and I still do like the Chinese class), they do not get enough.
I am Not a teacher!
Chinese? How about English? These kids can't write a check! Type English! Years ago you were a teacher because you the teacher loved kids. The teachers union created this mess with the Abbott districts and say the state is at fault. It's for the kids, the kids, the kids…… I have kids and work several jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. Let the union take a hit. Pay cuts or layoffs. Benifit cuts or more contribution like the rest of us are doing as times get tuff. 10 year after 3 years? Don't you see something wrong with that? How about minimum skills test for the teacher. How many teachers can you put in the library because they suck as teachers?
I see lots of things wrong like that, but I cannot fault them all, That's not fair to do so. You can fault the system that's fair game, but understand this, its not a calling anymore (although I am sure some do it for such reason), but it is a profession, its a job.
Give backs….Good luck, We cant even get two wealthy council members in Red Bank to not take health care from the boroughs tax dollars. Just look at Union City with the pillaging going on there. We need strong leadership within the state that can say to them NO, and that is no to every union, until we get back on track. Going off on a tangent here, but have you seen that so far the governors toll plan has cost almost ELEVEN MILLION IN LEGAL FEES AND RESEARCH? this is the type of crap that is causing the problems. Unions…..sheeeeit What was good back 75 years ago for the worker is not so good anymore.
Your preaching to the choir here, I'm just at a different church
Darn unhappy,
It sounds like you should become a teacher, if you think it's such a sweet deal. But don't expect $48,000. The starting salary in Red Bank seems to be $42,295. You'll need to put in maybe 8 years to reach $48,000.
Before you make the career change, though, check out this chart first: http://www.nea.org/esea/qualification/teacher/images/hqteacherchart.pdf. It will show you what you need to do to meet the requirements to be a Highly Qualified Teacher, as all the teachers at the Primary and Middle Schools are. You'll find the skills test you mentioned is one of the requirements on the chart.
I think it's a bit misleading to say that teachers only work 6 months a year. It is true that the school year is only 180 days long, but on the other hand, there are only about 240 work days for a full-time employee, and I don't think it's accurate to say we're only working 8 months a year.
So let's say it's 10:00 one morning, and you feel the call of nature. Does your boss mind if you visit the rest room? Of course not. Teachers do not have that luxury. You say that you can only use the Internet on your own time; teachers can only use the toilet on their own time.
I encourage you to sub in a school for a few days. You'll realize that teachers have to be 100% "on" for the whole school day. After school when they're planning lessons or correcting papers or talking to parents, teachers have a work environment closer to a typical employee, but managing a classroom is not like other jobs. You can't take a two-minute break to call your wife, or pause for a minute to talk about the ball game, unless it is your half-hour prep period or your half-hour lunch.
Oh, and in your job, when you need supplies, do you pay for them out of your pocket? Next time you're in a classroom, ask the teacher to point out all the materials s/he bought from personal funds. You'll be amazed.
I agree with you about tenure and the power of the union. Good teachers generally don't need the protection of tenure. And it troubles me that the teachers union is so powerful. However, if there were no tenure and no union, I think there would be a tendency to fire experienced teachers and hire new ones to keep salaries down. As it is now, districts often try to save money by giving packages to encourage teachers to retire. If they could just fire older teachers, there would be a lot of pressure to do so.
"Just Wondering:" Check your email.
John T. Ward
redbankgreenman
anyone know where we can find the teacher pay scale for red bank???
You can ask the district Business Office. They'll give it to you. You can get contact info at http://www.rbb.k12.nj.us/directory.php