On April 27th, Westfield voters will go to the polls to cast their votes in favor or against the Bd. of Ed.'s spending plan.
Board member Mitch Slater strayed from the usual "all-in-favor" vote, to approve the school budget, by being the lone "no" vote sending a message to residents that he will no longer be part of what some have labeled a "rubber stamping" of a process and budget that has typically been approved unanimously.
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| Westfield Board of Education Mitch Slater (back row, second from right) |
With neighboring town's teachers and other Westfield union employees accepting 0% raises and substantial "givebacks" to save jobs during a fiscal crisis, there are those speculating whether or not the 3.9% raise for teachers, included in this budget, will have an effect on this year's vote.
There are others that believe the price of the education Westfield students receive is well worth the $91 million price tag citing property values, high graduation rates, and the Town's overall reputation, as reasons to approve the budget.
If defeated, the budget will be sent to the Westfield Town Council for review.
Cast a vote in The Fact of The Matter online opinion poll posted on the top right side of our Homepage.
Go to the following links for the Westfield Patch's coverage of the school budget:
Aside from the teachers getting a 3.9% raise (by the way no other municiple employee has received a raise) I for one would like to see a line by line accounting of where the 91 million is going.
ReplyDeleteIn 1999, NJ Monthly had Westfield HS in the top 10. In 2010, Westfield slipped to 41. People will tell you those rankings don't measure real quality. Those people are usually ranked 41.
ReplyDeleteVOTE NO....... WE NEED TO STOP THE INSANITY
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr.Slater for having the guts to vote your own conscience - something rare these days- This Westfield resident hopes to see more people like you on next years Board and will be listening to the candidates very closely
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