No message, just laziness, in failure of school budget

In response to the recent school budgets failing in many towns in Middlesex County, there is no message being sent to the state.

Wake up, people. I live in Jamesburg, and our budget is as lean as it gets. We lost by 29 votes and, to me, that is sheer laziness. We have no fluff, no extra. We have an administration and staff members who have 50 jobs besides the one they are receiving a salary for.

Since residents can only vote on school budgets and not municipal and state budgets, guess who suffers? The school and children suffer when people vote no to make a point.

Let me explain a few very specific rules in a budget. There is at least more than half of the budget that we have no control over. We have tuition and transportation to Monroe Township High School; we have special-education tuition and transportation; we have negotiated contracts with the staff; we have electric, gas, water and phone bills, to name a few. We work very hard in each of these areas to join a consortium, which is many school districts working together for a better rate.

Ignorance is a dangerous thing, and when you use that ignorance as a power tool to vote down a school budget, you have no one to blame but yourself when programs are cut.

I have three children, one in college. I have always had a full-time job until my company completely closed in January due to contract cuts. I have been on the Jamesburg school board for 13 years, and have served as the Jamesburg representative to the Monroe school board for 12 years. My husband and I feel the economic crunch as much as anyone, and we are as busy as anyone, but we always remember to vote and support the school budget. These children are our future.

The governor of New Jersey has done nothing to fix the awful mess we are in and have been in for years. We live in a state that funds the school budget in the worst possible way, with property tax.

I hope the Jamesburg Borough Council has the insight to do its duty and give the children the education they deserve. Shame on the residents of Jamesburg and Monroe for not doing their duty and supporting the school budget.

Patrice Faraone

Jamesburg