Letters
Hazlet residents urged to vote no on school budget

Aside from May flowers, April showers bring forth a crop of lawn signs advising taxpayers to support the school budget because education is "priceless." Such rationale supports unchecked spending and implies a vote against the school budget will harm the children of Hazlet. We all want the best for our children, but a strong education comes with a price. In fact, behind this spring's bloom of empty rhetoric, the school board actually named a rather high price for a budget increase that includes obvious pandering to the interests of a few.

Why - when academic needs such as a science lab upgrade or additional teachers are expensive enough - does the school board create a new sports team such as a wrestling program at the middle school or a freshman soccer program at the high school to justify another huge tax increase? The answer is that few people actually vote on the school budget. With each newly proposed sports team, the school board can expect both parents of each potential player to vote yes. These 30 or 40 votes will often change the outcome of the usually poorly attended school elections.

Legitimate high-ticket items such as a new weight room - to fortify existing sports programs - or new science labs seem to be included in the budget as expendable. If the budget does not pass, the school board can blame the taxpayers when they "cut" these needed items. If the budget does pass, we end up paying for more than is needed. At a time when major corporations, small companies, and state-aid programs are streamlining their expenditures, it seems unreasonable for our public administrators - whether they be a member of the school board or the governor himself - to ask us to support a substantial tax increase. Especially when in order to capture a special-interest vote, they attach new and/or nonessential programs to the budgets of programs we do need.

As voters, we do not have to support the games many public official play with our tax dollars. I for one resent that while one hand tugs at our heartstrings, the other hand is reaching in our pockets.

On April 18, I will vote no to Hazlet's school budget proposal. If enough residents do the same, perhaps "for the sake" of our children, the next Board of Education will present Hazlet residents with a more honest and responsible school budget.

Rich Kohler

Hazlet

Field money could have been better spent elsewhere

While year after year, I have voted against the school budgets, I did this proudly as a taxpayer, parent, father of school-age children and the husband of a special education teacher. Why would the parent of a child in the Matawan-Aberdeen School District vote against the budget that helps educate his children? I did this proudly for all of the taxpayers without children and for those who cannot afford to live here due to the out-of-control school costs that are 65 percent of our tax bill.

On March 27, I attended the Board of Education meeting where I stayed just long enough to know that no matter what question I asked or statement I made as a taxpayer, resident or proud graduate of this same school district, the deck was stacked against fiscally responsible decisions. The overwhelming presence of athletic parents and intramural players, in their uniform shirts, was touching and an excellent pressure tactic.

The money to be spent in this district on a football field does not educate, and will similarly not increase our test scores, not stop or prevent school violence, not fix the computers that do not work properly or explain away the math scores, which have our school district now ranked below the state average. The $1.4-plus million dollar football field improvements were voted on improperly and under a fraud perpetrated on the taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen. This will be money spent without a full and complete explanation of the construction, possible hazards or future maintenance costs to even those board members who blindly approved it.

Irresponsible financial decisions have been prevalent in our district in the past with no official accountability. Let us review just a few examples - no one was held accountable when the restroom/snack bar at the high school football field had cost overruns, which brought the total of a seldom-used building to $500,000. When the 1993 referendum of $8 million tax-dollars funded only 75 percent of the proposed and promised renovations and programs, nobody knew because the board and both town councils kept it a secret from the public. Who approved a school name banner with columns at the front of the high school, which cost taxpayers $80,000? I am certain there were many such expenditures and vast monies wasted that, if properly checked, could have installed a new high-tech field at each and every school in the district.

If this Board of Education wants to keep up appearances with other districts, they should start with improving the test scores first.

Joseph P. McAleer

Aberdeen

AHA anticipates start date of Smoke-Free Air Act

This weekend, a dark cloud will life from New Jersey and we will all breathe easier when the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act goes into effect April 15. A long time coming, we look forward to a healthier Garden State and to fewer of our friends, family members and neighbors dying or becoming ill due to the effects of secondhand smoke.

As American Heart Association board members, New Jersey residents and parents, we applaud the New Jersey Legislature, our state leadership, New Jersey Breathers, the public health community, and all those involved in bringing about this historical day April 15. The collective breath New Jersey takes that day will be the beginning of healthier air for all of us.

Being in a smoke-filled room is worse than smoking a cigarette, says the American Heart Association. The smoke from the tip of a cigarette breathed in by others is 20 times more dangerous than what a smoker inhales.

We look forward to visiting diners and restaurants we didn't previously frequent because they allowed smoking. We look forward to bringing our children or grandchildren to bowling alleys that once allowed smoking. We look forward to seeing performances in nightclubs that once allowed smoking but are now smoke-free. And we look forward to our friends, neighbors and family members being able to earn a living in these and other establishments while no longer having to risk their health or lives simply to earn that living.

We encourage you to visit New Jersey restaurants, bowling alleys, nightclubs, diners and other establishments that were once "smoke allowed." Bring friends or family members and let the owner know your are spending money there because the business is now smoke-free and healthier. Here's to a smoke-free and healthier Garden State.

Learn more about the New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, smoking cessation programs, or request a free American Heart Association Smoke-Free Air Act party kit by calling the American Heart Association at (732) 821-2610.

Louis LaSalle

chairman, American Heart

Association (AHA) North Jersey

board of directors

Dr. Perry Weinstock

president, AHA South Jersey

board of directors

Middletown urged to vote yes on school budget

This is a plea to all Middletown residents to vote yes to support your schools April 18. Why should you vote yes?

First and foremost this budget holds steady the current quality of education for our children. It maintains our class size, provides for current hazardous bus transportation, staff training, and revised and revamped school curriculum. To reject this budget would endanger all the above. This year, the elementary school's antiquated heating and ventilation units will be replaced. Many have twice outlived their life expectancy and are 40 to 50 years old. State-of-the-art HVAC units will provide for healthy air flow and reduced utility costs.

Secondly, the school district has worked hard to deserve your support. Middletown - as proclaimed by our own legislators - is one of the most cost-efficient school districts in New Jersey, consistently well below the state average in spending per pupil and administrative costs per pupil. This is because the school administration and the Board of Education diligently watch every tax dollar spent.

Additionally, tax increases this year reflect declines in revenue, which are outside the school board control including increased state mandates, flat state aid, the ill effects of S-1701 legislation and flat municipal revenues. While states on average support 60 percent of their school costs, Middletown receives only 17 percent of its funds from the state of New Jersey. New Jersey needs to address the way schools are funded. To try to reduce property taxes by reducing school expenses any further only denigrates school districts like Middletown which operates on bare bones budgets.

Lastly, we must all support public education. In this increasingly global environment we cannot allow our public education to diminish. Public education has always been America's greatest asset for its success and competitiveness. Just when the world is catching up, we cannot afford to compromise our most cherished treasure - our children's potential. Please vote yes on the school budget.

Marianne Kligman

Middletown

League extends heartfelt thanks to supporters

March 5 marked the end of the 21st season for the Husky Indoor Soccer League. Many people helped to make this season a smooth-running one, and we thank them for all their help and dedication.

Our computer expert, Craig Gunter, made sure all rosters, schedules and meeting notices were printed and in the hands of each coach before the season began. In addition, Craig did the layout of our program booklet. Greg Asch kept all the referee schedules organized. Neil Uhlhorn made sure each game was assigned a field supervisor, and John MacLane got our Web site going and kept it maintained throughout the season. Sara Bontempo designed the logo that appeared on the soccer balls we gave out as souvenirs.

We would like to thank the head coaches and their assistants for making each Sunday game an enjoyable experience for everyone. Our snack bar was run by Nolan Renchler, and Kristen Knauer balanced our books. We would also like to thank my wife, Pat Perri, who fielded the many calls made to our house beginning in October and ending in March, and she also helped to organize the snack bar.

I would like to give a big heartfelt thanks to all these people of our community, and especially to Commerce Bank for its continued support. We could not run such a successful program without all these people who have given unselfishly of their time and love for our children for the past 21 years.

Art Perri

president

Husky Indoor Soccer

Matawan

Increases will burden overtaxed Middletown residents

In March, the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation issues an exhaustive 165-page report titled "Taxpayers Beware: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You," setting forth statewide waste, fraud, hidden compensation, and corruption by school boards, school administrators, school superintendents, and the entrenched self-serving educational bureaucracy in this state. The Middletown Board of Education responds by proposing a 12.8-cent property tax increase to fund a $100 million tax levy and a $4 million debt service tax levy. How will the already overtaxed property taxpayers in Middletown respond to that at the April 18 school board elections?

Louis Novellino

Middletown