Memorial struck first with a solo home run in the second inning byAlex Herceg over the right field fence .

Alex Herceg from Memorial rounds the bases after hitting a second inning solo home run over the right field fence.

Liberty put another run on the board in the 3rd inning after Bryan Soloman doubled and drove in a run.  Down 3-0 Liberty changed pitchers with bases loaded in the 4th.   In the tight spot, Liberty brought in freshman pitcher Tyler Pallante.   It was  a move most not familiar with Pallante would have questioned.. a freshmen in a bases loaded tight spot with elimination on the line?   But Pallante did what he does best and struck out Soloman with bases loaded as he has done so many times on the mound in his ‘career’.  It was Pallante who was the starting pitcher for the Holbrook Junior League all-stars in 2009 helping the team to a 3rd place finish in the national tournament a year ago.

Liberty tied the game  2-2 in the top of the 5th when Angel Garced, another Holbrook 2009 Champion and freshman doubled and drove in two runs on a throwing error.

Memorial struck back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single off the bat of Ian Booth the score was 3-2 after 5.

In the 6th, Liberty took the lead for the first time in the game with a 2 rbi single by Justin Hernandez, going up 4-3 on Memorial.

Unfortunately, a Shore Conference title was not in the cards this year for Pallante and the Jackson Liberty squad as it all came to an end with that 2 strike, two out  3 run homer by Memorial’s Matt Meleo.

Capitalizing on this, in 2009, the Board of Education sent children home with flyers warning that “Those in gated communities” control the vote each year and it was important to get parents out to vote.   This year’s message once again was firm, but with a touch of threatening now added, using the recent cuts from Trenton as a dire warning of things to come if parents did not get out to vote.  The district aggressively marketed the potential closure of Rosenauer Elementary School, redistricting, elimination of courtesy bussing and bigger classes in what was an all out Blitzkrieg attack on the hearts and minds of what parents find most important.

The Rosenauer experiment seemed to be going just fine for school officials until they were called out on it in the school’s all-purpose room by parents that Wednesday night in March.  Parents called out Linda Lackay, Marvin Krakower and Tom Gialanella and asked why the emphasis was on Rosenauer’s closure.  When pressed further, they backed off eventually saying “It’s just one of many ideas”, yet it was listed first on their agenda list and was the only cut emphasized until parents began pushing back instead of rolling over and doing the bidding of the superintendent.

After the fact of the defeated budget, many in town are left wondering if the closure of Rosenauer was just a scare tactic.   If it was, it worked, because the only districts the budget passed on election day coincidentally aligned with two schools which would be most impacted by the closure, Rosenauer and Holman elementary schools.  Everywhere else the budget was globally defeated in both senior communities and general communities across town.

But did this experiment backfire on the board of education?  Instead of rallying the troops behind their call, the end result seems to have done nothing more than stir the pot and create more animosity between residents and education and in the BOE’s contrived struggle that pits parents against senior citizens through the years.  This struggle seems to have begun back in the early days of budget failure when then school board member Gus Acevedo soundly and poignantly blamed Westlake for failed school budgets.  It has since been the tradition of the Board of Education to both blame senior citizens for voting while placing equal blame on parents who do did not vote.

The question moving forward still remains.  Will our Board of Education continue the tactic of blaming residents for a decade of failed budgets and continue to pit residents against each other so that they can continue reaping the financial rewards or will our elected officials once and for all represent the taxpayers, the parents, the senior citizens and the children and present a budget that eliminates top heavy payroll burdens, waste, refusal to consolidate and reduce overhead and put more money back into the classroom and begin to improve an education system that has suffered losses that exceed $10,000,000 per year due to the decade of budget failures?

The NJEA filed suit against the State of New Jersey over recently enacted legislation which will take 1.5 percent of salary from public school employees as a requirement to qualify for health insurance coverage.

NJEA’s lawsuit charges that the new law violates the collective bargaining rights of school employees, illegally reduces salaries for those employees, and violates several clauses of both the New Jersey Constitution and the United States Constitution.

As the state struggles to balance a $9 billion deficit, the NJEA has consistently told Governor Chris Christie and legislators to look somewhere else and has dug in against common sense  and the reality of the current economic situation in New Jersey.

“This legislation was ill-conceived from the beginning, and was rushed through the Legislature to meet an artificial timeline imposed on lawmakers by the governor,” said NJEA President Barbara Keshishian. “Now the courts will have to sort out what the Legislature should have looked at before it passed this legislation without any meaningful debate or consideration. We are asking the court to see this for what it is: a tax imposed selectively on public employees only.”   

In the latest attack against the Governor, the NJEA scorns the governor over his $175,000 yearly salary.  It is a salary that is less than most school superintendents and well below NJEA boss Keshishian’s $263,000 salary.

Regarding the new law requiring teachers and public employees to pay just 1.5% of their medical benefits,  Keshishian said ” We will fight.”

In school districts across the states, rejected school budgets are now at the mercy of local municipal governments and the NJEA has dug in, willing to play a dangerous game chicken with the governor which puts thousands of New Jersey children squarely in the middle.

While the NJEA is out campaigning homeowners to pay a few dollars more per month in property taxes, their own members are balking at $50 per month for a top of the line health benefits package.

“We created this web site so that everyone has a chance to put forth ideas, make comments concerning the way budgets are handled and by inviting all residents to get involved it opens the way for everyone in the township to become involved.”  Reina said of the project. 

The township council now has until May 19th to make cuts or recommendations to the school board on the budget.   On April 20th, residents globally voted down the budget across most voting districts, dealing a crushing blow to the board of education which has been unsuccesful in rallying full community support for education in Jackson for the past 9 years when it comes to school budget votes.  Over that period of time, the district revealed that approximately $10,000,000 has been cut from the township budget during council reviews of defeated budgets.

Mayor Reina hopes that inviting the community to participate openly in what has always been a behind-closed-doors process will produce measurable results and will benefit the community, regardless of which side of the fence residents are standing on.

“My hope is to get ideas from outside the box. Our most important asset is our residents. By involving them in the process, we as elected officials are always connected to the public. My greatest fear is the thought of being insulated and not being able to detect the pulse of the resident.” the mayor said “We need to know what the public’s needs are at all times. My commitment to transparency in government reaches beyond my office and although the BOE and Municipal Government are two entirely different bodies I strongly believe that an open dialogue is needed more now then ever before. This is in my opinion and the first step of bringing the public and government closer together.”

You can read the official township press release here:

As you are aware, the residents of the Township rejected the Board of Education’s budget for the upcoming school year.  43% of those voting supported the budget while 57% of the residents did not support this budget.  Therefore, as mandated by law, the school district’s budget has been sent to the Township Council for review. The Township Council may recommend a reduction in the budget which could necessitate additional reductions in the school budget or they can recommend no reduction in that budget.  The Township Council has hired a professional auditor to review the school budget and to make recommendations on whether there are any possibilities for a reduction in spending.
At this past Council meeting, concerned residents, both pro and con, expressed their opinions as to what the Township Council should do.  One resident suggested that the review process be open and transparent to everyone.  This Office has always supported an open and transparent government and I concur.
Therefore, the Township has set up a website, http://www.jacksontwpnj.us, where residents can make suggestions, comments and recommendations for the auditor to consider during his review process.  All comments will be posted so that all individuals will know what comments and recommendations are being made to the auditor.  Of course, inappropriate postings will be moderated by prior to posting.
If this process is successful, I will consider further use of this process for other major issues affecting the Township.
For further information please contact the Mayor’s office at 732-928-1200 ext 211.  

One such group is the “Rename the Ritacco Center Vincent Frassetto Memorial Center”, which isn’t as much of an “anti-Ritacco” group, but more of a common sense group.   Since the center was built and dubbed, I had been strongly opposed to notion of naming this building after the currently seated superintendent.  In fact, in 2005, on GoKidsNJ for which I write for, there was a long running article with dozens of comments which instead sought to name the center after Mr. Raymond Ryan, the long time Toms River High School principal who made such an impact on students who passed through the halls at the school. 

A few years after the center was built and adorned with the name of Ritacco, Pfc Frassetto was killed in action in Iraq.  Once again the topic of renaming the center came up around town, but once again, the superintendent’s name remained.

It wasn’t until last week’s raid that I thought this would be a good time to once again push to rename the building.   I have yet to encounter a single Toms River resident who is in favor of keeping Ritacco’s name on the building.

While I am not a Ritacco hater, in fact, I always refer to the good job Ritacco has done with stablizing taxes, empowering and involving senior citizens and the exceptional state of Toms River schools, I do not feel that it warrants a reward such as renaming an arena after the man.  When I found out last month that perhaps there may be more than meets the eye to all the good Ritacco has done for Toms River, it reinforces the position that we should not be in the business of naming buildings after currently seated officials.

Why Pfc Frassetto?  Because Vincent Frassetto symbolizes all of the kids who have graduated Toms River Schools and had gone on to serve their country and has made the ultimate sacrifice for us all.   As a former Toms River High School North graduate (1990) and former U.S. Marine, I think many who served will agree that to have Pfc Frassetto’s name on this building would be an honor to us all to have him represent all of the military veterans of Toms River and alumni of Toms River School.    At least, I would hope the Board of Education considers to rename the building in honor of our military veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice, perhaps Toms River Veterans Memorial Center with an area dedicated to specific individuals’ memories.   Even Mr. Ryan and his years of service at High School North and in the district is more deserving than the current designee.

To join the group, visit: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=116279758394089&ref=mf#wall 

http://www.app.com/article/20100429/NEWS/4290346/Ritacco-has-few-fans-on-Facebook

But last night, we had a room full of parents worried about their children.  Worried about whether or not their school will be open in September.  Worried about whether or not teachers are going to have jobs.  Most importantly, a $135 million decisions lies before our council… and I’m expected to sit here and believe that none of them have anything to say about it.

They say they’re going to let the professionals handle it.  Yet, they wouldn’t even let professionals handle a simple bathroom facility in one of our parks.    This past week, they ran around town arguing with each other over $261,000 like the state of the township is at risk over that decision.

But last night, aside from Mrs. Rivere and Mr. Reina, all choose to go silent for the first time since taking office.  Why?   Now is the time when our elected officials who want to distinguish themselves as bold leaders of our community should  stand up and speak their mind.  For those who wish to remain silent in such a critical moment and to send those people home no better  than when they came..  should not be the leaders of Jackson.

Everyone has preconceived notions about this budget.  Whether it’s administration, the unions, waste or excess.  For our council to sit there and tell us they will hold their opinions until the audit, in the face of an election is cowardly.   In this tough time, Jackson needs strong leaders who are not afraid of what lies ahead.   Our council showed us last night, they do not have the conviction to lead our township through the troubled times ahead.

 -Phil Stilton

The township council must present a new budget dollar amount to the school board by March 19th.  While the council can make recommendations on where to cut and recommend against school closures,  the school board is only bound by the dollar amount presented by the council.   The school board will ultimately choose where those cuts are made.

While it is out of their legal authority, the council was unanimous on keeping cuts limited to prevent the closure of Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary school, a plan which was presented by Superintendent Tom Gialanella and the school board to Rosenauer parents on Wednesday, March 14th.    In the meeting, the district outlined their plans to turn the cherished community elementary school into a pre-k and after care center as a plan on the table to bridge a $1.2 million gap in the budget.

Residents in attendance criticized the out of control spending on administrative salaries by the current school board and fiscally irresponsible employee contracts which have allowed 5% yearly across the board payroll increases despite a legal limit of a 4% max yearly tax levy increase which only allows for cuts in the classroom due to current labor laws.    Once again the topic of a $200,000 salary package for superintendent Tom Gialanella was brought to light by residents noting “this is not the president or the governor, why are we paying him so much?”

Parents vowed to bring this fight back to the school board which many claimed were responsible for the 8 years of failed budgets which have led to over $10,000,000 in lost educational opportunities for Jackson Township students.

Former Jackson Township school board member Dan Gross criticized both the council for deferring their responsibilities to an independent auditor and the school board for being unprepared to manage proposed cuts from Trenton which he said “we knew these cuts were coming for months”.        

 Newly elected school board President Sharon Dey school and Barbara Fiero were in attendance at the township meeting but did not speak publicly at this meeting.    No school board members in attendance spoke out on behalf of the children of Jackson Township.

The event takes place at the Jackson Township Senior Center located at 45 Don Connor Blvd.   For more information call 732-928-2313.

Another consensus from the candidates was to avoid the closure of the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School.  In a meeting with Superintendent Tom Gialanella and school board members Linda Lackay and Marvin Krakower, the school board indentified the closure of Rosenauer as the first item in their list of cost cutting measures.   When questioned by residents, Gialanella explained that because Roasenauer’s closure appeared first in the list, the list presented was not sorted by priority.

 In that meeting Gialanella suggested Rosenauer could become the district’s pre-k learning center while the K-5 student population would be assimilated into surrounding schools with possible redistricting also on the table that “pushes out” beyond Rosenauer.

This year, councilmembers Mike Kafton and Ken Bressi are running for Mayor against incumbent Mike Reina who acknowledged the vital importance of Rosenauer Elementary School’s role as a local community school.

Councilmembers Anne Updegraves and Scott Martin are running for re-election against Peter Grzlek, Kim Lum, school board member Marvin Krakower, Sean Giblin and indepedent Kevin Di Gesu.

The township council next meets on April 27th at 7:30pm at town hall.  Residents with concerns over the school budget review process are encouraged to attend.

Myself and Marvin Krakower was the only school official or recent school board candidate in attendance tonight.      No agreements have been made public yet as to concessions from the teachers’ union which could save up to $3,000,000 and restore some of  the programs and jobs already cut.

This year, the group just barely held on to power and re-elected their encumbents, Sharon Dey, a special interest candidate and Linda Lackay, a Cherry Hill teacher and NJEA card holder.   School Board president Barbara Fiero and PAC (political action committee) matriarch’s term expires in 2011.

However, all hope is not lost for parents and taxpayers as today, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler says if local school boards can convince the NJEA to take concessions, it’s not to late for local jobs and programs to be saved.  

Despite the gloomy outlook and budget rejection, Ed First Candidate and current school board Vice President Sharon Day posted on the group’s Facebook page “We Won! Thank You! Thank You!”, seemingly more concerned about the group’s personal victory than the bitter defeat of education that will have serious adverse impact on our children.

So now that Ed First Jackson is all giddy and excited with their personal win, what happes to the rest of us with children who attend school in Jackson?

According to NJ Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, in districts where voters defeated the school budget, boards of education must submit their spending plans to the local government for review, and town councils or committees should examine budgets to see if cuts can be made.

“School budgets consume the greatest share of local property taxes. Mayors should consider the will expressed by voters as they examine whether it is proper to make cuts that can trim property tax bills,” the commissioner said.

Unless they appeal the decision, school districts must reduce spending by the amount recommended by the local governments. The governments may make suggestions about which programs or personnel should be eliminated, but school boards can make their own decision about what to cut, as long as the same amount of money is saved.

If school boards feel the cuts are too deep or important programs are being hurt, they can appeal budget reductions to the commissioner.

“I will review budget cuts submitted to me in an impartial manner, with input from executive county superintendents,” Commissioner Schundler said. “If the proposed cuts would actually harm school districts or eliminate essential programs, we will support the school district’s appeal.”

Commissioner Schundler finished his remarks by thanking all the voters who participated in Tuesday’s elections, while supporting reforms that would increase turnout.

“It is my hope that, next year, school elections will be held in November, as Gov. Christie has recommended. I agree with the governor that moving the elections to November would increase voter turnout even more, and on a continuing basis,” Commissioner Schundler said, “so that a larger number of people can decide who will be elected to school boards and what will happen to future tax bills.”

Although many school budgets were defeated in yesterday’s election, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler today reminded teachers, school boards and taxpayers in all districts that they can continue to work together to reduce layoffs and save important academic programs.

In Jackson, the Board of Education has prepared plans to close the Rosenauer Elementary School, a cherished community school with the intent to turn it into a profitable day care center shortly after the last pink slip has been issued and the last student bussed to one of the district’s other already overcrowded elementary schools.   In other schools throughout the township, children are already overflowing into educational trailer parks and the influx of Rosenauer refugees and a decrease in teachers may see class sizes balloon in September 2010.

However, Schundler says many of the cuts to Jackson’s schools can be avoided simply if the Jackson Education Association, the local branch of the NJEA consider concessions, including a wage freeze.   So far, negotiations in Jackson’s schools have been stalled and no progress has been made regarding contract re-negotiations with Jackson Township teachers according to a school official, who wished to remain anonymous.  

“This year, whether local school budgets were defeated or not, we will be encouraging all school boards and teachers’ unions to continue negotiating until the state budget is adopted at the end of June. If more teachers accept a one-year wage freeze, there is still time to save the jobs of their colleagues and preserve important programs for children,” Commissioner Schundler said.

According to preliminary figures, 58.4 percent of the school budgets, statewide, were defeated this year. For the past two years, 26.4 percent were defeated. Eight districts requested additional spending in separate ballot questions, and all were defeated.

Budgets fared much better in districts where teachers accepted wage freezes. Voters approved 13 of the 19 budgets in wage freeze districts for an approval rate of 68.4 percent – much better than the statewide average.

Voter turnout, statewide, increased sharply, from 15 percent last year to 26.68 percent this year. Last year, 728,414 people cast votes. This year, voter turnout increased by nearly half a million people, with 1,250,436 going to the polls.

“Taxpayers have spoken, and their voice should be respected,” Commissioner Schundler said. “They want relief. The teachers’ union, school boards and local governments should work together to reduce taxes while minimizing layoffs and program cuts.”     Residents who wish to see the local teacher’s union break away from the hardline stance of the NJEA which threatens to destroy education in Jackson township in a dangerous game of chicken, may contact local NJEA leader Delores Harvey via email at dharvey@jacksonsd.org

My overall plan this year was to begin to rebuild the trust we lost in our senior communities over the years under the control of the current team on the BOE.   Without seniors behind our schools and behind our BOE, we will never see another budget pass for the kids.  Without people who are middle-road and not progressively liberal and pro-administration, that will never happen.

Once again in an election here in our schools, we all complain about the problems, seek change, yet the incumbents always win.  This year, they had to lie and smear to win.  I’m ok with it all, because I ran an honest campaign.  I did not drag my opponent’s family members through the mud, nor did I attack their children as they had.  I took the high road and stuck to the facts, which are not good for our children moving forward.

We now have nearly a decade of failed school budgets at the hands of our newly elected board members.  We have 5 schools failing in NCLB and falling behind the rest of the state.  We have a duo that rubber stamps everything the employees pass in front of them.   We have yet another failed budget that is going to hurt our children.

We will now continue flailing our arms in anger at Trenton while the ship sinks here in Jackson.   Many parents say I was “scary” or bought the line that I was “bad for kids” or “bad for teachers” because they believed the lies spread by the people who did the campaign smear work for Dey and Lackay.   We now have to live with more years of bad ideas and bad budgets. 

Mostly however, tonight I am disappointed in Councilman Scott Martin.    Martin was an avid supporter of Dey and Lackay and his support for them was the difference in tonight’s results.  He was pushing their campaign signs and selling them on people wherever he went.  When I asked him “Scott, you are a Republican, why are you trying to push these two liberals through, why wouldn’t you back me?”, his reply was upsetting “They have a bigger following than you”.  This conversation took place just minutes after Martin received the endorsement from the local republican club.    Mr. Martin, tonight, you sold both your conservative values and our children down the river for a few votes in your May 11th election.    It was politics as usual once again in Jackson and once again our children lose. 

Toms River passed their budget tonight.  Why? Because they have the trust in their large senior population and Toms River went ALL-IN for their children, going beyond the budget cap for the interests of education.

I would like to thank the 2,925 residents who voted for me and had faith in me that I can help put this trainwreck back on the tracks.   For now, I am done in politics.  I realized tonight, I cannot win an election because I am unwilling to play dirty, cheat, lie or change my message based on the crowd I’m talking to.

I am relieved in a way that this horrible budget is not on my hands, but saddened that it is not in good hands.   However, I am happy to look forward to spending another summer with the children in Jackson on the baseball, soccer and lacrosse fields, at the roller rink and the skate park as I have done now.   I am more excited about coaching my next “peanuts” girls’ softball game and being with that great group of kids as they learn the game from Coach Lee and Coach Phil, then another great season of all-star baseball and watching our kids win more district, state and maybe even a national title.

I just wish those who ran our schools had the same dedication to our children as our hundreds of volunteers in our sports programs.  I will also continue my work with the Youth Advisory Council.  It is a great team that truly has the interests of our children first.

I am disappointed in our local NJEA for pushing our budget to failure.   Seniors, parents and children have all taken hits this year in support of our schools, but the union has not.  For that I am disappointed that their stubborn approach will cost us perhaps a school as Rosenauer is slated to be turned into private day-care, class sizes double and we still have children learning in trailers.

I am proud of all of the parents who realized change was needed and all of the residents who had the courage to try something new and support me.

Whether or not I will run in 2011 or accept an appointment if it is offered (which it will not be, because in true Jackson politics, it will be offered to Mike Hanlon)  should Marvin Krakower win his council bid is up in the air.  I truly enjoy representing our children in Jackson and being there for them, but I think my calling for the kids is in recreation and not education, because recreation is 100% about the kids.  Our education system is not.

Again, thank you for your support and please lobby all of our council-persons to think of the children before politics when the budget is in their hands.

See you all at Justice Complex, Bartley and Holbrook. I can’t wait for the summer to heat up!  Go Tigers!

If our children were caught doing this, they would be suspended, out cast,  forced to undergo psychiatric evaluations before returning to school and potentially expelled.   However, as a teacher, he will most likely be placed on an administrative absence to sit home and continue receiving his $50,000 salary, pension and full health benefits.  Even if he is convicted of this crime, we will be forced to continue paying his salary as we continue to do in other similar incidents within our school district. 

Right now, there is at least one other case I know of where our tax dollars are going to pay the salary of a former teacher who sits at home, collecting their paycheck, their benefits and waiting to retire after being convicted on sexual misconduct charges, even those involving students.  This is just one, but how many are there?  How much are we spending each year to protect those who may harm our children while the district continues to attack our children, threatening parents with cuts, yet we are forced to keep paying salaries of sexual offenders in our schools.

There is a double standard.  Our children are judged harshly for their negative actions in our schools, yet school officials are given a pass for the most obscene crimes.

Why was there “no comment” from the district?   Why was there no counselling or investigation setup for the parents of students who have had this man as their teacher?  There is a risk and that risk needs to be addressed immediately.

A full investigation should be launched into this man’s conduct around our children and we need to see if perhaps there had been any complaints in the past and if those complaints were investigated.    Most psychologists would agree, this behavior does not happen over night.

Our district gives us “no comment”. 

No other candidate will touch this issue two days before an election because they are more worried about their vote than our children.  I care about our children and if this statement costs me an election, then so be it.   This is why I am running and why change is needed NOW.

I was researching a rebuttal to Mr. Fiero, and instead found a very bittersweet suprise in my research.   This past week, Joe Azzolina, a proud veteran and supporter of veterans passed away.  Mr. Azzolina was the man who brought home the USS New Jersey and was the man who brought forth much pro-veteran legislation.

One of the things Mr. Azzolina gave veterans was a $250 per year property tax relief opportunity.   I urge all veterans who may be considering voting down their school budget to consider this $250 credit as a reimbursement for your increase in property tax and vote yes because the only ones to get hurt here are our children and to consider this credit before making your final decision.

It is too late for a 2010 credit, but you can start in 2011 if you are not already taking advantage of this great benefit for those who served our country during wartime.

Please visit this link to download the form to apply for your $250 property tax credit and think of our kids when you go out to vote on Tuesday. They are caught in the middle of a bitter powerstruggle and nobody is here to defend them. 

Also please take a moment to remember Joe Azzolina, a man who put his life on the line for us all and was always in our corner.

Sincerely,
Phil Stilton
USMC 1990-1995
Candidate for Jackson School Board
www.philstilton.com

Next Tuesday is a defining moment for education in New Jersey and here in Jackson.   Two years ago, I got involved in education in Jackson when I lobbied to protect our children on our town’s dangerous roads.  In the time that has passed, I have been a proponent of doing what’s right for our children in Jackson when I realized that not everyone sees children first.   Many times our children in our schools get tied up in the politics that surrounds education in New Jersey.

The children are caught in the middle of yearly budget election battles.  This year, they are caught up in the middle of a very nasty war between the Governor and the NJEA.    Everyone always says “For the Children”, and while in their heart that is probably true, but the question I ask all involved is “in which order?”.

We have great teachers in Jackson, we have a supportive community and we have the resources to make education excel in our town.  However, this year, I am running with the sole interest of making sure the children of Jackson are provided with an adequete education that will help them eventually be more than just ‘productive’ members of society, but the leaders, decision makers and thinkers of the next generation.   Simply aiming for the diploma at the end of the line is insufficient for me.

Only one time in my life have I been so passionate and so sure about a very critical decision I have made.  It was back on August 1st, 1991.  I was 17 years old, in my room watching CNN on my 13″ hand me down television, sitting on my floor, playing guitar, passing my summer away before starting college that fall.  It was the images of an invading army from Iraq, attacking the small nation of Kuwait, an ally of the United States.  The very next day, I went to the local Marine Corps Recruiter and enlisted in the Marine Corps, hoping to get my chance to do my part to protect our friends from aggression.   By the time my training was done, the war was over, so I never got that chance.   Many times throughout the Iraq-Afghanistan war, I thought about reenlisting, but our first child was born March 13th 2003.  7 days later, we invaded Iraq.  Deep inside, I wish there was more I could do to help my fellow young Marines in their fight, but  I felt my time had passed and my new mission in life was to raise a family and be there for my children.

These past two years of involvement in education made me realize that not everyone had our children’s interest first. 

It is why I decided to run this year.  I know some people in education don’t trust me and think I bring more of what Chris Christie has brought locally, but my kids go to Jackson Schools.  Unlike Mr. Christie, my kids don’t attend private schools and that is the difference between the governor and myself.  I agree change is needed, but I want to help fix the problems with a conservative agenda that puts kids first.   The Governor has a lot of hard choices to make over the next few years.  He may make some right and some wrong decisions, but in the end I firmly believe his agenda is to reform the funding of our schools to allow towns like Jackson to have a greater local control of their finances and policy.       I believe reform is necessary.   The current system does not help Jackson.

I don’t care what happens in Camden, Trenton, Newark or even Toms River and Brick Township for that matter.  They can all fight their own battle.  My interest is Jackson Township’s schools and I will do what is right for OUR TOWN.

So whether you agree with me or not, I will say that my intentions are motivated first by my children and all the children and families I have met in the past few years and if I do win, to those in the district who do not believe in me, as Jack Johnson has said here, “I can tell you we are going to be friends”.

Jackson, NJ – About one hundred worried parents showed up at the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School Wednesday night to learn the potential fate of their cherished community schools.  Audience members wanted to know what they could to do save their beloved school and were told by a stern and business focused superintendent Tom Gialanella.. “vote yes” and “tell all your friends to vote yes”.

What other choice is there?  Once again Rosenauer is on the chopping block if the budget gets voted down.  The superintendent made the district’s plans clear in the post Rosenauer Era.   Bigger classes, more bus routes and a profitable day care center would be opened shortly after the K-5 population have been evicted.

Shortly after the K-5 teachers lose thier jobs, the district would begin hiring a new pre-k staff in their place and turn the school into a profitable enterprise while the district sees vast increases to classroom sizes across the board and a potential redistricting to accommodate the Rosenauer refugees.

It was all business for the superintendent and he had no time for heartfelt pleas from parents concerned about special needs or the importance of Rosenauer to the community.   That is, until the all-business questions came from the audience such as inquiries about district administrative salaries and his own salary came into the spotlight.  Gialanella was dismissive to many parents and flat out ignored many other valid questions.

Ironically no mention was made to the audience about the status of union negotiations or the impact those negotiations would have on the 2010-11 budget.   No mentions were made in reference to Education Commission Bret Schundler’s claim earlier in the day in which he stated districts that accept pay freezes and have demonstrated sound fiscal policies would be given leniency should the board reject council recommendations for further cuts should the community vote this budget down next Tuesday.

Parents were given marching orders to lobby the town’s people to simply vote yes as if there was no alternative.  While I do at this point think voting yes is in the best interest of the survival of Rosenauer and other programs that are being cut, parents should also be lobbying our teachers to negotiate terms of  a pay freeze.  A one year pay freeze in our district across the boards would see a savings of $3.5 million which would save Rosenauer and see the return of all of the previously cut programs and services to our children for 2010-11. 

A pay freeze hurts nobody and will save jobs.  All a pay freeze does is postpone the 4 1/2 or so percent raise staff is scheduled to receive in September 2010 until September 2011.  Nobody loses money and the previously cut teaching positions and educational opportunities for our children will be restored.  Because after all, it is for our children, right?

So yes, concerned parents should also vote yes, but they should also contact local NJEA president Delores Harvey (dharvey@jacksonsd.org) and ask her what concession our teachers can make to help our community weather this storm and avoid all of the costly cuts that have been presented.

The solution is not black and white.  Voting yes for our budget helps children and saves jobs, but urging all of our school officials to also share in our sacrifice as residents and parents will not only save future jobs, it will save the jobs already cut.  I urge all parents to contact Mrs. Harvey, for our children.  I already have.

This has to stop. These attacks on community volunteers and intimidation of anyone who serves our community is despicable.

Here’s what they are saying about Mr. Sharp:

“Jeff Sharp is a current member of the Community Budget Committee. In the months he has been at the budget table he has had little to contribute. Does his inaction indicate he has not found any issues, or that he simply can’t grasp the process?

There is one more possibility. That he came to the CBC to mine data strictly to use in his campaign”

- campaign website quote from Sharon Dey and Linda Lackay.

In last Wednesday’s Jackson school board 2010-11 budget meeting, the school board adopted a budget which will increase class sizes, consolidate AP courses, charge for sports and cut education programs for children in the district.

One of the caveats of the budget was announced by Superintenden Tom Gialanella, who earlier admitted his district has been “nearing the edge for years” was the prospect of closing the Slyvia Rosenauer Elementary School should voters reject this current budget on April 20th, 2010.
On the Facebook page, parents and residents expressed outrage and frustration over the prospect of more cuts to children at the hands of the school board despite an increase in taxes and wasteful spending at the administration level within the district.

“My son is in 2nd grade in Holman and is in a TRAILER. HOW can they even think about closing a school when these kids are in trailers. Keep Rosenauer and redistrict the kids AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!”  – Kristi C.

“The Board really needs to delete some of the administrators and supervisors and assistants to the assistant – you know what I mean. All public employees need to contribute towards their health insurance -The majority of teachers do a wonderful job – your mom was fabulous. But……some portion towards health insurance should be paid – the costs for that are huge – it would be of some help. We built new schools in Jackson without proper planning ahead – artificial turf, underground sprinklers, air conditioning, I never had those amenities and I did fine without them – too much fluff in the system – sorry if I am offending anyone but……budgets are meant to spend on the children – that is what it is about – children.” – Nancy H.

“Great school, defines what a community school is all about. My bet is some developer is salivating over the land. Why would you get rid of this school?” – Wayne R.

“how can you close this school when they just built a school. dont make sense.”  -Marty C.

“What about the trailers packed with kids at other schools?? What about the empty building in the middle of a small neighborhood once the kids and staff are moved or dismissed? What about property values in the neighborhood? What about class sizes in Crawford or Holmann?” – Save Sylvia Rosenauer

“I will pay for my girls to play sports, heck we’ve been doing that their entire life, I don’t mind paying for activities…..but….closing a school when there are still over 25 trailers in our school district just doesn’t make any sense!” – Louis H.

They have threatened to use my brother’s mental illnesses (ADHD and BiPolar Disorder) against me as a threat to make me give up my candidacy.  They have disclosed my 7 year old child’s confidential Board of Education records in an attempt to discredit my candidacy.  They have made legal threats and physical threats against me.     They have made threats of physical violence to me and told me that I will be finished in Jackson, I am going down and that my time in this town are done.   They say I am not qualified, however my proven track record and success in life proves otherwise.   It has not been a pleasant experience to say the least.  But, it is what gives me strength to come back stronger and remove this cancer from our schools.

It is days like today when we get to take a step back, reflect with family and realize how important it is for me to do what is right for our children and or community.  It is days like today when you realize that all the harmful and hateful attacks others make against you and how you deal with those attacks is what builds your character as a human being.   It is days like today that make you realize the pettiness of those attacks in the grand scheme of things in life.  I am proud to be running on behalf of all of the good and decent parents who just want to see better decisions made for our children.

I will grin and bear these attacks and all of the attacks to come from the Fieros, Dey & Lackay over the next 16 days and hope that together, as a community, we can rid Jackson of the people who have put our schools on an out of control path.

Fiero, Dey and Lackey have brought us the following during their terms leading our schools

• 7 years of failed budgets in which many educational opportunities for our children have been lost forever.
• 2 failed referendums which attributed to the further deterioration of our schools’ facilities.
• 5 of our schools have fallen behind state and federal NCLB averages, putting them in the bottom 36% of New Jersey Schools.
• 48 lost jobs including teachers, counselors, aides and substitutes in our schools.
• Larger classroom sizes for our children.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility including $300 per hour snow removal contracts and $200,000 administrative salary contract renegotiations.
• Just 2 months ago, they were pushing for $29 million in golf course irrigation and solar panels, but today, they do not even have the means to pay our teachers.
• Increased taxes despite decreased enrollment and decrease in services.

It is this mismanagement, my extensive business experience and my role as a father of two very young children which has driven me to want to once again serve my community as I did 20 years ago when I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps to serve my country.  Community service is the backbone of any community and should I be elected on April 20th, I will serve  Jackson with honor and integrity as I have served our country and every employer I have ever worked for. 

Again, I wish everyone a very Happy Easter from my family to yours and hope our Jewish friends had a very happy Passover.  Chag Pesach Sameach!

Looking forward to serve you all proudly,
Phil Stilton

Today, Governor Chris Christie offered a last minute aid reimbursement to districts whose administration and staff members willingly accept one year pay freezes.  The governor’s office estimated that $25,000 will be reimbursed back to the districts for every $1,000,000 of payroll cut.    In the proposed 2009-10 Jackson School Budgets, the projected payroll increase district wide was estimated to be $3.25 million, or a 5% overall increase.  Should the local unions and administration accept a wage freeze, the district could return most of that $3.25 million to the classroom and to save all  but the most non-essential positions, limit education cuts and keep class sizes consistent with the current school year.   Additionally, the district will be reimbursed an additional $250,000 providing more tax relief and the ability to save more programs.

So far, in Jackson, there has been no public statements from the district regarding any staff pay freezes.