Your Local School Budget Could Soon Be In Da Hands of Da Queen and Her Court

On April 20, hopefully people will go to da polls and vote on their school budget. While we are not saying whether you should vote for or against da school budget yet, you should exercise that right that soldiers and people have died for.

As teachers go, da one thing we can tell you is that teachers work much more than da "bankers hours" some might lead you to believe. Teaching includes grading papers, setting up lesson plans, working on classrooms, before and after hours work with students, and things like that, not done while you're teaching a class, but before or after school. Those hours aren't always factored in to da "bankers hours" some think teachers have. Teachers work hard, but in this case we believe teachers are getting da short end of da stick.

Don't hold da teachers responsible for what union leaders say. While our dues go to da union, and their salaries, our "dues" are really paid in schools in our work and dedication for our students.

With that said, we are not against something that Manalapan school board member Joe D'Pasquale did in voting against da budget. In fact - he did da right thing. Da board did da wrong thing in passing so much money onto taxpayers. He stepped up and made things clear enough for them to go back and trim some of that bloated budget. Da shame of it all was that not enough was done to trim money from da real fat of da budget - da hierarchy that oversees da schools. Because of that, and da way da union has handled things, we believe da vote will end in a failed budget.

Of course, if that happens, then da school budget for Manalapan and Englishtown will be placed in da hands of da town's township committees, including da hands of well-known "fiscal conservative" Da Queen.

Imagine that - da school budget in da hands of da Manalapan Township Committee during an election year with taxes a HUGE issue. Indeed, da circus could be coming to town in a big way.

We can only hope that if this budget gets voted down, then da township does da right thing and not sacrifice teachers.

We must also remember this. Da budget da way it is now cuts money on da lower schools, and not on da upper schools. Like us, when you have older kids and kids not in these particular Manalapan & Englishtown public schools, those cuts may not affect us, which may lead to you voting NO. That is another fault of da budget that should have been examined more closely. We are concerned now that da younger students in this education system will be shorted by this current budget, and in this time, they need da guidance to learn and to learn how to learn.

DaTruth is, Joe D'Pasquale has da right idea. We can't just keep putting more debt into da hands of da taxpayers, and just because da state isn't giving us money, doesn't mean we have to take it from your pockets. Thank goodness he led da charge to change things. This means there's hope. We can only hope that type of hope exists on da Manalapan Township Committee, so in these very tough times we can keep a few more dollars in our pockets. Maybe as some have posted on this blog, Joe D should run for Manalapan Township Committee. He's an example of da right kind of person who should be representing us. We know Ryan Green. He's a good man too who we believe will do da right thing if it comes to his table for discussion.

Governor Christie has da right idea. We have to learn how to do more with less, and we have to start stripping da buracracy that has harmed this state so much. We have to follow that lead on da local level too. It may be painful, but that is daTruth in this state. If this budget is voted down, we can only hope that when da budget is re-done, it will cut da real fat from da budget and make sure teachers have what they need, and da kids have teachers in their classes, not computers teaching them.

So, we will not tell you how to vote, but you may want to share how you will vote here for all to see. What we will say, is you should vote, and Joe D' had da right idea. If da budget is voted down, we'll have more to say then, especially about what should and what will happen next.

* Remember, da Manalapan-Englishtown school board already wants to raise taxes and raise da general fund!

** Remember, Freehold Regional wants to also raise da general fund!

*** Remember, da GOP'ers who control da Monmouth Freeloader Board have ALREADY VOTED TO RAISE YOUR TAXES THIS YEAR -- DESPITE WHAT GOVERNOR CHRISTIE HAS BEEN SAYING WE SHOULD ALL DO!

**** Remember, da Manalapan Township Committee hasn't even proposed a budget yet. It's time to vote out ANYONE who raises our taxes, whether we live in Manalapan anymore or not. Politicians should remember something a former Manalapan mayor no longer in office forgot ------- They Work For Us!

And that's daTruth.