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Are you kidding me? JC does not pay for its schools, whereas every other non abbott town is responsible for paying for their own school costs out of their property taxes.

Look at a middle of the road non abbott school. I'll pick Freehold out of the hat because they are not in the top 100 but still ranked much higher than any of the JC schools (except for McNair). Freehold spends $14,082 per student. The average Administrator salary is $104,000. How is it that Freehold can work with far less and yet still be ranked higher than Ferris, Lincoln, Snyder, Dickinson? Why are school administrators in JC making the money they are making when their schools are failing?

Your argument about roads, sewers, police makes absolutely NO SENSE. Are your JC property taxes funding schools in other districts? No they are not.

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I was wrong and thanks for calling my attention to it. I hadn't looked at it in a year and my memory was a bit off. For starters, I was lumping the title "Special Assistant" (which seems to be used more actively than in the past) in with the Assoc. Superintendents.

There are actually 8 Associate Superintendents (not "Assistant Superintendents" as I had misstated earlier), earning an average of $150,910.

There is indeed one Deputy Superintendent, with a salary of $162,213.

There are 14 "Special Assistants" earning an average of $116,470.

There are two "Executive Assistants" earning an average of $132,350.

On the attached file, Epps is listed as having a salary of $250,700 but that is just salary. The year before with bonus and other payments, it came to $285k.

Using the spreadsheet numbers, that comes out to just over $3.5 million dollars of top end staff (not counting people such as the General Counsel, Business Administrator and Budget Officer, who presumably have defined and necessary functions.) Does that seem reasonable to you?

Edit: I thought you could post files on here. So instead,

here is a link to the information I referenced. Go to the section titled: Salaries and Benefits of Select School District Employees

The bottom line is that this country has been living high on the hog at every level and spending changes need to be made at every level. The status quo is unsustainable. Municipal consolidation is necessary in New Jersey.

[quote]
T-Bird wrote:
There are 26 people with the titles of Assistant Superintendent or Deputy Superintendent.

Let me try this again...... not really.....there are five associate supts., one deputy supt.

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Pillage of Suburban folk?

Really!

Look at the cost to taxpayers (through the state and the federal government) for roads, sewers, police and fire for the hundreds of these little NJ suburban sprawl towns...

I'm all for cutting school costs and for the consolidation of services -- but the "Pillage of Suburban folk" sure sounds like Republican BS!

I think he favors ending the pillage of suburban folks - people whose money is taken and shoveled into the bottomless pit that is NJ urban school districts. Seems reasonable.

Why do taxes have to automatically go up? The state average for per pupil spending is about $12,000 (a little less, I believe). Jersey City's spending is more than $18,000. Seems like you have ample opportunity to cut spending before you'd have to raise a dime of new revenue....

Christie's cuts are really going to raise our taxes -- do you think he favors rich suburban schools?

There are 26 people with the titles of Assistant Superintendent or Deputy Superintendent. They make between $125,000 and $165,000. The superintendent makes $285,000. The schools are run no differently than the city - they are fat, unaccountable and have historically been propped up by the state (more so the schools.)

Seems like the fear-mongering estimate of 1,500 people could actually be more like 100 if you just go after needless administration, patronage based service and curriculum contracts and layer upon layer of state-funded fat.

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Each of the top eight administrators at the JC Bd. of Ed. are provided with cars complete with repair and fuel costs. Before laying anyone off these perks among others should be forfeited.

Like most government offices, schools have 50% more administrative staff than they need. We can't lay off teachers (class sizes are already too large), but schools are a government bureaucracy like any other government bureaucracy and there is much fat that can be cut.

Doesn't Epps make something like 250K a year? Maybe they should lay off some of the administrators. Of course, that's not going to happen.

Can McCann be one of them?

McCann: 1,500 layoffs if Christie cuts school aid

Hudson Reporter

JERSEY CITY -- The Jersey City Board of Education at their Feb. 18 meeting saw school board member and former Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann announce a doomsday scenario for the Jersey City school district: 1,500 school employees would have to be laid off before the next school year.

He was referring to Gov. Chris Christie?s recent announcement that school districts across New Jersey should brace themselves for cuts, as much as 15 percent, in school aid for the 2010-2011 school year to tackle a $11 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

?We need to understand that this is a serious problem that we are facing,? McCann said.

To put Christie?s proposed 15 percent cut in perspective, if the state aid amount for this school year stays the same next year, the Jersey City school district could potentially get $62 million less in the next school year?s budget. The budget for the next school year is usually approved by the board then voted on by the public at the April school board election.

For more on Christie's proposed school aid cuts to Jersey City, read this weekend's Jersey City Reporter. - RK