The average amount of daily Public High School instructional time is 5 hours, 56 minutes . West Orange provides 5 hours and 26 minutes of daily instructional time. That's the equivalent of 14 days less instrutional time than the State average The average salary for New jersey public school teachers is $63,851. Their average length of service is 10 years. The average teacher's salary in West Orange is $82,392, with an average of 9 years experience . The average State school Administrator makes $119,716 with 19 years of service . The average Administrator in West Orange makes $131,716 with ThIRTEEN years experience Dr.Donna Rando makes $197, 132 with 10 years experience . She has a Doctorate , but she is NOT National Board Certified or Highly Qualified . B.A. Mark Kenny makes $193, 966 with ten years experience . A Principal in an Essex County suburban town whos school has a Great Schools rating of 9 retired with a base salary of $130,864 The Principal of Redwood School, which receives a Great School rating of 7 , makes a base salary of $163,276 She has a little less time of service , and they both have Master's Degrees . Essex County is a very expensive New Jersey County to live in . There's NO residency requirement for teachers .The State does NOT mandate longevity pay , 9 salary steps , or 14 days less instructional time than the State average . It doesn't mandate the West Orange teacher's benefits package, which is one of the most expensive in N.J. and on and on .

Teacher given a decent a contract? that is interesting, The teachers are the problem. They should not get a contract until we get rid of tenure. When more than 30% of students are failing, it is not the fault of the children. We have a machine in West Orange that higher teacher with a certain look and affiliation, instead merit.

I meant hire.

@ Protmanteau: Yes: State funding has a lot to do with how much your school property tax will be. However, the B.O.E. has the ability to impact the tax rate. The B.O.E. sets budgets. The Board of Education signs off on all union contracts and all other contracts. The B.O.E. decides who the top managers of the schools are. In that way they can impact taxes and educational policy in positive or negative ways. While I like much of what goes on in our public schools and my three children have a basically good experience in the schools, I would say we have a mixed bag of results in West Orange fiscally and in terms of education. As a taxpayer I think the cost structures are more then they should be. While clearly good schools are not free, I think we can have good schools at a lower price then they are now with smart contracting and being lean in areas outside of the classroom. While my triplets do well by the West Orange Public Schools, the high drop out rate is an issue. The curriculum needs to change and teaching methods need to change. I would advocate for more time on task for basics. I would advocate for our professional West Orange teachers to designed texts and curriculum to download to E-readers or tablets as opposed to buying of the shelf text books from oligarchical publishers. While a B.O.E. or an individual board member can't fix all problems they do make a difference and who the people ultimately elect is an important thing. Thus I urge people to vote wisely.

@ Eileen Roth: Like it or not, the makeup of our state and federal legislative bodies is such that seniority counts for a great deal and any district replacing legislators every four years is putting themselves at a distinct disadvantage.

Insofar as the Board of Education is concerned, these are unpaid, voluntary positions that nobody is enriching themselves by filling...and a Board Member's experience and a historical perspective is invaluable to the community he/she is serving.

Eileen A Board member's experience is invaluable ......... except when the Flavor{ s} of the month have no experience . In that case , we absolutely need " New blood " "A fresh perspective, " people who can help us make a successful transition from an industrial society to 21st century information based { ?? } high - tech hyper - competitive global economy . Gary R. Englert had no experience , none , zero, for any of the many Government jobs he's had , yet he states that he was fabulous , incredible , fantastic, far better than the best of the best , etc. etc. at everything he did , Kudos and Huzzahs ! Englert boasts ad nauseam of his 50 years+ of EXPERIENCE as a community activist . Again I say, Kudos and Huzzahs ! The question is Eileen , Where was the man WHEN he jumped off the bridge ? He wasn't in the air , that was AFTER he jumped . He wasn't on the bridge , that was BEFORE he jumped . Where was he WHEN he jumped ? By virtually every objective standard the incumbent School Board members have done and continue to do a horrible job.Volunteers, not in it for the Amighty Buck , doing a thankless job ,....... irrelevent ! Performance is all that matters . Experience , fresh faces, seasoning , new blood , pragmatists, idealists , WHATEVER . Experience is important, nay, invaluable , if your people have it.If they don't have experience , then it is essential that we elect new, fresh , energetic , untainted , innovative wunderkinds . French Vanilla , anyone ?

While far from necessary or germane to the subject at hand, twice failed mayoral candidate John Prignano's personal attacks me, the incumbent members of the school board and our credentials and accomplishments are laughable coming from someone so completely devoid of any of his own.

It's not nearly that high. See the article linked below. Under the new state calculations, every kid who starts high school and then transfers, moves away, or otherwise disappears gets counted as a dropout unless they bothered to officially notify the district they were leaving, which it appears relatively few actually do.

Well said

@ wohopeful & Jaime: This is nonsense and far from "Well said."

The incumbents are neither responsible for the burgeoning school population nor the shift in the community's demographics over the last dozen years and these issues are the greatest single driver of tax increases in a township that pays for more than 90% of its school system through local property taxes.

But they were responsible for the budgets and authorizing the spending which has caused our property taxes to escalate beyond the imaginable. It is only now that we see minimal results if any from the excessive spending Petigrow and Casalino authorized.

We need change and not the same tired old policies of tax and spend that Petigrow and Casalino bring to the table.

Anonymous negative comentary, devoid of substance, shows not only a complete lack of the courage of conviction but, a dearth of intellect and insight to boot.

Two known individuals, Petigrow and Casalino, is hardly anonymous. And the records of their votes in favor of increased budgets and spending are well documented providing plenty of substance for your review.

This is why WO needs change.

@ wohopefull: The anonymous, negative commentary of which I speak is yours, wohopefull...and Jean's and Jaime's...and anyone else who hides behind a screen name while taking potshots at real human beings who have enough courage and class to contribute to the community in the public eye.

wohopeful I agree with you about the incumbents ; Livingston spends $17,716 per student . An Assistant Principal at Livingston High School with a Masters and 14 years experience makes a base pay of $115,728 . Livingston High School provides approximately the State average of instructional time . Livingston High School provides 1 computer for every 2 students . Livingston High School has a Great Schools rating of 10 { The highest rating } . West Orange spends $21,236 per student . An Assistant Principal at West Orange High School with a Masters and 12 years experience makes a base pay of $126,000. Another Assistant Princiipal at West Orange High School with a Doctorate { but NOT highly qualified or Nationally Certified } and 11 years experience makes a base pay of $159,611. West Orange High School provides the equivalent of 14 days a year less than the State average of instructional time . West Orange High School has 1 computer for every 3.8 students .West Orange High School has a Great Schools rating of 4. westorangehopeful, I want you to look at the challengers to the incumbents . Look at what they and/or the people closest to them do or have done to make a living. Then tell me what makes you think any of them can lead us to the land of milk and honey .

@ Tom G.: With the new graduation rate calculation method (which essentially assesses the graduation or failure to graduate of each child to wherever they start their freshman year) has pretty much resulted in a +/- 10% rate reduction across the board...and West Orange does not now, nor has it ever, ranked near the bottom.

@ Jaime: Bar none, Mr. Petigrew has more bonafide business experience and education than any other current Board member, let alone any of the challengers.

He also happens to have a genuine interest in public education and maintaining and enhancing the quality programs currently in place...and we should be thankful to have him and that is interest in serving continues.

Spot on Jaime...the tired old policies of politicians who occupy a seat are destroying our community. We have seen it over and over again, the 10+ years of the failed politics of John McKeon, Rob Parisi carrying those same tired old tax and spend practices forward, Paul Petigrow unable to produce negotiations with Unions that are favorable to the taxpayers, etc.

WO is screaming for change. We have seen that in the most recent elections and must fight for change and new ideas if we are going to preserve our town and families.

Livingston spends $17,716 per student .The High School provides an average of 5 hours 52 minutes a day instructional time . Average class size 22.9 .Administrators average $120,801 after 21 years . Teachers average $80,562 after 10 years . Livingston High's Great Schools rating is 10 . Nutley spends $15 ,973 per student . The High School provides an average of 6 hours 15 minutes instructional time . Average class size 17.3 students . Administrators average $120,021 after 18 years . Teachers average $66,152 after 9 years . Nutley High's Great Schools rating is 7 . Montclair spends an average of $17,806 Montclair High provides an average of 6 hours 33 minutes of daily instructional time . Average class size 17.6 .Administrators average $123,687 after 24 years .Teachers average $69,376 after 10 years . Montclair High's Great School rating is 5. West Orange spends $21,236 per student . There is one computer for every 4.8 students .W. O. High provides an average of 5 hours 26 minutes daily instructional time . Average class size is 23.3. Administrators average $131,716 after 13 years . The average teacher's salary is $82,392 after 9 years .W.O. High has a Great School rating of 4 . W.O. High - Highest per pupil costs, highest salaries, lowest amount of instructional time, fewest computers per student, lowest Great Schools rating . School Board contract B.S; " Below County average raises, longer school day ,benefit reductions " Not one thing I've listed above will change .

@ Jean: Not only am I not "just a talker," I'm not hiding behind a screen name either. I am also not playing the "race card" as I very much believe (as Dr. King did) that people should be judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

The demographic shift I refer to is not limited to race but, cultural, lingistics and special needs as well; all of which create challenges to school system serving a diverse population...and saying so isn't berating anyone.

Still, the biggest single driver of increased education expenditures has been the need to expand classroom and instructional capacity due to a burgeoning enrollment.

This is due to the turnover of existing single family housing by the WWII generation (who are in their peak mortality years) and their children ("The Baby Boomers") who have reached, or shortly will reach, retirement age.

@ Jean: The link provided is to an Op-Ed piece in The Star Ledger.

Don't you think it rather bad form to be criticizing anyone for anything, let alone identifiable human beings, without presenting your own credentials for scrutiny?