"fewer" teachers. proving we need "more" as in "greater number" of teachers. ;-)

Today my daughter's 2nd grade classroom added its 25th student. We used to justify our high W.O. taxes by saying we were paying for a great education. We still love our school and teachers, but 25 is waaaaaay too many in one classroom -- especially since the needs of so many students is increasing, and the support the school's can afford to hire has been cut/is on the chopping block. And now these large class sizes will be taught (inevitably?) by less qualified teachers because the more qualified ones will be looking for work faaaar away from this Christie-run State!

I once asked a seasoned educator/leader in the district what would 'go' if times got tough. He said, very presciently, that class size would be the first thing to increase. At that point there were 18 kids in a classroom. He mentioned that it was 'nice' to have that size of a class, but it was unrealistic.

and taxes are going up?

I suppose I should defer on this to people who have kids (I don't), but as a former kid, I have to say these numbers don't seem horrible. 25 is too many? Throughout elementary school I never had fewer than 30 in my classes, and in fourth grade we peaked at 40, with a relatively young teacher. She managed and so did we. Mind you, this was a semi-rural, lower-middle-class area, and I realize a town like WO is going to have more kids facing special challenges (ESL, etc.) so perhaps it's not entirely comparable. Still I have a hard time working up sympathy for the 'large classes' complaint.

I have idea, downsize the employees at the Board of Education administrative offices. Does Cavanna making over $220,000 really need three or more assistance making six figure incomes also? How about consolidating some departments and their work. Do we really need a Supervisor in English making $106,000 a year, an Assistant Superintendent Curriculum Instruction making over $188,000 a year, School Business Administrator making over $185,000, etc . Bear in mind these are just their salaries and do not include additional expense for each, for Health care benefits, travel etc. Get rid of those part timers working there who are making $60,000 or more a year with benefits. If you really want to see how BOE is spending bloated budget go to http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=ESSEX&district=WEST+ORANGE&school=%25&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&Submit=Submit
If they did this they could save some teachers jobs. Stop sacrificing teachers for bloated BOE Administration positions.

Sam,

But The Board Leadership has already identfied the fat cat art teachers as the reason for bloat.

Let's also limit terms for local government to Two consecutive terms.

Amen Sam! I spent 30 years in Corporate America and now own my own small business and I can assure you I would be able to cut $ from the budget without impacting the quality of our kids education. The problem is we continue to vote people into office that approve budgets without trying to think of thoughtful or out-of-the-box solutions. In the 10 years I've lived in W. Orange my property taxes doubled!! If Parisi does not keep taxes in line I will actively campaign against him which I have never done in my life. I do believe most people are fed up and want some good solid problem solving from our esteemed council.

Unfortunately the district also loses tremendous appeal after 5th grade. But hey if the Leaders play their cards right, they can make the Elementary Schools as lousy as the secondary schools.

I can only speak as a parent of two elementary aged kids, and as an elementary, public school teacher. From within the classroom, size really does matter. Why do private schools boast about class size and student:teacher ratios? I class size is a definite factor not only in academic achievement, but equally as well in social development, community awareness, and building a healthy relationship b/n the home and school.
Where to trim the "fat"? That's up for discussion, and I don't expect Parisi to have an answer. And Christie may look like a hero to some, but I don't expect him to help matters much. He's a little too busy running to wherever the spotlight is, and beating up on all public employees, not just teachers.

But doesn't class size only matter to a point? I'd have to look back, but my private school in PA class size was at least 20 students in the classroom. when i got to high school, it was easily 25-30 students.

Obviously there's cuts that can be made everywhere, but what class size is "best"? Productivity is naturally going to go down as you add each additional student to a class, but what's the breaking point?

Where to begin? Well folks I work as an Art Teacher in this district and I live in town. I enjoy both experiences very much and am well aware of the challenges that face residents here. My taxes have doubled since 2002 and I live in a fairly modest 3/2 split level in built in 1953.

My thoughts are varied when it comes to the town and how they spend our tax dollars. My first inclination is to defend the board of education and remind people of the hard work being done by teachers in the schools. But my fear is that West Orange is quickly becoming red-lined by prospective home buyers as a place where the taxes are simply too high.

What can we do?

Personally, As a 'luxury' item I suppose I can take my k-5 regular certification and enter a classroom if we decide that Art is no longer needed in the Elementary schools. I will say that in the 8 years that I have taught here we've had a lot of fun! That has always been my goal. To make the 45 minutes that I spend with kids "fun" and to teach them a little something about art and art history. Whatever the outcome of the latest round of budget cuts, whether we decide to gut the specials and keep the bloat. Or, if we fire a bunch of young teachers again I will remind the board of Florida.

When I graduated with my Masters from the University of South Florida in 1993, there was a recession in that state. Every non-tenured teacher was laid off (something like 3000). Once the economy recovered, and it usually does eventually, there was such difficulty in the state finding anyone to teach that they had to offer signing bonuses of $3-5k just to get people in the door. You see once you eliminate good young people from the workforce, they simply find other jobs. They leave the field. In fact teaching is one of the few fields where fully 50% of all new teachers leave in the first 5 years.

I think firms that fire their younger workers in tough times are short sighted. I think that we need really intelligent leadership in this town. We need people to work in government who are really creative and insightful people who can come up with solutions that make West Orange a better place to live.

The stakes are very high. Our property values in a hyper competitive down market are at stake. Our kids' futures and the future of the schools in general are also up for grabs. I'd like to see some inspiring leadership come out of this crisis. I await the outcome.