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Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Frequently Asked Questions about the Budget

The most recent FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) regarding the school district budget have been posted on the district website. Click here to read them. As I'm typing this, I'm thinking maybe I will post a few of the FAQs here every day or two.

My hope is to educate our community about the budget and the process that creates it. I want you to understand the budget because the responsibility for it belongs to all of us as a community. It's a difficult thing to deal with, it's not fun, but there's no hiding from this responsibility. One way or another, there will be a budget that we will ask you to vote for on April 20. Please take a few minutes (at least) to understand what you're voting for. I'm not saying you have to like it...just understand it!

Any questions? Post one here, email me directly at lauriegood@mac.com, or email budget10@ridgewood.k12.nj.us

Have a good day!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

One year our Super and Bus Admin showed us a pie chart of the budget...it was SHoCKING....80% of the budget could not be cut -- utility increases, salary increases (contractual), maintenance of buildings -- just to name a few...none of those line items could be cut and all increased...so where did the cuts have to come from if the budget did not pass? New text books; teaching supplies; new technology -computers , Smart Boards -; lockers; music, art and computer programs etc., etc And those are the things that directly effect the education of children!
It is very difficult to get the voting public especially the Seniors of the community to understand school budgets and how important they are!! Wishing you the best of luck this year! Wishing my BOE good luck as well!!

Laurie said...

We have a similar pie chart in our FAQs on the district website. That is the point of these upcoming workshops, the FAQs, etc...so people can understand where all the money goes. Thanks for writing!

brownie you're doing a heckuva job said...

Yeah that's what we get for playing by the rules...

And that's what we get for voting in a Republican governor

Once again -- thanks for nothing, GOP!

Anonymous said...

Brownie...GOP & Dems - same difference. Christie, DeFrancisco, McGreevey & Corzine have all contributed to it. 20 years of financial chicanery.

Lesson learned, especially in a "rich" town: don't rely on Trenton (or any central govt) to give you back YOUR money.