Motherhood: Is Your Child Getting the Very Best Education?

Recently, I was perusing one of my favorite news sources (Patch, of course), and found some rather surprising statistics about where my exorbitant tax dollars are not going. In reviewing the numbers regarding how our per student investment stacked up in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood area versus the state, I was absolutely shocked to find out that we were a couple of grand below the state average, and have been behind for the last three years. Most of us have heard that New Jersey has the highest taxes in the land, and one figure I saw in recent years had New Jersey with seven of the top ten highest taxed counties in the nation, Union County was right up there.

As parents, we often make sacrifices to live in what is said to be one of the finest school districts so that our children will have the very best public education possible. I have tried to look the other way as my taxes in Fanwood have gone up three of the last almost four years that we've been here. I'm sure year four won't bring a reduction in property tax, but hope springs eternal! Last year, in fact, I voted ostensibly for my own tax increase when I heeded the school's urging to vote for more money for the Board of Education. Did the money make any discernible difference? It's a bit galling to learn that even though my taxes went up, the incremental bump is not necessarily making the difference that I thought it might.

I, admittedly, am new to even thinking about the relationship between taxes and educational dollars, student teacher ratios, and spending per student figures, as up until a year and a half ago I was simply cutting a check to an utterly beneficent church-based pre-school program. I never doubted for one minute that my sons' preschool was channeling every penny into enriching the lives of my two charges.  But I remember feeling relief when I had cut that last check to my son's preschool, as now school would be "free." Well, not exactly.

At the beginning of the last school year, in 2008, when my first son entered the odyssey that will be his public school education, I dutifully fulfilled the required materials list. Midway through the year, all of the parents received a request for additional glue sticks, and I didn't blink. When I decided to ask my son's very sweet teacher if there was anything else she might need, I was amazed to find out that the class was running low on critical supplies like pencils, erasers, and other classroom essentials. A trip to Target solved that problem, but I was a little perplexed as to why the teacher was not furnished with what she needed.

At the beginning of this school year, early on when my now first grader came home after a rainy day in which recess time had been spent indoors, I learned that there were no games of interest to him available (games our big in our home). I asked his teacher if she could use some classroom games. She immediately responded in the affirmative, but I was surprised to learn that the classroom was missing basics like Checkers, Connect Four or Jenga. No problem, again, Target to the rescue.

Games and pencils, I presume, are the least of it. I am only citing those small things, as those are some minor, visible ways one can see that each class may not have what it needs to flourish. I cannot imagine what the teachers must feel they need and presumably do not have.

I do not profess to be an expert on the allocation of educational spending within a district, and by no means am qualified to assess what our municipalities' overall fiscal health is, but I am disturbed when I am paying the highest property taxes I have ever paid in my adult life at this moment (I previously lived in New York and Connecticut so I am not unaccustomed to high taxes), and am not getting at least the state average expended on my two sons. According to the published data, our student to teacher ratio was either in synch with or below the state average, as well. When the teachers have too many kids in their classrooms, including some kids who would benefit from additional support or guidance but do not have it, the children are the ones who suffer.

I wish I had the answers. I confess I am still confused as to why Fanwood and Scotch Plains are not just forged into one big happy town if it would save us all a little money. Many of the taxpayers I know have forgone raises and bonuses, and even received reduced wages, in the last couple of years, yet we are expected to keep pouring money into municipalities that our stewarding our tax dollars in a way that requires closer examination. Who knows? Maybe one day in the not too distant future I can imagine a world in which I can finally get my recycling picked up (a luxury enjoyed by the residents of Scotch Plains, but not by their brethren in Fanwood), but I'm getting ahead of myself.

In the final analysis, there is no use whining over the status quo. I am taking this as a call to action. Recently, there was a round table discussion open to parents and hosted by the Board of Ed, of which I had every intention of attending. The day came, my husband wound up working late, and I did not have anyone to watch the kids. Next time, I will find a babysitter or take them with me if I have to. I need to find out more about why the statistics are what they are, and how can we change them. How is the children's education compromised when we do not get the funding we should? Could that two thousand dollar per kid difference mean healthier foods in the cafeteria, more media materials in the library, an enriching science program, better funding for math? If I do not make the effort to know the facts, the players, and who is making the decisions, and commit myself to changing it, I really shouldn't say anything at all.

My hope is for my kids to have the best possible public educational experience that they can, much as my husband and I did in our hometown. While we are relatively new to this area, in the time we have been here, I have learned that parents' desire for the very best for their kids is a universal denominator. That, and getting your recycling picked up.  

Editor's Note: SP-F School District Business Administrator Anthony Del Sordi told Patch that the reason the district's per-pupil expenditure is below state average is because of "excellent budgeting" and "using resources effectively."

"We are cognizant of the tax rate and we try to keep our budget within the limits the state dictates," Del Sordi said.