Abbott School Districts

[JERSEY MAN]

The Union City bus drivers that were paid 70K in overtime each for charging their cell phones broke their a$$ plugging them phones in. The waste is plentiful and I see it daily. I think we do need janitors that make 250-300K in Abbott Districts someone has to throw out the garbage!!!!

[doc1]

The urban politicians are already banding together to insist that they're not getting enough. Open your wallets even wider, suburban peeps.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by njkate

Real nice the way they spend our money...yes most of the funding for Abbott Districts come from the State which means our tax dollars....

KPMG/WISS Audits

Thanks for the link. Sifting through a 300+ page report is very time consuming. Do you know if there is another link with summeries on how each district compared to each other or a break down on things that were inconclusive or discretionatory?


I'm looking at my district and think some of the things I'm seeing aren't bad. They audit is not able to link books on some, to me as someone who's kid goes there, they use these books for summer reading, class reading. Someone didn't fill out the necessary paperwork apparently. How can a school not have books?

IMO, my district actually shopped fairly well, instead of going to an office supply for some things, they went to cheaper places like ordering from the Oriental Trading Co. I've been in grade school classrooms during these dates and have seen the teachers using the supplies that was inconclusive. Too bad they didn't let parents give opinions on some of this stuff. For my daughters classes, they made a difference.

I'm seeing teacher workshops that are inconclusive, which when you read what the workshop was, I give the township credit for sending the teachers to learn how to better teach. There were also workshops on dealing with children with anger issues. As a parent, the teachers can't have enough training as more & more kids are diagnosed with things like ADHD

Calendars that are sent to the homes every year - inconclusive - wow. As a parent, this is the best thing that they send to us. We are able to see days off, picture days, graduation. Now some of the other mailings we get I actually wonder why they even sent it home.

License plates frames for thank you's to parents - Pretty sure I got one for volunteering my time in one of the grade schools. I put in a lot of time in the garden club the 2 years my daughter went there & thought it was nice that the school system actually appreciated the time parents spent. Cost per frame - 74 cents. wow

Entries for Alpha Smart - inconclusive - as a parent with a child in special ed, the alpha smart was one of the best things the district did for the kids. My daughter loved using it & her school work improved.

I've mentioned how our schools have computers, cameras & other technolgy related items, including carts to move these things from room to room.. some of which were inconclusive on the report. How can a school not have these things these days? They upgraded their computers to Windows, what a joke that it was even questioned. What I have seen as a parent is that some of these teachers can barely use the computers due to lack of training, while other teachers use it very wisely. There were a few special ed teachers that subscribed to a homework help site where parents or students could look the teacher up to find homework. While I did not see it on the list, I now wonder if these few teachers paid for it themselves.

There was also an entry for graduation flowers, which has been something they always do. When the kid walks up for their diploma, they hand them a carnation. While they could probably do away with it, it is a nice part of the ceremony that most schools I've seen do the same thing.

[mike0421]

Let's get 'down and dirty' here: Audits reveal waste in Abbott spending- NJ.com

This is an absolute disgrace. How in the HELL is this tolerated, on any level, by the rank and file, average suburban voter out there? This can be interpreted in no other way than a complete bilking of your $$, and on so many levels. Your local school taxes are being raised at unprecedented levels, and this is a big reason. The state aid portion of your local schools is terribly under-funded, and this article stands at the epicenter of the reason.

[njkate]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Let's get 'down and dirty' here: Audits reveal waste in Abbott spending- NJ.com

This is an absolute disgrace. How in the HELL is this tolerated, on any level, by the rank and file, average suburban voter out there? This can be interpreted in no other way than a complete bilking of your $$, and on so many levels. Your local school taxes are being raised at unprecedented levels, and this is a big reason. The state aid portion of your local schools is terribly under-funded, and this article stands at the epicenter of the reason.

Tell me about it!!!! I've perused some of the report mainly for the really urban areas..Jersey City, Camden and this is out of control!!!

The lunches, cell phones, phantom employees or an error that was never corrected..I forget which city but the SS number of a few employees comes up on the Social Security Death Index...HUH????

[hrjersey]

I said this on another post and one of the posters basically called me a liar. I work in an Abbott District and I spend a ton of my own money on supplies. When I got to the school last year the teacher's chair was ancient and broken so I used a student chair. I requested a new chair in June. This Sept I was presented with a wooden chair...no wheels that was at least 20 years old. My book cases are falling apart and I got $350 to buy room supplies including, student paper, printer paper, pencils, stapler, tape dispenser, glue, crayons etc. Even with the school discount that $350 does not buy enough supplies to last a year. But best I could tell by skimming the report, my district didn't have many expenditures that were out of line. All I know is that the teachers in my school haven't seen the money.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by hrjersey

I said this on another post and one of the posters basically called me a liar. I work in an Abbott District and I spend a ton of my own money on supplies. When I got to the school last year the teacher's chair was ancient and broken so I used a student chair. I requested a new chair in June. This Sept I was presented with a wooden chair...no wheels that was at least 20 years old. My book cases are falling apart and I got $350 to buy room supplies including, student paper, printer paper, pencils, stapler, tape dispenser, glue, crayons etc. Even with the school discount that $350 does not buy enough supplies to last a year. But best I could tell by skimming the report, my district didn't have many expenditures that were out of line. All I know is that the teachers in my school haven't seen the money.

That's pathetic. All the money they're pouring into these schools and the basic necessities aren't there? No teacher should have to pay for his or her own supplies. This is outrageous. There must be someone you can complain to, or what I would do is write a letter to the newspaper.

[NJ Chutzpah]

Are you in the teachers union, just complain to them

[hrjersey]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

That's pathetic. All the money they're pouring into these schools and the basic necessities aren't there? No teacher should have to pay for his or her own supplies. This is outrageous. There must be someone you can complain to, or what I would do is write a letter to the newspaper.

You're right it is pathetic but I love my job and I love my kids. Unfortunately it's the parents who should complain but they don't really care. No matter how many letters I send home asking for pencils or tissues it's the same kids that bring them in and the other parents could care less. They know that someone eventually will give their child a pencil.

I was just thankful that I got a contract today. I can't jeopardize my job by complaining. I've only been teaching a couple of years but with 16 years previous business experience I see myself as an advocate someday...perhaps after I've paid for my daughter's college in 17 years. Truthfully if the newspaper wanted to know about it all they have to do is go into the older schools in the Abbott districts and ask for a tour...of ALL the classrooms, not just the ones the school wants to show.

One last thing, most teachers, not just the ones in Abbott Districts buy supplemental materials for their classrooms, or like me, necessary supplies. That's why we get a Federal Tax deduction...it's not much but even the government recognizes that teachers do this.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by hrjersey

You're right it is pathetic but I love my job and I love my kids. Unfortunately it's the parents who should complain but they don't really care. No matter how many letters I send home asking for pencils or tissues it's the same kids that bring them in and the other parents could care less. They know that someone eventually will give their child a pencil.

I was just thankful that I got a contract today. I can't jeopardize my job by complaining. I've only been teaching a couple of years but with 16 years previous business experience I see myself as an advocate someday...perhaps after I've paid for my daughter's college in 17 years. Truthfully if the newspaper wanted to know about it all they have to do is go into the older schools in the Abbott districts and ask for a tour...of ALL the classrooms, not just the ones the school wants to show.

One last thing, most teachers, not just the ones in Abbott Districts buy supplemental materials for their classrooms, or like me, necessary supplies. That's why we get a Federal Tax deduction...it's not much but even the government recognizes that teachers do this.

I know most teachers dip into their pocketbooks throughout the year, but it sounds like you're doing more than "dipping." It irks that so much money is given to the Abbott Districts, and we all know a lot of the money is going to line someone's pocket.