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I agree... and school districts could also be consolidated. Westfield / Cranford / Millburn could become a unified school district (Westfordmil unified school district or WUSD?) and save taxpayers money by having it be less "top heavy". No need to pay salaries to several superintendents or assistant superintendents. You wouldn't need to cut the number of teachers or school staff either since they'd remain at their schools.
True, awful as it is to say, I would support that type of consolidation. I would support keeping the good districts together but I would not want mixing with the bad...
As I pointed out to Tahiti, the cute little "shared services agreements" that all the rage these days are nothing but window dressing. Even if we went from 600 school districts to 300, it would be the same thing-window dressing. County level school districts work in the majority of the country, New Jersey would be no different.
You've GOT to be kidding me Just to pull an example out of the air, school tax in East Windsor Township is 62.5% of the property tax bill!!! Municipal and County taxes COMBINED only amount to HALF of the school tax portion.
21 County school districts would move the needle quite a bit.
Not sure about you, but property taxes take the biggest chunk out of my personal pie, so those are the ones I'm most passionate about lowering.
Look, I get it, you're against county districts because you don't want your kids going to school with those kids. The reality is nothing would change. In Essex County kids in Newark would still go to Weequahic, West Side, Barringer, etc...and kids in Millburn would still go to Millburn High School. The difference is that there would be one Superintendent, School Board, etc...overseeing them both instead of 23+ bleeding us all dry.
Smart people have been advocating school and public service consolidation in NJ for many years. The narrow minded can't comprehend the benefits and tax savings and just refuse to abandon "home rule".
Unfortunately it seems only a minority are in favor of consolidation and the local politicians looking to keep their jobs quietly go along with the majority.
This is one of those policy's that will be the same in 20 years.
I say that the population will increase once Hillary wins the presidency (though I'm voting Trump) and further extends the freebies Obama already has in place which will then place more of the poor in affluent housing and also more of those poor from other places will "come a runnin".
...and the projected savings from the merger of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have largely failed to materialize.
Yes, they have saved some money, but the amount is nowhere near what it was projected to be.
...and the projected savings from the merger of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have largely failed to materialize. Yes, they have saved some money, but the amount is nowhere near what it was projected to be.
That's because two microscopic towns were merged to make one town that is just large enough to be viewed with a good magnifying glass As I've said, the "shared services agreements" and proposed mergers of municipalities aren't necessarily a bad thing, but they're a drop in the bucket vs. the big ticket items like public safety agencies and schools.
I know that a lot of us here in New Jersey sleep better at night by telling ourselves "Sure the property taxes are high, but the schools are really good!" The reality is that not all of the schools are good, only the schools in the middle class areas and above. They're good because these areas are inhabited by educated people with decent paying jobs and intact families. The kids who live in these areas eat three meals a day and don't worry about getting shot on the way to school or being pressured to join a gang.
...and the projected savings from the merger of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have largely failed to materialize.
Yes, they have saved some money, but the amount is nowhere near what it was projected to be.
That's not consolidation, as you say that's a merger. You need all the towns within the county to consolidate, then you will see some tax savings.
You know it's never going to happen because for example some of the residents of Somerset county's municipalities of wealth do not want their school system to be mixed in with Bound Brook, North Plainfield, Manville, Franklin Twp. Some might even object to Branchburg and Bridgewater.
Not saying those folks in Bedminster, Bernards Twp., Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack, Gladstone, Watchung, Warren are snobs but some might say so.
You know it's never going to happen because for example some of the residents of Somerset county's municipalities of wealth do not want their school system to be mixed in with Bound Brook, North Plainfield, Manville, Franklin Twp. Some might even object to Branchburg and Bridgewater.
Not saying those folks in Bedminster, Bernards Twp., Bernardsville, Far Hills, Peapack, Gladstone, Watchung, Warren are snobs but some might say so.
Last year or the year before, there was a plan that was proposed for the merger of the many separate municipal police departments in Somerset County into one county-wide force, or--alternatively--to have perhaps 4 regional police agencies, each covering several towns. Unfortunately, the plan went down in flames--undoubtedly because some of the upper echelon supervisory officers who are pulling down $150k + per year would be demoted to lower-paying positions.
I say that the population will increase once Hillary wins the presidency (though I'm voting Trump) and further extends the freebies Obama already has in place which will then place more of the poor in affluent housing and also more of those poor from other places will "come a runnin".
What "freebies" are in place that Obama put in that weren't already in place before he took office???
And don't say "O'bama phones" because that program actually started in the Reagan administration with landlines and changed to cell phones with "W's" administration.
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Just to pull an example out of the air, school tax in East Windsor Township is 62.5% of the property tax bill!!! Municipal and County taxes COMBINED only amount to HALF of the school tax portion. 
Look, I get it, you're against county districts because you don't want your kids going to school with those kids. The reality is nothing would change. In Essex County kids in Newark would still go to Weequahic, West Side, Barringer, etc...and kids in Millburn would still go to Millburn High School. The difference is that there would be one Superintendent, School Board, etc...overseeing them both instead of 23+ bleeding us all dry.
As I've said, the "shared services agreements" and proposed mergers of municipalities aren't necessarily a bad thing, but they're a drop in the bucket vs. the big ticket items like public safety agencies and schools. 
