NJ rated least business-friendly state in America

[gradstudent77]

Originally Posted by Ninjahedge

That said, there ARE better and worse schools out there. I would not want to be in a district that would require me to Kaplan or Tutor my kid to kick butt on the SAT's.

Even if your children go to Phillips Exeter, you should still enroll them in test prep classes or at least get them some books like that to study. It's just silly not to when all their competition is doing it.

[AnesthesiaMD]

NJ has lost quite a few Pharm. and Biotech companies to other states in recent years. There are a lot of 6 figure jobs in these sectors. Companies used to move TO NJ because of it's business friendly atmosphere. Lately they have been moving to cheaper states because the business climate has become more hostile here.

If you lower the corporate tax and businesses come in, you make up for it in income taxes of the employees. If a company leaves, you lose BOTH the corporate tax and the collective income taxes of it's employees. This is a terrible strategy. You are much better off lowering the corporate tax.

[Ninjahedge]

Originally Posted by gradstudent77

Even if your children go to Phillips Exeter, you should still enroll them in test prep classes or at least get them some books like that to study. It's just silly not to when all their competition is doing it.

Except for the fact that I never did and always scored great on those tests. I was up over 1000 on the SAT's before I left middle school!

We had a GREAT set of teachers and a "Gifted and Talented" program in my district that taught us so many advanced things I could not believe it when I was able to compare to other districts.

I am not trying to toot my own horn here, although you are all probably hearing it squeal out something vaguely brassy, but suffice to say, sometimes it is not taking a class on how to take a test that gives you better scores, but KNOWING the stuff ON the test.


BTW guys, as an aside, do you think ONE conversation would be able to be held that does not start spewing irrational poo all over? Firing half the teachers and cops? Unions are all vile? NJ sucks? Does that really help anything? Has anyone linked anywhere showing NJ bad schools? Showing its poor police departments (in areas OTHER than Newark, TYVM)?


Finally, one other thing you have to look at. Sometimes the reason why taxes are high locally is because the state is forced to support itself in many endeavors. How much federal money is going into OUR schools? How much infrastructure money is coming, per capita, per mile of road, into our system?

When our federal tax dollars are spent giving a park in Alaska, or a Stadium in Kansas.... (not saying there WAS from either), there is little left to spend on the things we need. When a state looks like it has enough, that it is doing well, instead of leaving it alone, we cut its funding.

When school funding cut back so much that they would not provide teachers with TISSUES for their classes (they had to supply their own, not for themselves, but FOR THE ENTIRE CLASSROOM) we are nickel and dime-ing them to death.

What little $ we have coming in to things gets spent more on the administration and the deciding of where it goes and how it is handled than actually GETTING to where it goes and being spent WHERE it is needed!!!


But anyway, continue with your rants. Everybody get peeved at everyone else because they live somewhere better or they just think where they live stinks.

Oh, and post it on the Internetz. That should get your congressmen to listen! Don't forget to not read anything about the situation! The best way to complain about something is with absolutely no facts backing it up and no information about what you are complaining about!!!!

[VeradoDan]

Ninja - I actually tend to agree regarding the SAT tests. Back when I was in high school (fairly affluent area in Monmouth County) I remember so many of my peers going home, every day, and taking hours worth of private SAT classes. It took their focus away from their school work and their lives of being teenagers and enjoying life. My parents suggested I take a three-night course given locally the week before the exam, which I did. I ended up scoring generally better than those kids who killed themselves with work for months for this thing.

As far as federal funding for schools, that's a small part of it, but while New Jersey has been ranked extremely low in federal funding returns for ages, I don't think that has a significant impact on direct property taxes. The main issues are the unsustainable pension and health care benefits for public sector workers and the funneling of funds from the suburbs to the cities. If we could make progress in those areas, we'd be closer to what most other states pay in terms of property taxes.

[Ninjahedge]

Maybe an experiment.... Try and set up a health care network for city employees. A state run version of the National Health Care plan.

These places would be free for state employees, and "market rate" for any outside the state employ. Additional funding would be set aside from going out of Network (say, vacation injuries) and the typical co-pay and the like would cover that.

The key is, if health benefits are what is killing us, why not make it so that every dollar the state spends goes to the doctors themselves rather than to the health insurance companies? If this works, it could serve as a nation-wide model. If it doesn't, well, we could always ask for help.... (I think it would work rather well, as a test model. If it worked within the municipal level, private versions could be enacted, with the state taking membership fees/etc...).