Just Another Day?

A Bridgewater Sunrise.

As the sun rose in the east today, just outside the window from my writing desk, I marveled at how often I take for granted – as I suspect many of us do – that we will be around to see it rise tomorrow, the day after that, the following day, and for an endless string of sunrises and sunsets  . . . 
 
. . . and that we will be able to enjoy another day of work; of studying; of being loving parents; of admiring the progress of our children and grandkids; of rejoicing with friends and relatives who are close to us; or of merely engaging in all of the other myriad activities of life. 
 
But there is no guarantee that what we are pursuing now will see the dawn of tomorrow.  There never was.  There never will be.  Fate can intervene at any time for any one of us, no matter how rich or how poor, how healthy we may be at the moment, or how much absolute control we think we have over our individual destinies in life.

A Christmas Reality

Image by Bergeron

December 25^th can be somewhat of a challenge for Christians, because there is the constant struggle to keep the commemoration of this day in faithful balance and, therefore, in its proper context. 

Its significance is rooted in the meaning of the event of the birth of Jesus.  But it also has enormous economic implications in the West because of the massive spending associated with it, as people celebrate the occasion with an exchange of gifts. 

A paradox of this Christian feast is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep in balance the contrast between the religious and the secular aspects associated with honoring the birth of Christ. 

Each year at this time, the bigots come out from the darkness of their closets, fully arrayed in the armor of their anti-Christian bias and bigotry, targeting the slightest perceived injustice, as they march to courtrooms across the U.S. waving the Constitution before judges in well-planned attempts to snuff out the joy of Christmas.

School Budget Increase Pegged at $3.9 million.

Peter F. Starrs, at Tuesday evening's Board of Education meeting.
(Bergeron Image)

At a Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education meeting last night at the Wade Building in Martinsville, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Schilder – aided by School Business Administrator/Board Secretary Peter Starrs – presented a proposed 2012-2013 school budget of $133.8 million, a 3%, or $3.9 million increase over last year’s $129.9 million budget.
This represents a Tax Levy Increase of 2%, the maximum amount permissible under New Jersey law, should the proposed budget remain unchanged between now and the April 17^th, 2012 school election. 

In his presentation, Dr. Schilder explained  that reducing expenditures which reflect the 2% tax levy increase currently built into the proposed 2012-2013 school budget down to either 1.5%; 1.0%; or 0%; respectively, would reduce the proposed tentative budget of $133.8 million by $595,774; $1,191,500; or $2,383,101, respectively.

Key factors such as wage and salary increases and the amount of state aid – both of which are unknown at this time – could have a significant impact on the final budget. 

Administration to Present School Budget

Tomorrow evening, on Tuesday, December 20^th, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education will convene at 7:00 pm in the Wade Administration Building to discuss the status of contract negotiations between it and the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association. 

Lynne Hurley, Finance Committee Chairperson (Center), discusses a
topic with Board Member Jill Gladstone, as Assistant Superintendent
Cheryl Dyer reviews a document.

This meeting, which will conclude at 8:00 pm, will be in executive session.  (The Regular Session of the Board will open to the public at 8:00 pm.)

In a conversation with Board President Evan Lerner, last Thursday, he confirmed that a mediation session between the Board and the Teachers’ Union took place on December 8^th. 

He described it as “an interesting session . . . we are in one room, they are in the other . . . it’s a very slow process.  You don’t walk away with knowledge of what was accepted.”  Lerner added that “We want to get a deal done that is right for both parties.”

He did not, however, discuss any specifics of just what offers, if any, were presented to the mediator to in turn convey to representatives of the Teachers’ Union, or what counter-offers, if any, were proffered by the BREA.

Teacher Pay Raises: A Comparative View

Joshua P. Starr (Credit/Wash. Examiner)

 

 

In my last visit to the Washington, D.C. area, I came across an article entitled “Pay raises proposed for Montgomery teachers” in the paper edition of Gazette.Net, a Maryland community newspaper which covers Montgomery County.

Unlike New Jersey, Maryland schools do not have local school boards as we do in The Garden State.  Instead, the fiscal and educational management of schools in the Old Line State is consolidated at the county level, including, naturally, the school budget.

In that regard, Joshua P. Starr, Superintendent of Montgomery County, MD Schools recently proposed a pay increase of 0.61 percent, or an $8.6 million increase to the current “$1.4 billion budgeted for salaries and wages, excluding other compensation.” 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Draws Many

A view of the Martin Luther King, Jr.,
sculpture near the Tidal Basin,
Washington, D.C.

On a quiet Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving Day, the most visited of the memorials that we came upon near the Tidal Basin in the nation’s Capital was the one recently dedicated to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr., the peaceful, yet forceful advocate for civil rights in America.  For his approach, as has happened to others of his period, he was rewarded with assassination. 
 
Upon entering the Memorial’s site, you will pass between two towering blocks of stone, before you walk past another two of the same size.  From one of the four carved blocks of stone juts the full, imposing figure of a sculpted MLK standing resolutely, his gaze steadily focused ahead.
 
What you may not immediately observe until you have passed by the four stone carvings and then turn around is the granite wall which slopes behind the four stone monoliths, and extends from both sides of the Memorial’s entrance, to its left and to its right. 
 
It is reminiscent of the Vietnam War Memorial, and each of its panels has inscribed in it an aphorism from the writings of MLK.
 
There are many of them, but one of my favorites is the one carved into the first panel on the right side.  It reads simply, “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

Board & Teachers’ Union to Begin Mediation

Negotiations between representatives of the Bridgewater-Raritan School District (B-R BOE) and those of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA) have not seen meaningful progress since June.  As a result both parties are scheduled to begin formal mediation sessions as of tomorrow, December 8.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder and Board President Evan
Lerner at the July 26, 2011 School Board meeting where the topic
 of contract negotiations was discussed.  (Image/Dick Bergeron)

A brief recap:  The current 3-year contract for BREA members, which includes all teachers and certain other school employees, expired on June 30, 2011.  That agreement had provided for a salary increase of slightly below 13% over the contract period.

Although discussions for a new contract had begun well before the beginning of the current 2011/2012 school year which started on July 1^st, complications entered into the negotiations between the B-R BOE and the BREA when the State of New Jersey enacted legislation which affected the negotiations in progress.

When no agreement was reached by early summer, the BREA negotiations team declared an impasse and proceeded to apply for the assignment of a mediator.

BREA President Provides His Views

Following my telephone discussion with Board President Evan Lerner described in the previous post, I was able to also have a telephone discussion with Steve Beatty, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA).

BREA President Steve Beatty speaks at the July 26, 2011 School
Board meeting, where the topic of contract negotiations was discussed.
(Image/Dick Bergeron)

Mr. Beatty confirmed that the BREA had “finally got our first mediation,” and that it was scheduled for December 8, highlighting the impasse between the teachers’ union and the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education (BR-BOE).

Beatty underscored that when the 2011/2012 school budget was presented in the first quarter of this year (one which provided for a zero percent pay increase), it was his understanding that, although the School Board and Administration explained to the public that the budget was extremely austere and left no room for salary increases, that if there subsequently were “found money,” the issue would be revisited by the Board.

Asked what his expectations of the BR-BOE now are, Mr. Beatty was not overly specific, but provided the BREA’s three points for an agreement:  a) That it be “fair,” b) “A three-year contract,” and, c) in response to a question about what level of percentage salary increase the BREA is seeking, Beatty was non-committal, except to say that the negotiations team is “looking for a (salary) guide that structurally is strong and provides for short-term and long-term money that is good for the Board and the BREA.”

Occupy D.C.

'Occupy Washington, D.C.' tents set up in Lafayette Square, with the
Capitol building in the background.  (Image/Dick Bergeron)

On the way to our first visit to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C., we came upon an unexpected surprise:  As we crossed Pennsylvania Avenue from the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Pris and I noticed a tight grouping of weatherproof tents on the concrete slab of Lafayette Park. 

 
The sign outside one of these shelters read “Welcome to Washington, D.C.,” and the marking on the largest one read “First Aid.”  It was, to my surprise the peaceful encampment of an “Occupy Washington” contingent.
 
However, unlike what’s been happening in Manhattan with “Occupy Wall Street,” the Washington version seemed to be a model of civility.  Indeed, I couldn’t determine whether or not there was anyone occupying any of the tents!  Nor did I see any protesters on the pavilion.