N.J. Pension Reform: Screaming at it or solving it?

Wendell Steinhauer, NJ Teachers' Union President, on NJTV, 02/07

The impact of a headline appearing in the print edition of a newspaper that is unlike that for the same story written by the same author on the same day in that newspaper’s digital edition can project a significantly skewed message.

EXAMPLE:  (At least for those who care for such distinctions.)

Thursday’s print edition of The Star-Ledger displayed a front-page, above-the-fold banner that read, “N.J. Unions’ Outrage,” while the headline for the same story in the digital edition read, “Second try on N.J. pension overhaul a much bigger lift.”

Both statements are true, but the second banner published on the Internet emphasizes a more practical view of the problem and attempts to move past highly-charged feelings.

Inter-Party Alliance Forces NJ Pension Reform Proposal

Who?  Me?  (TV Screen shot/Bergeron)

Yesterday, at the State House in Trenton, NJ, a rare event occurred:  A coalition of Democratic and Republican state legislators witnessed the passing of a committee resolution that is scheduled to go to the floor of the full Senate on Monday for an up or down vote.

Also on Monday, a similar committee headed by Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver will consider this highly controversial proposal.  The New Jersey Education Association and other public unions are fiercely opposed to these measures.

Should the NJ Senate approve the bill and should New Jersey’s Assembly concur, it will be presented to Governor Chris Christie for approval and codification into law.  Under the State Constitution, a budget must be passed by June 30.

On Friday, Governor Christie was the target of highly caustic, personal invectives by union demonstrators.  Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, both Democrats, were not far behind in experiencing similar union pressure to break away from Christie on this issue – to no avail, so far.

Trenton Demonstration Didn’t Help State Budget Crisis

A prominent front-page, above-the-fold photo in Sunday’s The Star-Ledger depicts Barbara Keshishian, President of the New Jersey Education Association with her arms uplifted, addressing a throng of union supporters gathered in Trenton on Saturday to protest the fiscal reform initiatives of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

If you were looking at that picture without the headline and the accompanying caption, you could not be faulted for mistaking the scene for that of a televangelist addressing partisans.

I don’t intend any disrespect for either the NJEA president or for TV preachers by that statement, but the similarity of true-believer fervor implied in the pose captured by photographer Ed Murray is striking.

What I am underscoring by this pictorial comparison is that the zeal and passion with which both are dedicated to their causes doesn’t always support the legitimacy of the message which they deliver. People, at least those in the general New Jersey population, tend to listen better when the rhetoric is toned done a bit.

The fact is that The Garden State is near insolvency, and the national economy is in a state of major fiscal disrepair. No Trenton rally will alter that fundamental verity or the conviction that union leadership has a responsibility to encourage its members to acclimate themselves to that reality.

This by no means subtracts from the valuable contributions that public employees – in this case school personnel – have made and continue to make for the progress of this state. But it does mean that there is a permanent national economic shift taking place which public employees can no longer ignore and to which they need to adjust their financial expectations.

School Board to Approve Key Proposals

This evening, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education will hold a special meeting beginning at 7:00 PM at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville. It should be brief. There are only two agenda items and, although both are important, there may not be much, if any, controversy.

The board will decide on accepting the $1,037,000 budget reduction approved by the Bridgewater and Raritan municipal councils after last week’s post-midnight meeting at the Bridgewater Municipal Complex. The B-R BOE was in attendance that night and participated in the discussions.

The board can’t change the number, but can redirect where to make changes. There is no expectation that the board will appeal the amount of reductions.

The second agenda item is board approval of its ‘Race to the Top Application.’ In a related story which appeared in The Star-Ledger today, Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler, the New Jersey Legislature, and the New Jersey Education Association seem to be on the same page this time about The Garden State’s formal application to the U.S. Government for a $400 million grant of ‘Race to the Top’ school funding.

The last effort to submit this application under the Corzine administration for a grant of from $200 to $400 million was thwarted because the NJEA did not support it. This time around, with Governor Christie wanting to remove $820 million in school aid from the proposed budget, the NJEA has come to the table.

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Dr. Michael Schilder takes notes at the Bridgewater-Raritan's reorganization meeting of April 27