Poster-Child for Moving School Board Elections back to April!

Yup, you really, really, really want to have the right to say Yay or Nay over $250+ million school budgets put out by this guy! You fund the budget, You should have the right to Vote on it.

Anyhoo, a Board that votes this guy in as President again isn't going to provide the Oversight needed for such huge amounts of your tax money every year. You have to be the checks and balances over the Board of Mythomania with public scrutiny and challenge over their annual Bloated Pots of Money they call School Budgets.

Edison Township Council discusses possible BoE election switch before January 21st deadline!

Update on Moving the Edison Board of Education election back to April:

(1) The Edison Board of Education has called a Special Meeting for tomorrow at 7:00PM in the Ed Center. This meeting will be a waste of time - a proverbial whine-fest with little, if any, substantive support to keep things the way they are and their bloated budgets away from public scrutiny and challenge.

(2) The Edison Council has called a Special Meeting for Wednesday at 6:00PM in the Council Chambers. This meeting will be where you'll find out if the Council finally starts to make things right in this town. It's all on the Council to correct, as it should be. Pay close attention to what goes on and happens in this meeting - it will tell you everything you need to know about the twisted politics in this town.

Well, just saw the January 9, 2019 Council meeting and looks like the Edison Council is considering a Resolution to move the School Board election back to April.

For all the reasons you can read about in this blog, let's hope they, in the words of my buddy Emil 'Do the Right Thing' Ferlicchi, do the right thing for the People of Edison and pass a resolution to move the election back to April. The over politicization and disconcerting nature of the school board election campaign process and inability to vote on Hugely Bloated pots of money should be enough for anyone to see that it was a mistake to move the elections to November.

As an aside, bet you're curious why I brought up former ETEA President, Emil Ferlicchi? My daughter's 5th grade teacher whom she liked so much as a teacher that she always told me not to pick on him - but I digress, so let's move on.

I brought him up because their are those who believe that the April elections, with a lower turnout, would allow more of the teachers' union candidates to get elected and control the Board and that the People of Edison like to reject school budgets. Well, to some degree, there were times when the teachers' union snuck a few in.

And if the School Board puts together meaningful budgets that respect the rights of all the stakeholders, then their budgets should pass. If they do that, then there's no reason why their budgets shouldn't pass. And if history is any indication, the resident taxpayers have rejected very few school budgets over the years. From 1993 through 2014, there were only 5 school budgets rejected by the People of Edison. Note: it's been pointed out (see comments below) that there were 11 rejected budgets and not five as I indicated here. If I'm wrong on that, I apologize - I posted what I showed. Either way, my comments in this paragraph still apply.

But how's that any different than the Local Dem Party getting their chosen candidates elected? Respectfully, there's always going to be candidates who get elected because they were backed by someone or some group and all those who get elected come with their own agendas.

Yeah, you can wait 3 years and vote out those who you don't think serve the interests of all the stakeholders but every year they're there $pending your money.

So, the ultimate check on the Edison Board of Education has to be the taxpayers, you know, the ones that pay all the bills for what goes on over there on Mythomania Lane. And the only way to do that is to have the right to vote on their annual Bloated, Pots of Money they call school budgets.

Also, good to see there was a resident there who is still wondering why the Stench from last year's election (2017) is still hanging over our town without resolution by the Council.

Good question!

Here's the meeting - worth watching:



Anyhoo, time for this all-Dem Council to remember what their Party's slogan use to be - 'People Not Politics' and act accordingly on these two important issues.

Tick..tock, tick..tock!

Well, with the deadline looming on January 21, 2019 to move the School Board Election back to April, somebody needs to make a decision one way or the other.

Doesn't look like the Edison Board of Mythomania is even going to acknowledge the possibility of moving it, so it's up to the governing body to make a decision. They have only one more meeting before the deadline (this week) to pass the necessary resolution to make the move back to April.

Will Politics prevail over the People of Edison and we leave the elections in November - that decision, no doubt, worked out well for the image of the town.

We'll see.              

Anyhoo, even taking out the now disconcerting politicization of the school board elections here in Downtown Edison, it's time the powers that be gave back the People of Edison the right to challenge these $250 million plus Bloated, Out-of-Control $pending Pots of Money the School Board calls School Budgets. Certainly, the fiscal oversight over there on Mythomania Lane is sorely lacking with the current board.

Edison Board of Education Reorganization Meeting - a Farce in the Making!

Well, first let me be polite and congratulate Ralph Errico on his reelection and Elizabeth Conway and Dr. Chen on their election to the Board. Having said that now let me say barf..barf..barf to what the Board did next.

The Board had an opportunity to rid itself of Jerry 'the Mistake Awaiting Correction' Shi but they didn't. They turned a Blind Eye to the Shi 'Mistake' which was so plainly visible to all in 2018 and so easily persuasive in arguing, by any board member, against his presidency.

I hope their inability to stand up for what's right was worth it to Brescher, Errico, Patel, Ward, Peng and Chen. I particularly want to point out Brescher and Errico's shameful support of Shi. Guess that now makes them the new 'BE for Shi' duo.

So, to the Board in total I say you did a great disservice to the People of this town and, as such, you now own him and what he continues to do in 2019 over there at the corner of Pierson Avenue and Dysfunction Junction.

Pay attention to Shi's little 'kum-ba-ya' speech he read and after you do - have a good laugh. It's actually kind of funny for this guy. And seriously, Shi is still trying to claim $4 million in savings for something he blocked public comment on before the Board vote and when, in fact, they saved nothing. They just repurposed the money to another budget line and saved nothing for the taxpayers. Someone needs to explain to Señor Shi what Savings means. It's the kind of Savings that only exists within a Board of Mythomania - and this is the guy they chose to lead the way in 2019?!?

Whoa!

Here's the reorganization meeting in all it's chaotic splendor:



Anyhoo, a Sad turn of events by this Board against the People of Edison.

A Message to Edison Board of Education Members this Reorganization Day!

Update: Just been told that Shi was reelected President by a Vote of 7 -2 and Errico was elected Vice-President by a vote of 6 -3. 

Those who turned a Blind Eye to the Shi 'Mistake' were Brescher, Errico, Falguni, Ward. Peng, Chen and Shi. Conway and Moroney Voted No for Shi.

Those who Voted Yes for Errico were Brescher, Ward, Peng, Chen, Shi and Errico. Conway, Moroney and Falguni Voted No for Errico.

Just some thoughts that I shared with the Board about leadership in 2019:

Hello all,
First, let me wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year. For those of you leaving, I wish you well and thank you for volunteering your time to serve on the board.

Just want to share my thoughts about the board leadership going into 2019. You should not, again, support Jerry Shi for Board President. I think it’s clear that it’s time for a change. 

Clearly, it was a mistake to vote him in this year - but  by definition, a mistake is an unintentional error. Hey, we all make mistakes.

However, if you vote him back in (doesn’t matter if it’s unanimous or by a 5-4 vote), then it won’t be a mistake this time that the board will be making but a choice each and everyone of you will be making.

That will say a lot about the board and how it plans to move forward in 2019.

There are a lot of serious issues the board needs to address in 2019 and you’ll need the right leadership in place that can progressively move the district  forward. 

Let’s hope you choose wisely on January 2, 2019 for the betterment of the school district and all of its stakeholders. 

Jerry 'Needs to be Voted Out' Shi:

Anyhoo, pay attention to how each member of this board votes today.

Just a Reminder - Deadline for Moving Edison School Board Election Back to April - January 21, 2019!

Well, appreciate all the discussion going on between the Council and School Board Committees' about moving the school board elections back to April but time is running out if they want to make the change.

Looks like a resolution must be passed after the November 2018 election and before the 2019 deadline discussed in the paragraph below.

Although N.J.S.A. 19:60-1.1 (c) provides no statutory deadline for the date of the resolution, if the 2019 school election will be moved from November (2019) to April (2019), written notice of the change in the school election date must be given to the county clerk no less than 85 days prior to the third Tuesday in April to take effect for the 2019 election. For 2019, the 85th day prior to the third Tuesday in April is January 21, 2019.

Seems with school budgets now exceeding $250 million for which we, the taxpayers, pay some 90% of the total bill - that we should have the right to vote on these budgets. This doesn’t even include the Lease purchase agreements they enter into that go around voter approval for capital additions, the ability to automatically raise the tax up to the 2% cap (when they’re not eating into the cap bank) which just allows them to carry forward exponentially the spending inefficiencies in their budgets, the unwillingness to provide info against the budget for staffing which results in this staffing shell-game where they hire non- budgeted staff and hide it from public view in their public budgets, their constantly hoarding state aid meant for tax relief and then there’s their inability to be open and transparent with the public about what they’re doing with all that money.

And yes, the current board members would see their terms shortened if we move the elections back to April - however, seems only fair since the board members who were on when we moved the elections to November saw their terms extended to accommodate the change. Didn't seem to concern anyone at the time.

And really, do we want to believe that the inconvenience to a few board members outweighs the benefits to all the People of Edison of having a say in $250+ million annual School Budgets?

So, with all due respect to the Council and Board of Education Committees', time to make a decision one way or the other and not let politics get in the way of the January 21, 2019 deadline and therefore, deny the people of Edison a chance to have a say in these huge amounts of money being spent by the school district. 

From the NJDoE - Moving November Elections to April:

Anyhoo, here's a chance for the powers that be to do something right for the People of Edison - take it.

Edison Board of Mythomania's Merit Goals for Interim Super?!?

Well, as you can read in past blog posts about O'Malley's Merit Bonuses, not a big fan of the Board's 'Merit Bonuses' because the goals they use to set the bonuses are usually sophomoric and often less than substantive. 

Their qualitative goals are usually a hoot and just showing up for work will usually qualify. Throw in the fact that the Board mistakenly confuses giving bonuses for something that's part of the job you're hired to do - then you get the picture. 

Just sayin,' Merit Bonuses over there on Mythomania Lane - waste of taxpayer money and just a way to get around the Super Salary Cap.

Be that as it may, here's where you can see what the Board sent down to the County Super for approval of the Interims Merit Bonus for 2018-19 School Year. 

You can see the Interims Contract (signed in October, 2018) in the October 19, 2018 post.

It’s not that hard to figure out what the board did here. Looks like they simply took the max bonus 14.99% of his cap salary of $196,584 to get the $29,467.95. If history is any indication of the %’s used, then they used 3.33% for the quantitative goals and 2.5% for the qualitative goals. Assuming there are only 3 quantitative goals and 2 qualitative goals then the computer, language arts and math goals are each worth 3.33% of $196,584 or $6.546.25 and the referendum and security goals are each worth 2.50% of $196,584 or $4,914.60.

In sum, the quantitative goals are worth 9.99% of $196,584.00 or $19,638.75 and the qualitative goals are worth 5.0% or $9.829.20 - for a total of 14.99% or $29,467.95.

Of course, this raises questions about how these individual goals were weighed and where you draw the line between what’s part of the interim super’s job and what extraordinary effort rises to a level for a bonus. Arguably, like in the past, these merit goals seem more like a way to add to the salary cap rather than addressing the substantive issues facing the school district. 

So, that brings his total Salary and Bonus to $226,051.95 ($196,584.00 + 29,467.95) if he achieves all these goals in the time he has until June 30th.

Here's the numbers:

And here's the Merit Goals:

Anyhoo, it's just your money they're not adequately disclosing and informing you of in their December 2018 Action Meeting agenda.