Letter to the Editor: Too Many School Districts

Bergen County continues to have more school districts (75) than it has municipalities (70) and the way we'll lower costs is not by capping Superintendent salaries but by eliminating superintendent positions in Bergen and across the state.  I am not proposing sending students to other municipalities to learn, but I am simply stating that a reduction in the number of administrators is needed.  With less overhead comes more spending at the classroom level and that's what our schools need.  

Chances to reduce administrative costs present themselves quite regularly and recently another opportunity to share services and consolidate presented itself in the Wyckoff K-8 District.  The school district currently sits in a regional high school district with both Franklin Lakes and Oakland.  Within these 3 towns there are 4 superintendents each earning a substantial salary for which I am sure they are qualified and deserving.  However, when children leave their K-8 classrooms in these towns and head for either Ramapo or Indian Hills High School they have 3 different educations.  The Wyckoff school district should have partnered with its neighbors and found a way to share a superintendent.  These 3 towns, and all towns currently in a regional high school setting, should find a way that best works for them to pare down to one superintendent to look over the school district as a region instead of a singular fiefdom. 

A reduction to all K-12 school districts in Bergen County would drop us from 75 to 42 school districts.  These 42 districts would be roughly the same size as current K-12 districts in Bergen County and would be able to deliver our educational services more efficiently and less costly than we ever have before.  This would save far more money than Governor Christie's cap and would continue to attract stellar talent to lead our schools into the 21st century.  42 school districts would mean less of everything, from supplies to salaries, we'd be saving money at the top and be able to put more into classrooms and possibly remove fees charged for extracurricular activities.   

Taxpayers in some communities may not want to change the way their school districts operate and things may never change for them.  However, this conversation needs to be had in Bergen County and across New Jersey to allow for everyone to express their opinions and vision for our future. 

These changes are not easy and will not come without hurdles and roadblocks that will need to be overcome.  Legislation might be necessary to move some roadblocks and there are some in the legislature, myself included, that are ready to take on these challenges.  I hope that we can realize the damage that will be done to our children's growing minds if we don't find a better solution.

 Connie Wagner
Assemblywoman
District 38