Meeting of the Five Families

The June 14 “summit” held at West Morris Mendham High School brought together representatives from Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, and, apparently the runt of the litter, Washington Township.  Patch has done a fine job reporting on the gathering, and there have been a good number of useful public comments, so no need to reiterate everything here.

While watching the marathon session, it became clear that this was more a meeting of the Five Families than of the five townships.  And four of the families were not happy with the fifth.  The questions they had that night were “How much does my family get and how much is it going to cost us?”  Mendham Township Mayor Frank Cioppettini, Jr. was especially unhappy.  Here was the long suffering spouse who finally, after years of abuse, explodes in a tizzy of rage.  Make no mistake.  He and Mendham Township (and his three neighbors) have been wronged. They’ve been taken advantage of for too long and they’re not going to take it anymore.  Guess who the bad guys are.  Yep, us freeloaders from Washington Township.  Mayor Cioppettini was so upset I’m pretty darn sure he’s sent for Luca Brasi.  He wants to make us an offer we can’t refuse.  For the next few weeks at least, I’m going to be looking over my shoulder. 

Only Mayor Short put forth the only solution that makes sense in the long term: a unified K-12 district covering these five contiguous towns.  A unified district provides clear educational benefits (a point on which nobody at the meeting voiced any disagreement).  It will also provide substantial cost savings, although I see that the question has been raised by a number of people, including those who have made comments on Patch, about how much real savings are possible.  Some participants at the summit claimed, with a straight face, that no savings are possible.

Well, here’s the thing.  We need to realize that many of the immediate concerns about consolidating school districts are a result of the fractured, dysfunctional structure we currently endure in New Jersey.  Multiple school districts result in vast cost differentials, including pay for teachers and other school employees.  Each district is constantly bidding up the costs as they compete against each other for talent.  And there are other costs as well to consider but they’re also a consequence of separate districts. One way to solve the problem is to greatly reduce the number of districts.  But unfortunately, at that summit, the “great idea” of the night was to create more districts than we have now, not less.  In fact, very early on, the idea of creating one unified K-12 district was inexplicably tabled.  Brilliant.

As everyone acknowledges, under the current rules all five towns have to agree to any restructuring.  The solutions, such as they are, that were floated that night will go nowhere if the net effect is that Washington Township residents get stuck with skyrocketing tax increases.  Everyone at that meeting understands that.  So all the effort the Chesters and the Mendhams might now want to expend in trying to make a fatally flawed structure work for them (read: reallocate the price each town pays such that they pay less and Washington Township pays more), is an exercise in futility.  You know, it was funny how so many participants at the summit called themselves, repeatedly, smart people.  Well, they may be smart, but they’re apparently delusional too. 

James Button, the Mendham Township representative to the West Morris Regional School Board, proudly announced that night that New Jersey acting Education Commissioner Serf assured him that the state would “take care of” the costs for a restructuring study. That’s great news.  When I asked Mr. Button why that study shouldn’t focus on a unified K-12 district covering all five towns, he replied that such a unified district “will only double our problems.”  Note that his “our” covers the Mendhams and the Chesters.  Washington Township is “them.”  When I explained that with true consolidation, all five towns would be treated as one taxing district, such that a million dollar home in Mendham would be taxed at the same dollar amount as a million dollar home in Washington Township, solving the “problem,” he seemed to understand and agree.  So maybe there’s hope after all.

With real consolidation, we get shared services on steroids; a permanent solution that allows for long term planning, and long term savings.  Only with real consolidation can we actually get more for ourselves and still pay less.  There is no reason that we need two separate structures to operate the plant and equipment of the local schools and municipalities.  Let the educators focus on the content (the people, curriculum, etc.) of educating our students.  One governing body can attend to keeping the buildings and grounds up and running. 

The best long term solution is true consolidation.  But lots of people will be out there moaning and groaning about how we can’t and shouldn’t do it.  Not enough savings.  Too difficult.  Impossible.  Let’s listen to them politely and then move on.  Entrenched interests are called entrenched for a reason.  They’re going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to their positions.  As for the other moaners and groaners, well, they're going to moan and groan.  That's what they do.

The current structure is unsustainable.  Tinkering isn’t fixing.  When it comes to the schools, creating more districts is going in the wrong direction.  Washington Township has it right.  A single, unified K-12 district, done correctly, including municipal consolidation, creating one taxing district covering all five towns, is the real long term solution.  We need to make it happen.  We can make it happen.  But as the “summit” made clear, it isn’t going to be easy. 

The June 14 meeting at least got the ball rolling.  So if you care about our schools, if you care about how much you pay in taxes, if you care about the value of your home over the long term, then you need to participate in this, at least a little.  Send a note, an email, to Mayor Short and our other elected officials, including our representatives on our school boards, supporting consolidation.  We’re all in this together, and with real consolidation, we’ll all be better off.