Letters
Citizens group prez urges passage of budget

When a school budget or bond referendum is presented to the public no one is surprised at the outcry raised over increasing expenses and rising property tax costs. But we have been forced to face some harsh realities in Woodbridge.

Increasing property taxes frustrate everyone in New Jersey, yet we recognize that it is our job to ensure that our children attend school in a safe, healthy environment and that the education of our children be our first priority.

We receive less than 12 percent of our school budget from the state, while the average is approximately 42 percent.

Costs for fixed expenses such as insurance, electricity and other utilities, general maintenance, and health-care costs have experienced extraordinary increases and are continuing to rise. The economic reality facing all levels of government is going to continue to impact our schools. Flat funding in the state has resulted in a decrease in the percentage of our funding despite increasing enrollments and costs.

Our township is facing challenges associated with urbanization. The population has increased 10 percent in the last five years. Student enrollment is up.

Despite all this, Woodbridge is spending its money wisely. Spending per pupil is below the state average. While, recognizing the necessity of providing education, services and care for our special needs population has always been a priority in Woodbridge. The school district has made a concerted effort to reduce costs by bringing the requisite programs and professionals in-district.

Three consecutive successful budget elections are already showing results. Improvements are recognizable at all grade levels and in all schools. Communication with the board, school administration, local legislators and parent organizations has improved.

At board meetings, people are speaking up. Members of the community now armed with the knowledge gained over the past three years are pressing the board and administration for answers and accountability. Constructive discussions are held regarding the budget and changes made to reflect the community's concerns. While we may not always see eye to eye, we're talking and the district is listening. We've been presented with a good sound budget.

Is there still more to be done? You bet! Do we need property tax reform in New Jersey? No Doubt! But in the meantime a vote against the budget is a vote against our children. These children are our future and we need to do everything in our power to ensure that they are given the best possible education we as a community can provide. The first step to accomplishing that is voting yes on Tuesday, April 18!

Jacki Cheslow

president

Community United

for Better Schools

Immigration controversy the new civil rights battle

The nationwide protests for rights and respect for millions of immigrant workers and their children are generating healthy public debates on one hand, and angry backlash from anti-immigrant groups on the other.

The heart of the debate, however, is whether undocumented immigrant workers deserve equality, fairness and civil rights the American way, or be criminalized and punished for their crime to be here without valid papers.

Little is mentioned about the economic contributions undocumented immigrants make to New Jersey and the United States.

Even less is mentioned about the immigrants social, political and spiritual contributions, and their incredible struggle against all odds, for existence and dignity.

Undocumented laborers are an important part of our economy. A substantial portion of roughly $5 billion they earn in New Jersey each year is spent on goods, services, and taxes (such as income taxes, property taxes, and excise items such as gas and cigarette taxes), to the benefit of our economy.

There's more. A national report puts the social security taxes these immigrants contribute to the system at $7 billion, annually. Unlike other Americans, none of it can ever be collected in benefits. That is an enormous surplus that helps to keep the Social Security system happy and running.

Restrictionist groups and politicians often exaggerate the costs to New Jersey of providing public services to undocumented workers and their families.

Fact is, most undocumented immigrants do not even use hospitals unless it's an emergency, like a serious injury or the birth of a child. They just try to stay healthy, like the millions of Americans with no health insurance.

Most undocumented teenagers opt out of college because they can't afford the high costs. More, serious long term problems will be created by depriving them of health and education benefits now.

Even some conservatives agree that the work most undocumented immigrants perform is vital. Ken Connor, past president of Family Research Council, wrote: "Our economy depends on illegal immigrants. Every day, many of these hard-working laborers perform tasks that few Americans want to perform. Without them, the American economy would be adversely impacted. Due to declining birth rates and an aging society, there is a shortage of workers in our labor force. Without immigration, there would not be enough workers to perform jobs necessary to sustain America's economy." (Human Events Online, April 3).

Doing dishes in the back of a plush restaurant, cutting meat and scaling fish at a grocery chain, cleaning supermarket floors, sewers and bathrooms in the middle of the night, picking apples and strawberries in pesticide-laden farm fields, carrying out household chores including caring for American babies, and doing injury-prone construction work at New Jersey's homes and gardens are but a few examples of what they do. And remember, the work (often done by Latino day laborers standing up on our street corners) is unpredictable and back-breaking. Most are round-the-clock, with sub-humane wages, no benefits, little respect, and rare lunch or weekend breaks.

Add to that the knee-jerk fear in a post-9/11 climate, where thousands of poor immigrants, mostly Muslims, are picked up at gun point in the middle of the night from their homes and indefinitely imprisoned with no legal recourse, except for an eventual deportation, often leaving families behind. Some are tortured in New Jersey's jails.

Is this what America stands for? The last time I checked, we had a civil rights movement decades ago that precisely talked about such discrimination, pain and abuses. The glorious movement was a story of struggle and success for the people of color. The 60's struggles also whipped up zealots angry reactions. History repeats itself.

America is on the brink of "a new awakening" in political consciousness, Harry Belafonte said, not unlike the struggles of the 1960s. But, we still have "miles to go before we sleep." It seems, the gains and pains of those struggles are now forgotten.

One hopeful note, however, is that because of the million-strong march in Los Angeles and similar mass uprisings nationwide, there's a visible change of perception on this issue.

A new national poll finds that only one in four Americans supported the proposal to brand as felons, undocumented immigrants and their advocates (a provision in the now-infamous bill H.R. 4437 the House passed in December). This is reassuring, because it tells us that even with a continuous barrage of misinformation, Americans are now trying to understand the complex issue with their traditional sense of reason and compassion. This is where our hope is: a civil America.

Undocumented immigrant workers in New Jersey and across the United States are people that we should be proud of, not scornful. They work hard, raise their families, and carry strong moral values. They now deserve their civil and human rights.

A noncriminalizing, comprehensive immigration reform with a clear path to earned citizenship is the only pragmatic and humane solution. Anything else falls short.

It's time we embrace the new civil rights movement happening in the United States.

Partha Banerjee

executive director, New Jersey Immigration Policy Network.

Majority of Edison police are good cops, reader says

The police in Edison have in the past, had some unfavorable publicity. I have had some really good encounters with the police in this town. I have found them to be courteous and kind.

I think most of the citizens of Edison have a great deal of respect for them, but this doesn't make the news.

I had a problem a few months ago and had to call them. A young policewoman came to my house and could not have been more helpful.

This past week, when I was taking my mom home from the doctor, I noticed a young policeman stop his car on the side of the road. I wondered why, until I saw that he was picking up everyone's garbage cans that had blown into the street. He placed them all far enough back on the curb on their sides so that the residents would not find them in the street when they came home.

The ordinary things that our policemen do everyday most times go unnoticed. Maybe, the next time we see them going out of their way for us, we should stop and say thanks.

Loretta Lord

Edison