While I am absolutely outraged by the idea of cutting 86 certificated staff, I do not believe I singled out the secretaries. I specifically remember saying that you cannot run a school without them. The cuts to their association members are proportionally high and I would not dream of dismissing the impact of those cuts.

Unfortunately, we all need to learn to live with less in these economic times. Taxpayers have stagnant incomes if they have jobs at all, rising costs for food and fuel, and rising taxes and healthcare costs. Unless and until the governments in Washington and Trenton can figure ways to reduce spending and taxes significantly, then the onus falls on us here at home where we are most affected. If you vote for big government, in the end you lose every time.

What I do not understand is how the mayor and the school administration can actually think Bloomfield schools can compete. AND on top of this, the township wants to add MORE residential ratables with MORE students in the classroom? Seriously?

I hear the "flush" of the toilet as the township swirls away...

Shame that I bought a house in Bloomfield 3 years ago and already my wife and I are discussing moving to Glen Ridge before our kids reach elementary school. This town has been run into the ground by McCarthy.

"During the meeting, Bing and other school officials said that administrative staff members could take on extra roles including working in classrooms." Well I for one don't want my child being taught pre-calc by the "administrative staff". I would rather see a teacher picking up administrative duties! Rumor has it that sports are on the chopping block again this year too, this article doesn't address that.

I have an idea, why don't we cut the administration salaries. Bloomfield teachers are among the lowest paid in the county and maybe even the state. How can we teach our kids with 86 less teachers. This is ridiculous!!

Why is education the first to be cut. start trimming salaries, God knows we pay enough in taxes and much of the goes to education so use it in the right area.

Hi, as i stated above education should not be the first cut to save money. Start at the top and trim away. Bloomfield taxes contribut enough to keep our teachers in the schools.

Instead of cutting all these teachers jobs..why don't the admin staff making $150,000 a year cut their pay? .its all greed!

There's plenty of fat to be trimmed by the BOE, but the teachers should have been the LAST thing to touch. Once again the BOE proves they still have their heads in the sand.Why bring up a ballot measure for $2,730,000 to restore the teachers? Where do you think the people of Bloomfield are going to get this money? And to top that more money for repairs and upgrades? Details folks, details. Demand them line by line.

Maybe if the town has to stop paying interim salaries, the teachers and secretaries would keep their jobs! Poor management of the Board of Ed is the root of this mess, they should concentrate on getting more qualified, determined individuals into the administration building that actually care about changing the district for the better.. there's a thought.

This is disgraceful of Bing. It's all greed, greed, greed. Administrators teaching classes??? Is he for real!!! My child is in the middle school & they have offered him minimal help for his gifted needs. We have gotten nothing but lip service from the school & now he will be offered even less. Our taxes are outrageous & for what??? Our family has already started making plans to put our home on the market next year due to the bad taste that has been left in our mouth by the board of education in Bloomfield. There are a hand full of caring, talented & highly educated teachers in the Bloomfield BOE that will no doubt feel the grunt of this. It's a shame that BOE has put greed ahead of our children.

We can not let the BOE cut 86 teachers out of our schools. This would leave the class sizes of 50+, very little learning would be taking place! We know that class size is directly related to test scores. Our kids have to competete get into colleges w/ districts that have class sizes of 20. Lets not let them do this to our children! Tuesday lets show up and speak up!

Increasing class sizes in the lower grades points to the limited nature of the cuts. We will need them back in a few years. Continue with the energy conservation measures and other cost cutting first. I believe this is a publicity stunt of sorts.

Headline should be revised to show cut 15.9 % (86 is 15.9% of the 540 teaching positions noted) - not the 20 % reported. Cuts are bad enough without making it appear worse than it really is.

When will the BOE present a detailed budget to the Township Community? Is the potential of cutting 86 positions part of a negotiations tactic to gain concessions from the BEA as the teachers' contract expires June 30, 2012?

Someone said 20% and I repeated it to the speaker at the podium. I apologize.

There is only so much you can cut before you impact the quality of the education available in our schools. One irrefutable fact is that teacher student ratios have a bigger impact on education than any other non-socioeconomic factor. In other words it is something policy can actually have an impact on. Unfortunately lawmakers of both parties refuse to acknowledge this one fact in the middle of all the other ed "reform" nonsense they spew. Why is that? Because appropriate teacher/student ratios cost money. You cannot support a Governor who refuses to raise state income taxes and expect any financial support for public schools. It is not forthcoming. That leaves property taxes and this town is reaching the breaking point. Who will buy your house once they are informed of the teacher/student ratios and the annual property tax bill? Reelect Christie and expect more of the same.

The last time we ran into budget problems many people including the secretaries and custodians accepted a one year salary freeze in order to save jobs. The teachers did not. If the teachers were willing to accept a one year freeze on their salaries they would be able to save all their jobs. Sounds a little selfish that the teachers always expect every one else to make the sacrifice to save our schools

Cuts?!! For teachers? Absolutely ridiculous. Classrooms are all ready overcrowded. As a taxpayer and parent I cannot fathom why cutting teachers is even on the table. Ugh! Bing?!! Some reasonable alternatives that make sense please.

The article references the number of teachers in the district but not the number of administrators or support staff. Can we get that information as well? Teachers in the classroom should absolutely be the last to be cut. That said, teachers (and administrators and support staff) should also recognize the budget issues and live with lower pay increases across the board. I hear the other commenter about Glen Ridge. If we don't support our schools, it brings the whole town down. Is there a link anywhere to the entire town budget? Thanks.

Being irresponsible with the budget is the fault of the administration regardless if it is on the government level or the educational level. Teachers , Secretaries and Custodians need to work together and challenge those accountable for managing the budget. Maybe some Administrators should take a cut in pay to keep the best interest of the students as the top priority by keeping classrooms at a manageable size.

I hope all of you will be at the board meeting sharing your thoughts and opinions with the board and Bing.. Teachers and secretaries need your support !!!

Unless the town of Bloomfield stands up to fight this together nothing will be done. Board of Ed members are muppets that lack the skills to make correct decisions. An outside consultant should be brought in to review the towns budget as a whole as well as the boe budget. Has money been embezzeled? Can the budgets be restructured to save jobs? Bloomfield already pays the least...now they want to cut? Clearly something is wrong. All other towns have a large surplus how can Bloomfield have a deficit? Do you want teachers in classrooms ZR pwith 45 students per class teaching with megaphones? The 86 teachers getting axed may actually fair better in a new town who cares and who pays. I'm sure there are other teachers who are not part of the 86 who have had enough and are already looking to leave elsewhere. And ultimately it will be the children who suffer. I know this post is a bit all over the map. But there are so many angles to this that it is sad. Bloomfield better shape up or it will become the next Newark. In fact they'd probably fair better if they were taken over by the state.

As a teacher outside of the district, I can say that the students will definetly suffer with larger class sizes. Don't be fooled by what Chritie says about class sizes not effecting the students. If Bloomfield is anything like my district then the superintendent and his cronies are probably all being overpaid. That's the way it is in New Jersey.

What I could never understand and still cannot is how the heck administrators make more money than the teachers who are in the trenches every day and mostly work so hard to educate our children? And yet the teachers are the ones threatened with cuts and the children who will suffer. Where is the accountability? Why do we need so many administrators? Why start with cutting those who are actually in the classrooms doing the important work? Anyone?

I agree Karen...At Least let's reduce the administrators salaries, before cutting so many teachers.

I will be at the Board meeting on Tuesday to show my support. Please come and stand with me to show yours. All of these opinions should be shared and the questions should be asked of the people that can answer them. Please come up to the microphone and ask them. You should have answers!

Some ways to save money: Say no to extraneous things like big monitors in the elementaries that are just for PR, to using consultants re nutrition, to having so many district supervisors for whom it's unclear what exactly they do

Last year, the re-registering (proof of residency) of high school students uncovered 50+ out of town students who illegally attended our High School and they were (I hope) removed, with a resulting financial savings. I recommend the annual proof of residency requirement be mandatory for all students in all schools. Every non-resident uncovered will provide at least some additional funding for our own schools, students, teachers and staff.

The teachers in Bloomfield are already under paid! If money was misspent ... someone should be held accountable. It is not up to the teachers to police the money! As tax payers we need to hold the BOE accountable. We also must demand that they don't hurt our kids w/ 50 kids in a class!

The question I want answered is what can the town do to fund the BOE budget shortfall? Clearly, they've been given a budget which means cuts somewhere, and the causes for this include cuts from Federal Government etc, but can the town itself make budget cuts elsewhere and give extra to the education budget to stop these teacher cuts? Where can we get informed, expert advice and information about this?

This year is my last year at Bloomfield High School. Going here and dealing with all of the educators we have, has molded me into the person I am today. To hear that they are being cut because of our financial issues is such a shame. The idea of cutting sports as well is just as ridiculous, and should not even be contemplated. As someone who goes here and deals with all of the teachers EVERYDAY, it is easy to say that they make the high school better. I have seen so many children go from trouble-makers to wanting to better themselves because of the teachers who have pushed them down the right path. The cuts shouldnt be from the things that positively affect the youth, such as teachers and teams, but maybe the administration (and I know for the fact that i'm not the only person who believes so)! A salary freeze is not the solution. I will be at the next BOE meeting, as well as some other seniors who feel the same way. Thank you.

Is there any truth to a rumor I've heard that the district owes Aetna or United Healthcare (whoever is the benefit provider) over $2 million?

Until folks recognize that this issue will not be resolved locally Bloomfield schools will continue to die the death of a thousand cuts. If you support the state government (Christie) and his refusal to raise income taxes or provide adequate funding for public schools you will continue to face either ever higher property taxes or severe cuts in the schools. One can trace the skyrocketing property taxes back to the mid-1990's and the Whitman income tax cuts of 30%. No one wants to forfeit quality public schools so they grit their teeth and pay the property taxes necessary to avoid cuts. We are now at the breaking point. No one can afford the ever-escalating property taxes. The state needs to increase funding. If you support this Governor expect four more years of increased class sizes and cuts. Back when the war on teacher's unions commenced many thought a government led by the parents of expensive prep school students was sincere in its efforts to "reform" schools. What do you think now?

There is so much fat that needs to be trimmed in the Bloomfield school system it's disgusting...

As a parent of a successful 5th grade son in a Bloomfield Elementary School, I was taken aback to read that the budget passed by The School Board includes cuts of 86 teachers.

This horror must not come to pass. Soon after I moved from Montclair in 07’, I became the primary authority over my son's education in the Bloomfield Public Schools.

I moved here because I had done my research about the district and could imagine a good outcome for my son in the Bloomfield Public Schools. My research included the State School Report Card info. I am also great with the kind of diversity present in our schools.

His time at in Elementary School in Bloomfield, starting in First Grade, brought him to the present where he excels in all areas as a fifth grader.

I have learned that districts that cut the things that bring about a high quality education lose those who desire and support an excellent school environment. The parents who care, take their kids and go elsewhere for better prospects.

Cuts of 86 teachers would spell doom for what I have seen as a great district in Bloomfield. Let’s not let it happen.

I have a solution. If the district has brass ones, they should opt-out of any state testing requirements. If you are a PARENT, you should have your child opt-out of any state testing (http://www.fairtest.org/get-involved/opting-out). I can bet there is a ton of tax payer money to be spent there that can be better utilized locally. If you think this is bad, in another year, the district will need to layoff teachers again to wire all school buildings and buy computers for the new RTTT state exam known as the PARCC (http://www.parcconline.org). If not, they will request a tax increase again to cover this new expense dumped on us by the Feds. This whole thing is a set up by corporate America to have our community schools fail and have them taken over by for profit charters. As parents, we need to really see what is going on and stop the teacher cuts and tax increases for state prep and testing. Did I forget to mention, Christie (our beloved tax saving governor) signed on for this meager drop in the bucket money as a means of attacking teachers, increasing the number of charter schools, and dumping state taxes on the locals.