Posted on 09/25/2006 9:37:25 PM PDT by Coleus
Proving that the people who moved in last, want to be the people to be the last to move in.
Maybe, maybe not. What the article doesn't say is that the 100,000 households leaving the state were replaced by 120,000 news households moving in from New York, India, and South Korea.
The problem here is New Jersey's obsession with home rule. Every little village and town has its own municipal government and school system with an independent administrative apparatus. That is why property taxes are so high--people are paying for tiny little school systems that do deliver good value for the money but at an exhorbitant cost.
The public schools in New Jersey are among the best in the nation. Very large numbers of New Jersey high school graduates go on to college and move all over the country to staff investment banks and law firms which don't have enough local talent to draw upon. But their parents pay a high price, and it's no surprise that people choose to leave after their kids graduate rather than continue to pay high taxes.
As a matter of fact, what keeps NJ growing is that many of the PhD's from the other states, not NJ kids, come here because we are the hub of the Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Communications Industries. I think some people in NJ have an attitude on how smart they are, especially the democrats. Remember what the democrats said after the 2004 election: bush won in the red states where many of them are country people and farmers who didn't know too much (that's what the dems of said on their DU blogs)
It started with California, where much of the middle class began leaving in the late 1980's.
Remember - those aren't taxes. They are 'an investment in our future.'
LOL.....been living in NJ for all my life. I deserve to move some place nice. Since my kids are in Colorado, that's nice in my estimation.
Sure I want some decentralized authority deciding how to run the school in my town.
Thank you Lord
for planting me in "flyover country"
So is the solution to the home rule "problem" to have the kids from Westfield attending school with the disruptive youths from Elizabeth since they're both in Union County? Or the kids in Livingston in the same classrooms with the Newark thugs since they're close to each other in Essex County?
If anything, the layer that should be eliminated is wasteful county government. It's a small state, that intermediate level is not needed. The towns can work with legislators in Trenton on whatever business needs attention. People who live and work in the municipalities know best how to run their own lives
~ Blue Jays ~
Amen
How much is spent on county government? I know that's a real issue in Essex County, but not so much elsewhere.
There are plenty of reasons why small, independent school districts are desirable. You get more attention to the students, less busing, and lots of good jobs in administration for people with connections. However, you can't then be surprised when you pay through the nose for the privilege.
They're leaving for more tax-friendly states such as Florida, Nevada and Delaware,
Taxes is what had hubby pushing to move to FL. I flatly refused. Now he's pushing for Delaware. I had to concede - he's right - we can't afford to live in NJ with the tax rates here. So, next year, we'll be looking for a house in Delaware. If not for me putting up a strong resistance, he would be moving us to DE right now.
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