As Cuts Loom, New Jersey Schools Brace for Worst [View All]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/education/03njschools.html?hp

Public schools in Montclair, N.J., would lay off as many as 70 teachers, including reading and math specialists, and would no longer offer French and Spanish classes in its elementary grades.

Westfield would not be able to buy library books or replace aging computers, and a popular middle-school tradition — the fall play — could disappear.

Cresskill could see class sizes climb to 35 students in middle and high schools, it may charge students a fee to play high school sports, and it could eliminate middle-school athletic teams.

The three districts and others like them across the state have long attracted families because they offer some of the best public education in New Jersey. But now many of these top school systems are preparing to reduce the academic and extracurricular opportunities that have long set them apart.

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“People are really upset,” said Anne Riegel, a mother of two who said she moved to Westfield because of its schools. “What it seems like is the schools will provide substantially less, and our taxes will still go up with the governor’s cuts.”