What N.J.'s planned budget cuts mean after school
WIRE SERVICE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON — In March, Elizabeth Black found herself in a child care scramble for her son, Jamere Carter, a Camden third-grader.
He was one of about 10,000 children around New Jersey whose after-school program ended abruptly when the state stopped funding it as it tried to balance the budget with revenues falling short of expectations.
The program, NJ After 3, will not get any money from the state in the budget year that begins July 1, either, under Governor Christie's proposed budget plan.
After the three-hour enrichment program in Jamere's school was shut down, the boy returned for a time to an imperfect arrangement — staying with a grandmother who struggles to keep up with him.
Finally, Black, a mental health case manager, found another program for him, but it means walking through a rough Camden neighborhood to get to another school.
As governor, Christie must straighten out a budget shortfall magnified by a deep recession. A fiscal conservative, the Republican who campaigned last year promising to make government smaller is determined to do it without raising taxes.
In the real world, that means service cuts and disruptions for many in the Garden State.
Reduced aid to local schools is resulting in teacher layoffs in hundreds of districts across the state. Reduced municipal aid is being partly blamed for a budget crunch in Camden County's Winslow Township, where 12 of the 88 police officers will be laid off in June.
Anti-hunger activists are worried that Christie's pulling back on school meal programs will mean more kids will go hungry.
Senior citizens were fretting about a plan to impose a $310 annual deductible on
ASSOCIATED PRESS
First-grader Briana Rouzard wears a 'NJ After 3' shirt as she participates in an after-school program at Cadwalader Elementary School in Trenton.
The program, NJ After 3, will not get any money from the state in the budget year that begins July 1, either, under Governor Christie's proposed budget plan.
After the three-hour enrichment program in Jamere's school was shut down, the boy returned for a time to an imperfect arrangement — staying with a grandmother who struggles to keep up with him.
Finally, Black, a mental health case manager, found another program for him, but it means walking through a rough Camden neighborhood to get to another school.
As governor, Christie must straighten out a budget shortfall magnified by a deep recession. A fiscal conservative, the Republican who campaigned last year promising to make government smaller is determined to do it without raising taxes.
In the real world, that means service cuts and disruptions for many in the Garden State.
Reduced aid to local schools is resulting in teacher layoffs in hundreds of districts across the state. Reduced municipal aid is being partly blamed for a budget crunch in Camden County's Winslow Township, where 12 of the 88 police officers will be laid off in June.
Anti-hunger activists are worried that Christie's pulling back on school meal programs will mean more kids will go hungry.
Senior citizens were fretting about a plan to impose a $310 annual deductible on