Resident frustrated at lack of leadership

Readers of the Examiner had a lot to digest in last week's issue when it comes to the issue of educating our children. Unfortunately, the news wasn't at all good.

Instead of local public policy makers coming together to do what is best for the education of our children, residents of Upper Freehold Township were treated to a collection of finger pointing and self-serving political rhetoric.

As a resident who has a long-standing commitment to public service and working to improve our community, I am frustrated and disappointed at the lack of leadership being exhibited by both our elected officials, and school board.

It rings hollow and disingenuous for certain local officials to criticize the pace at which state regulatory bodies have moved when they themselves have failed repeatedly to advance the necessary paper work and applications needed for the construction of the school. A claim that the state Department of Environmental Protection is to blame is an attempt to misdirect the public's understandable frustration away from the inaction of our officials. Once the voters of the Upper Freehold Regional School District passed the building referendum and the township passed a referendum to support the school, all parties were committed to see that the construction of our school was completed in a timely matter. What happened? Inaction and politics.

It is unconscionable that the issue of constructing a new middle school has been thrust into a zoning debate around a particular piece of property on Breza Road. The rush to abandon the existing location of the new middle school in favor of a new one is a disservice to the tax payers of this community.

The finger pointing and political intrigue would be bad enough. Throw in the recently released state school district test results and this issue takes on a more troubling overtone. As the Examiner's editorial stated last week: "In all of this political jockeying, the children of the community are suffering."

If our elected officials are not careful, they will be responsible for precipitating a devaluation of our township's home values. Our township has grown a significant number of higher-valued housing developments over the past few years. These home values stand to lose ground to the extent that the school district continues to suffer and test results fail to increase. Now with no other choices, we are being asked to take more risk, provide more dollars and place more trust in a process that has failed to yield any returns. Frustration does not truly address this issue.

Leaders need to start to lead, and respecting the decisions made by the voters would be a good place to start. Political finger pointing and interest group agendas are hurting our community, eroding our educational system and casting our town in the worst possible light. Our kids and community are suffering and it is time to stop the madness.

John A. Mele

Cream Ridge