Laughing stock in education circles too

Freehold Regional High School Superintendent H. James Wasser likes to be referred to as doctor. He once interrupted a student at a school board meeting to admonish him for not calling him "Dr. Wasser". Turns out Wasser got his doctorate from an online school in Alabama that Alabama officials this week called an "apparent diploma mill." Maybe Breyer State University gives bonus points for referrals because Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista and former assistant super Frank Tanini also have degrees from Breyer State which now operates out of an office in Idaho. Freehold Regional paid for the tuition after invoices were sent from the trio's alma mater which misspelled "Reciept". The three got raises or promotions after the arrival of their sheepskins or whatever Breyer uses. Tanzini said he didn't know the school lacked accreditation. Wasser is a double-dipper, also teaching a course at Rutgers where he no doubt insists he be called doctor. If Jersey's 615 school districts are going to hand out taxpayer money for doctorates, you'd think there would be some guidelines about accreditation and such.

Plot thickens for Katz, union investigation

A federal court tells Carla Katz her petition to be reinstated as union chief to CWA Local 1034 is denied and that she can remain locked out of her Trenton office and away from CWA records. And that may not be the worst of it. Josh Margolin of the Star-Ledger, quoting unnamed sources, reports U.S. Attorney Chris Christie is seeking union records. The national CWA union took over Katz' operation after accusing her of misappropriating funds. Some of the allegations had to do with a lawsuit fighting release of e-mails between Katz and Corzine, which "Gov. Transparent" wants to keep from the public citing executive privilege in the way President Bush is doing to keep Carl Rove from talking to Congress. (Come to think of it, Bush and Corzine have about the same popularity ranking in the polls.) Perhaps those e-mails will become part of a no-nonsense federal investigation. This is one case Christie and those intrepid FBI agents had better pursue without any "help" from Attorney General Annie "Got No Guns" Milgram.

Throw out rules and start over

Regulations adopted June 2 by the Council on Affordable Housing (that's a unit of the Department of Community Affairs, state government so you know it's on its game) will be challenged in court by the state's towns in a joint lawsuit. Edward Buzak, lawyer for the League of Municipalities, said local officials want "to start with a clean slate" and see the housing regulations revised. Buzak said the flaws in the regulations include confusion over whether towns could be forced to pay for affordable housing, a possibility local officials worry could lead to property tax hikes. The challenge also contends the state has increased to 116,000 from 57,000 the number of affordable units it wants towns to provide. That's based on a sometimes inaccurate computer analysis from satellite photos of vacant land. Some of that vacant land is golf courses and the land next to airport runways. The challenge won't be heard until at least the fall and the challenge may go on to the state Supreme Court. This started with the best intentions but as often happens in government bureaucracy it got screwed up in a way clear to people who live in the real world. Throw the rules out and start over with something practical and realistic. Otherwise, it's bound to bite the taxpayers in this "Home Rule" state in the butt eventually.

Jersey justice at work

A former Jersey City Municipal Court judge and a former court administrator have been indicted for ticket fixing. Former Chief Judge Wanda Molina allegedly dismissed eight parking tickets for her female companion. Former Court Administrator Virginia Pagan allegedly fixed 215 tickets for herself and her daughter. They both resigned earlier. Attorney General Anne Milgram said the indictments send a message judges are not above the law. Molina's attorney says Milgram should take a look at the state Supreme Court's action last month because it only censured an East Orange Municipal Court judge for dismissing a ticket for a friend. That's the attitude of these "public servants" who get nailed. They think they should get only a slap on the wrist because they're special. To be fair, Milgram should censure the duo for the first alleged ticket fixed and indict them for the rest. Three other Jersey City judges face allegations after an investigation but have not been indicted. What happened to those cases?

What a surprise, Rutgers Stadium will cost more

Here's a shocker: The Rutgers Stadium expansion project may cost as much as an additional $150 million. It was projected at $102 million. And $30 million in private funding Corzine and Sen. Ray Lesniak pledged to raise hasn't been raised yet.
Ed McBride, a Corzine spokesman, said he did not have information available about the status of the fundraising effort. E.J. Miranda, a Rutgers spokesman, said he didn't know how much has been raised to date and would try to find out from the Corzine Foundation. You'd think on a project so important, they would know. Meanwhile, students going to Rutgers and elsewhere are preparing for big tuition hikes because the governor cut aid to higher education.

Pou can say 'no' after all

For a while there it looked like Assemblywoman Nellie Pou of Paterson couldn't find the "no" button on her desk. She hadn't voted against a bill in 2,281 votes over five years. That changed June 23. The bill was one that places a constitutional amendment before the voters in November to require voter approval for all state debt backed by state appropriations. As my colleague Mike Symons put it, "Pou voted no, after all those years, to prevent the public from being able to do the same." Our "public servants" always have our best interests at heart and in theirs they know very well they're way smarter than us. That's why they're always right. To read all of Mike's analysis, click here.

Corzine's other moral obligation

No sooner had Corzine signed a bill to borrow $3.9 billion without voter approval for schools construction than David Sciarra of the Education Law Center in Newark announced he had written a letter to the Attorney General's Office asking for a meeting to discuss long-term funding solutions for when the $3.9 runs out. That's expected to be five years but the Schools Construction Corp. went through $8.6 billion in about that time with little to show for it. Sciarra's outfit is the one that keeps running to the left-leaning cackle of clowns, the state Supreme Court, to get more money for the bottomless pits known as the Abbott schools. Supposedly, all of this money is to help poor kids get an education. Who could object to that? But experience shows the money disappears in places like Camden and the kids never get much of an education. The Abbott experiment is a failure which Sciarra, Corzine and the clowns on the court should accept and move on. Otherwise the money will keep disappearing and no new ways to educate kids will be tried. So what do they really care about? The governor makes other excuses, like how many people will be put to work building schools or the "moral obligation" the administration has. Corzine also has a moral obligation to get back for the taxpayers the $8.6 billion that was wasted. He doesn't seem to be in a hurry to fulfill that one.