Garden State Patriot

Bergen County’s District 40 will be a compelling and important race in this year’s GOP primary season.  Incumbent Republicans David Russo and Scott Rumana are facing a challenge from conservative businessmen Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino. The race is symbolic of the divide between moderate, establishment Republicans and the conservative base within the New Jersey GOP.

The decision of Mr. Caruso and Mr. Rottino to challenge 2 incumbent Republicans has, to no surprise, ruffled the feathers of those in the establishment. My fellow CWA! poster Sharon Soon detailed as much back in February.

However, if conservatives are to win back their party and control its destiny moving forward, it is these kinds of races that must be won. We simply must root out those Republicans who are unwilling to stand up for conservative values.

Mr. Caruso and Mr. Rottino also have a keen understanding of the issues facing New Jersey and will fight hard to keep taxes low and bring fairness to how our dollars are spent. There is no better example of this in New Jersey than the inequities in education spending and state aid. On this issue, Caruso and Rottino vow to fight for their district’s fair share.

WAYNE NJ, April 22, 2009 – District 40 N.J. General Assembly Republican candidates Anthony Rottino and  Joseph Caruso are offering their congratulations to the victorious school board candidates in yesterday’s election and vowed to work hard to bring more state education aid back to the district if elected to the Assembly.

Rottino said the concerns of local school board officials  regarding the lack of state funding are legitimate, but have gone unrecognized by the District 40 incumbents David Russo and Scott Rumana   

“I want to say to those school board members who ran on a platform of fighting for more  state aid – especially those in Wayne, where state aid is an major  issue – that Joe and I share your concerns and we will fight for more aid for the suburbs,” said Rottino.  

Wayne school board candidates  James Jimenez, Franco Mazzei and Jane B. Hutchison specifically made an issue of the lack of state school aid. Rottino, a graduate of Wayne  Valley High School,  said he wants to work with them to bring more money back to the district. He noted that Wayne  gets just $6.7 million in school aid , or $790 per pupil, while Paterson receives more than $420 million in school aid or $16,000 per pupil.  

“That aid  disparity is appalling and we will not allow it to stand,” said Rottino, who is running with Caruso in the June 2 Republican Primary Election.

“The unfortunate fact of life for Wayne residents and all those in District 40  is that Scott Rumana sits on the Assembly Education Committee and has done nothing to cut state aid to cities and send more aid to the suburbs,” said Rottino, a father of four. “Our position is that too much taxpayer money is being  wasted on urban education.”  

 

Caruso said he and Rottino have been pointing out wasteful education spending for months and noting the ridiculous sums of taxpayer money that are propping up urban school bureaucracies while little trickles down to the middle class school districts.

  

“More than $4 billion dollars is pumped into a handful of urban school districts in New Jersey  every year while the suburban taxpayers have to dig deeper into their pockets every year to educate their children,” said Caruso, the father of two young children and a Packanack Lake resident.

  

Caruso noted that while people in Wayne, Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff typically pay about 85 percent  of  their local school district’s needs, residents in cities like Paterson and Newark have more than 85 percent of their school costs paid by people who live in the suburbs.

“The education funding system has to be changed now,” said Caruso. “Currently the system exists to benefit administrators and the bosses of  the teachers’ union – not the taxpayers and,  in too many cases –- not the children either,” said Caruso.  

“Anthony and I, unlike the two incumbent Assemblyman, are not bought and paid for by education bureaucrats and union bosses. We will be in Trenton fighting for change and we will be in constant contact with the school boards in District 40. You can count on that,” added Caruso.

So, for those of you in District 40, I would urge you to get behind Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino in their assembly bids.  For more on their campaign, you can visit their web site: BetterWay09.org

Cross-posted at Red County.