BOE Candidates Discuss Charter Schools, Budget Plans

Last week, the Livingston chapter of the League of Woman Voters held a special debate featuring the candidates for this year's Board of Education election.

The three candidates trying to secure one of the two open spots are Pamela Chirls, Dr. David Jasin and Soumitra Rathod.

Every this week, Patch will be bringing you some of the questions asked to the candidates in the debate. 

The candidates were asked two questions, chosen ahead of time, by the League of Women Voters.

The first question asked to the candidates was "do you believe that it is appropriate to have a charter school as an option for Livingston?"  This past year saw charter schools in the news on almost a daily basis.  Two Mandarin-immersion charters were proposed for Livingston, but ultimately denied.

The next question was what candidates "would focus on in the budget to make sure it stays under the 2% cap and not be subject to voter approval."

This past year, the Livingston Board of Education approved a $104 million 2012-2013 budget.  The budget came out to about 1% below the state mandated cap.

Earlier this week, Patch featured the opening statements by the candidates.