Lawmaker: "A crime against NJ taxpayers": The School Chief will be paid $740,926

Asbury Park Press reports:

Assembly Education Committee chairman Joseph Cryan today called on state Attorney General to immediately freeze the $741,000 payout to the outgoing Keansburg superintendent and investigate it as a "crime against New Jersey taxpayers."

Outgoing Superintendent of Schools Barbara A. Trzeszkowski will walk away with a combined severance and benefits package of $740,926 for her 40-year tenure in the school system, according to school documents.

Cryan today called on state Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate the deal as a crime against the taxpayers of New Jersey.

"This deal reeks of the insider dealing and disregard for taxpayers that has led residents to hold government in such low esteem," said Cryan, D-Union. "This is an obscene amount for any superintendent, and is especially offensive coming from a district that depends on the state's taxpayers for the bulk of its funding. Not one penny of this payout should be released."

Cryan said he will work to expedite passage of legislation he will introduce to prohibit any post-retirement benefits beyond what would be an acceptable buy-back of unused leave time.

Under law enacted last year, such payments will be capped at $15,000 each for unused sick and vacation time. However, since Trzeszkowski's contract was in effect prior to the law, she is entitled to reap the entire $184,586.

Under the new school funding formula, Keansburg is to receive $28.9 million — 81 percent of its budget — from the state.

"There is no doubt that Keansburg's schoolchildren need every dollar in the classroom," said Cryan, who has toured the district's ramshackle school buildings and trailers. "For these children, $750,000 could make a world of difference. It is patently obscene that this money will instead find its way into the pocket of one person, instead of Keansburg's sorely deserving classrooms."

Trzeszkowski, 60, of Middletown, officially retires June 30.

The amount due her is computed from her final salary and benefits contract, posted on the Board of Education's Web site, www.keansburg.k12.nj.us.

You'll want to read the whole article.They sure are special.