The School District of the Chathams will receive $925,725 in state aid for the upcoming academic year. This number represents an increase of $517,006 from last year when the state reduced aid to Chatham schools by over $2.58 million, or 86 percent of the amount received in 2009-2010. With this aid, which school board members feared would be further cut or eliminated entirely, the projected budget shortfall for the next year, previously estimated at $1,030,604, stands at $104,879. With enrollment, however, this number may change again before the next meeting of the Board of Education on Monday…

The New Jersey Department of Education released its 2009-10 school report cards this week. The School District of the Chathams continued its trend of falling increasingly below the average per pupil cost in the state. In the 2008-09 school year, Chatham spent $1,902 less per pupil than the state average. In the 2009-10 school year that number increased to a difference of $2,144 between what Chatham spends per student and what the state pays as an average to educate its students. The district increased its percentage of revenue derived from local sources from 90 percent to 92 percent, compared…

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that this was not intended to be a scientific study, rather a sampling of how some Chatham residents feel on the issue. About half of 50 Chatham residents approached by Patch and asked about the proposed salary increase for schools Superintendent Jim O'Neill said they object to the raise. Patch approached residents in December at the Chatham Train Station, in the CVS shopping center, downtown on Main Street and at the Reasoner Park gazebo. The inquiry was not a scientific poll, and there is no formally calculated margin of error. Of the …

According to the 2009 New Jersey Department of Education School Report Card, Chatham residents fund a much larger percentage of school costs than their neighbors, but, with a per-pupil cost more than $1,000 below the state average, they also get a lot of bang for their buck. According to the Chatham Township website, 63 cents out of every dollar that township residents pay in their property taxes goes to the schools. In the borough, 62 cents out of each property tax dollar went to schools, according to a 2008 statement from Council Member Bruce Harris. These funds comprise 91 percent of the …

Senior Brendon Kaufman, 17, is one of 245 members of the class of 2011. And over his four years at Chatham High School, he's noticed something. "Every year, the student population goes up," he said. "The younger classes are getting bigger and bigger." Chatham High Principal Darren Groh has noticed, too. With 1,110 students currently enrolled as of Oct. 21, the school is getting dangerously close to its maximum capacity of 1,200 students. In fact, Groh estimates that Chatham High will hit that maximum enrollment by the start of the 2012-13 academic year, just 23 months away. Vast Improvements …

Abigail Maddi is worried about Chatham schools. As President of the Chatham Educational Foundation (CEF) and the mother of two middle school students, Maddi wants to attract the best teachers to Chatham. With the latest Board of Education-approved salary increases for the teacher's union the lowest in decades, Maddi worries that teachers may go where they have a chance to earn more. "We need to look towards private funding to maintain the kind of education that we're accustomed to here in Chatham," Maddi said. Only the Best Chathamites are accustomed to a very high quality of education. …