By Matt Fair/The Times
TRENTON – First they came for the district’s cafeteria workers, then for its security staff and bus drivers. Slowly, over the last three years, Trenton Public Schools has moved toward privatizing parts of its staff to cope with rising employee costs and reductions in state aid.
Union leaders fear the effort is unlikely to stop anytime soon.
District officials, including school board president Toby Sanders, say they’re under mounting pressure from the state to trim costs by any means possible.
“The strategy of the state is to privatize as many positions as possible in an effort to get out from paying benefits because the costs constantly escalate,” said Sanders, a frequent critic of outsourcing efforts. “Where they can privatize they are going to try to compel it.”
While the moves may be made with an eye toward saving money, union officials say the quality of the services being privatized are being dragged down.
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