School District Budgets Rejected

The voting public shut down budgets in three South Jersey school districts last month--all three of which did not exceed the state's 2 percent cap on tax-levy increases. It was my job to summarize the results of the election (which included the budgets on the ballot) in my story. It was a daunting task, filled with scary tax jargon. Yet, with the help of my editors and repeated clarification from my sources, I think it turned out OK.

This story reminded me that education reporting--an area I've become increasingly drawn to this year--is not just uplifting features and teacher's strikes. It involves A LOT of heavy lifting: sorting through legal texts and  deciphering budgets are only the beginning. However scary, the story taught me to get over my inferiority complex when it comes to fancy legal jargon. I've learned that it pays to look stupid initially in interviews. Asking a bureaucrat, or for that matter a doctor or professor, to put something in regular person terms is an essential part of familiarizing yourself with a topic. If you don't speak the language, don't even try to "fake it until you make it."