Correction please!
Southern New Jersey is not the conservative part. They haven't elected a conservative congresscritter in years. The most conservative part is the northwest: Sussex and Hunterdon and Somerset and Morris counties.
These areas also have opposed the plan which would do away with home rule for local schoolboards.
You're right ...they have voted Democrat, but Salem county is the only one that voted for Bush. The problem with South Jersey is that so many Philadelphians moved here to escape Philly and brought the Democratic values with them. We actually HAVE had Republicans in local elections...but the Democratic machine of Camden has grown with each Dem's election. The real problem in ALL of Jersey is that we have too many RINOs...we tried to get Schundler in, and the Republican party shunned him! Since the counties you mentionned have also fought this plan by the Dems, I guess you can agree with me that it was a BAD law, despite the fact that the Teacher's union was against it. The only ones for it were the Dems that want more power in their counties.