After a tumultuous few months of school last spring, with students up in arms over looming budget cuts, the Montclair High bubble still hasn't popped. In fact, order seems to have restored itself in the halls and classrooms of the high school, and no one seems to be griping about expanded class sizes. The doomsday scenarios presented to MHS students last year, which were partially presented by frustrated teachers, haven't materialized. In the classroom, the budget's reduction has caused only small ripples in the otherwise calm brook running through campus. The number of students in each class…

Unlike last year, there's no Spanish language teacher — and there's also no librarian — at Bradford Elementary School this year. Children are mostly guided through the library by their homeroom teacher. And Spanish is taught with the help of Rosetta Stone and other Spanish-language software programs. Other Montclair schools, too, are bearing the brunt of budget cuts. At Montclair High School, for example, Charles Feiner, a popular guidance counselor, was among those laid off this year. Charles H. Bullock Elementary School no longer has a school band. Indeed, most New Jersey school districts …