Sherril Is Savaging Public Education In NJ!

Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) released the following statement regarding his request for Governor Sherrill to restore school aid that was arbitrarily capped in the Governor’s proposed budget.

“Our first big test of the Sherrill Administration’s interest in veering away from the disastrous, unfair, and amoral direction of the Murphy Administration when it comes to education & property taxes is in. And it’s a whopping smash in the throat to the property taxpayers and school children of New Jersey. The issue is simple. Hundreds of school districts were told by the Murphy Administration, while they were having their aid slashed massively that ‘sorry, we don’t care how much it devastates your kids education or property taxpayers, WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE FORMULA!’ This ‘formula’ by the way was outdated since before Murphy took office. It’s unfair, unsustainable & devastating to hundreds of school districts. Regardless, Murphy plowed on. But as soon as the devastated districts were due aid increases under the formula, suddenly following it was optional! Random caps on aid increases were applied. Because the Governor and legislative leaders wanted to give $ hundreds of millions in pork to pet projects…someone had to get screwed. New Jersey’s property taxpayers and school children were the victims. It’s that simple. And Governor Sherrill has followed that path. It’s incredible, It’s devastating, and it’s a horrific omen.

“This release isn’t a blind political attack. It comes after months of discussions and warnings that it was coming. We presented the problem, we outlined scalable solution options. The Governor’s response was essentially, ‘too bad, so sad.’ That kind of dismissive arrogance might play well in Trenton political circles, but it’s a slap in the face to the families watching programs get cut, the taxpayers getting hammered with higher property taxes, and the students sitting in overcrowded classrooms because the state once again decided fairness was optional. And to be clear, this isn’t something that can be fixed next year. The damage, to taxpayers and kids year on year, is permanent.

“What makes this even more infuriating is that the money exists. Revenue projections are improving, hundreds of millions in wasteful pork spending remain untouched, and the Governor and legislative Democrats continue throwing taxpayer dollars at politically connected pet projects like it’s Monopoly money while schools are told to tighten their belts yet again,” said Sen. O’Scanlon.

Below are some recent examples of districts negatively impacted by the arbitrary 6% cap:

Brick Township Public Schools:

Lost nearly $20 million in formula aid under Murphy

Plans to cut 40 positions, including 24 general education teachers and 12 special education staff members

Average class sizes are projected to rise to 27 students in elementary schools

Missing out on almost in $3 million in aid for the upcoming school year as a result of Sherrill’s 6% cap on aid increases

Jefferson Township School District:

Has already closed two schools and terminated 100 staff members

Lost more than $10 million in formula aid under Murphy

Missing out on more than $1 million in aid for the upcoming year due to the 6% cap

Lacey Township School District:

Has cut 163 staff positions over the past eight years, including 17 teaching jobs and two administrative positions last year

Courtesy busing and new curriculum materials have been eliminated

Class sizes have climbed to more than 30 students

Lost nearly $14 million in formula aid under Murphy

Missing out on more than $800,000 for the upcoming year due to the 6% cap

Little Egg Harbor School District:

Plans to lay off 81 full-time paraprofessionals from local elementary schools and refilling their positions with part-time workers who won’t receive benefits

Lost more than $1.7 million in formula aid under Murphy

Missing out on more than $1 million for the upcoming year due to the 6% cap

Middletown Township School District:

Plans to cut 40 teachers and close two schools

Lost more than $2.6 million in formula aid under Murphy

Missing out on more than $1 million for the upcoming year due to the 6% cap

Toms River Regional School District:

Has cut 250 positions, slashed programs, and sold a school building

Lost more than $37 million in formula aid under Murphy

Missing out on nearly $4 million for the upcoming year due to the 6% cap

“Republicans offered practical solutions to restore this aid without raising taxes, but those ideas were ignored. Trenton has hid behind the school funding formula while districts were getting screwed with aid cuts. Now that the very same formula says these communities are finally entitled to relief, the Administration suddenly decides the formula only matters when it benefits their political agenda. At some point, this stops being a budgeting issue and starts becoming a question of values and basic respect for the people paying the bills and the kids whose quality education is being dismantled. That time is now, and Governor Sherrill has failed the values and respect test with disappointingly flying colors,” O’Scanlon concluded.