New Jersey State Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) issued the following statement today in response to the New Jersey Department of Education’s release of school aid figures:
“For nearly a decade, many school districts, who were suffering massive aid cuts, were told the S-2 school funding formula was ‘working’ and had to be slavishly adhered to even though they were being decimated.
“Now that the formula would finally deliver long-overdue increases to districts that were shortchanged, the State budget overrides the formula to artificially cap the aid increases they are rightfully due. Districts harmed by S-2 will receive increases, but they’re capped at 6 percent - meaning many will get less than what the formula says they should receive. At the same time, reductions to districts that received excessive aid remain limited to just 3 percent, protecting those massive, ill-advised gains.
“This is simply unfair to students, families, and taxpayers in communities that have been carrying the burden for far too long.
“The budget also flat-funds municipal aid for 545 towns while roughly a dozen municipalities are gorging on more than $100 million in additional aid - including some that created their own financial problems through years of poor decisions.
“We are going to fight like hell for fairness that is missing from this budget for our schools, towns, and taxpayers.”
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