SCHOOLFUNDINGNJ.COM Online to Put Claims Into Proper Perspective
TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney today announced a new website to help New Jersey taxpayers weed out the incorrect statements and misleading information the governor and fellow Republicans have been making on state education aid.
The website, www.schoolfundingnj.com, allows residents to see how much state aid their school district will receive under the governor’s current budget compared to what it should be receiving under law – as well as what it had been receiving before Chris Christie came into office.
“The governor likes to say that he has restored all the educational funding he cut during his first year in office, but the reality is that most school districts in New Jersey are still receiving less funding under Governor Christie now than before he came into office,” said Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem). “This website will help New Jerseyans break through all the misinformation and misleading ads to get right down to the truth when it comes to how this administration continues to shortchange our schools and property taxpayers.”
This past June, Democrats presented Governor Christie with a budget that would have brought all schools up to adequate funding, per the school funding formula. Additionally, revenue brought in from the millionaire’s tax would have brought all schools to full funding for the first time since the new formula was implemented in 2008. The governor vetoed the millionaire’s tax and reduced funding in the budget for schools by nearly $500 million.
While the governor and legislative Republicans tout the increase in funding, the overwhelming majority of schools are still receiving less under this governor than before he came into office. In fact, outside of the so called Abbott Districts, only 23 school districts – many with median household incomes well above the state median – have gotten back all the funding Governor Christie cut from them in his first year in office.
“While money is not always the answer to the issues we face, the challenges facing our schools and property taxpayers are made much tougher without the proper resources,” said Sweeney. “There is simply no mistaking it — an adequate education can’t be provided if our schools do not receive adequate funding.”