State to turn over data on how several shore-area schools are funded
A joint lawsuit filed by several shore-area school districts will soon shed more light on how the state determines how much money schools receive.
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Jan 25, 2022, 5:14 PM
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Updated 1,034 days ago
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20ds agoA joint
lawsuit filed by several shore-area school districts will soon shed more
light on how the state determines how much money schools receive.
The court decided that the state
Department of Education will have to turn over all data on how the schools are
funded.
“We expect this will help school
districts verify or not the amount of state aid they are receiving – have
that kind of check and balance that we always thought they should have had,”
says Stephen Edelstein, an attorney with the Weiner Law Group.
Edelstein represents the school
districts of Toms River, Jackson, Brick, Freehold Regional and others in
the fight to reveal the funding formula of Senate Bill S2, which went into
effect back in 2018.
Recently,
districts have seen a massive cut in state funding – prompting rallies on the
steps of the State House and an elementary school to close in Brick. Freehold Regional will see cuts totaling $30 million by 2026.
The districts wanted to see the
formula determining state aid. A judge ruled that formula will now be released
to the districts, which can now check and see if the system was
fair.
“We are talking about how public
money is allocated back to the community in which New Jerseyans live, so it's
an issue of general importance,” says Edelstein.
Brick Township Mayor John Ducey
also weighed in on the ruling, in a statement:
“I was
elated to hear that the courts agreed with us that the state should be mandated
to provide the data and formula they use to fund the school districts in NJ. It
is so important for there to be open government, and this forces the state to
be open as well. I always found it interesting that the state would pass OPRA
laws and then exempt themselves from having to comply with the laws. With this
decision everyone can see where the money is going for the children of our
state and why. Right now, it’s a guessing game and seems arbitrary and
capricious. Now we can see if there was a rhyme or reason to the funding or if
there really was a formula at all.”
Edelstein expects the state to once
again appeal the judge's ruling.
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