Chalkbeat

NJ lawmakers approve extra mental health support for schools

2026-07-02T17:22:59+00:00

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This story was first published by the New Jersey Monitor.

New Jersey lawmakers approved a plan to strengthen school-based mental health services, connect more districts with behavioral health providers in their communities, and eventually link them all with a centralized team of psychiatrists.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill outlined one aspect of the program in her budget speech in March and is expected to sign the legislation, which passed both houses of the legislature Tuesday with near unanimous support. Her office declined to comment Wednesday.

The $60.7 billion budget bill she signed late Tuesday includes $8 million for a new program dubbed the School-Based Partnerships for Access and Resilience, or Spark, which will be launched as a pilot program before expanding to all of New Jersey’s 2,500 schools within the next two years.

The plan also has $40 million for NJ4S, the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services program, a four-year-old initiative that has allowed nearly half the state’s schools to partner with regional mental health organizations that provide school-based counseling, medication and referrals, and help parents navigate the behavioral health system.

“The SPARK and NJ4S programs will provide critical resources to address our youth mental health crisis, giving parents, educators, and, most importantly, our children the tools they need to thrive,” Sen. Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) said in a statement following the budget vote.

Sherrill had called for eliminating NJ4S — which has vocal critics — in favor of Spark, but school officials and mental health organizations urged her to reconsider. The legislation permits both programs and seeks to knit them together and scale best practices statewide.

Morgan Thompson, CEO of Prevention Links, a Union County mental health organization that works in several districts through the NJ4S program, thanked state officials for their commitment to mental health and for adopting an approach that builds on the existing system.

“Strengthening partnerships between schools and experienced community-based providers will help create learning environments where students can thrive while ensuring they have access to high-quality behavioral health supports both inside and outside the classroom,” Thompson told the New Jersey Monitor in a text message.

“Looking ahead, sustained, long-term investment will be critical so these services are available predictably and reliably in every community, giving schools, families, and providers the stability needed to effectively meet the evolving needs of New Jersey’s young people,” she said.

Under the bill, the state Department of Children and Families will work with the Department of Education to create guidelines around Spark and select up to 10 school districts for an 18-month pilot program. The department will also need to select one mental health app that kids in grades K-12 and their parents can use to learn about existing services.

Districts in the Spark program will be linked with the DCF’s child psychiatry collaborative, a decade-old partnership that connects mental health professionals with pediatricians, often the first to see children in crisis. The collaborative — which received a separate $12.8 million in state funds, as it has in past years — will provide school-based consultations, referrals, medication management, support for parents, and training and guidance for educators under the pilot.

After 18 months, if no major problems are identified in a progress report to be prepared for the governor, the Spark program will expand to all districts statewide, according to the legislation, which allows existing providers to be integrated as it expands.

The bill also requires all districts in New Jersey to have either a designated employee to provide school-based mental health services, or an agreement with a healthcare provider in the community, or to be part of NJ4S. Even with the state funding, the statewide rollout could be slowed by behavioral health workforce shortages and the cost to schools, given that school psychologists make close to $100,000 annually, according to a fiscal analysis by non-partisan legislative staff.

A second bill calls on DCF to evaluate the child psychiatry collaborative operation, recommend steps to strengthen the behavioral health workforce, and expand data collection around children’s mental health services. Hospitals in New Jersey reported treating more than 50,000 pediatric mental health patients annually, but specifics are scarce.

The Assembly approved that bill unanimously Tuesday, but it has yet to be posted for a Senate vote and with the Senate not returning until the fall its future is unclear.

In addition to codifying Sherrill’s school mental health vision, the two bills address concerns flagged in a recent report from the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, which documented how, despite strengths like the psychiatry collaborative, the state’s system is failing kids and frustrating parents.

At least 1 in 5 children ages 3 through 17 have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 40% of high school students said they felt hopeless or depressed at some point in the last year, CDC found, and half as many said they seriously considered suicide, while 9% reported attempting to kill themselves.

These KIPP fifth graders are learning money management skills so they will never be a ‘brokie’

2026-05-28T19:10:32+00:00

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Stefon Bowman asked his fifth grade class at KIPP BOLD Academy in Newark, “Should you be intentional with your money?”

“Yes!” students shouted back.

“You a brokie!” the girls in the back shouted as a playful way to show what could happen if you weren’t.

But Nyla Baxter, a student in Bowman’s class, already knew the stakes. The fifth grader told Chalkbeat she was “growing her piggybank” to help her parents buy a house because being intentional “lets you use your money for things you actually want.”

That’s exactly the lesson Bowman, a math educator turned financial literacy teacher, wants students to walk away with. His co-developed Financially L.I.T (Luxury Is Teachable) curriculum, in its fourth year, teaches middle school students how money works, sparking conversations about handling money, investing, saving, and the difference between what you need and what you want.

Bowman’s lessons come on the heels of a push to expand financial literacy statewide. Since 2019, New Jersey has required students in sixth through eighth grade to learn about financial literacy. Across the country, 30 states require financial education as a graduation requirement, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.

N.J. state Sens. Vin Gopal and Angela McKnight are sponsoring S-3462, a bill that would require high school students to complete a financial literacy course as a graduation requirement with a one-semester or one-trimester course. The Senate Education Committee approved the bill in March.

On Thursday, Bowman’s students were instructed to ask ChatGPT money management questions and have the AI respond as their favorite celebrity. Rahyon Little asked, “What is the difference between a need and a want when it comes to money?”

ChatGPT, speaking as Shaquille O’Neal, explained that a need is something essential while a want is something that brings enjoyment.

“Like, I know I have to save money,” Rahyon told Chalkbeat. “But sometimes I just want to buy stuff.”

Rahyon Little used ChatGPT to find out the difference between a want and a need as it relates to his finances in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Students were learning about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

For many of Bowman’s students, including Damar Owens, financial literacy isn’t just a lesson, it’s also a conversation. Damar asked the adults visiting his class on Thursday, “What mistakes have you made as an entrepreneur?”

“That’s what it’s about,” Bowman said. “We’re trying to get students ready for the real world and they’re excited about making money and developing their businesses and brands.”

Supporters of school financial literacy courses argue that developing money management skills early gives young students the foundation for a stable and secure future, empowering them to navigate life’s challenges with confidence. But not everyone agrees that mandating it through schools is the answer.

Some experts argue that those lessons are largely ineffective, pointing to evidence that improved financial behavior does not necessarily follow from information about finances alone, and that personal habits and life experiences matter far more.

For Bowman, who is also an entrepreneur, that real-world application is important, and his curriculum is designed to go beyond the classroom.

Students in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., learn about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship on Thursday, May 21, 2026.

KIPP middle schoolers put their money skills to the test during the school’s Monday Markets, where young entrepreneurs sell snacks and homemade treats at recess and lunch.

Those weekly markets served as a training ground ahead of KIPP’s annual Mother’s Day Market event, which brings together student entrepreneurs and local vendors to apply what they learned in the classroom to the real world, Bowman said. This year, the event drew more than 500 attendees as students confidently ran their businesses, engaged with customers, and applied their financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills they’ve been building all year.

“Our students really stepped up in a major way,” Bowman said.

Among those students were Janai Piper and her classmate and “employee” Madysin Thompson, who run Sweet Treats, selling rice krispies, chocolate-covered strawberries, and pretzels.

Katye Johnson asked ChatGPT how many ice pops he needs to sell to make $800 if he sold them for $3 each in Stefon Bowman's 5th-grade class at KIPP BOLD in Newark, N.J., on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Students were learning about intentional saving, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship.

During Bowman’s Thursday lesson, the fifth grade students asked ChatGPT how they could reach their profit goals. Janai and Madysin mapped out how to make $600 by Aug. 12. Similarly, Katye Johnson, who wants to sell ice pops over the summer, set his own goal of $300 in six months.

“I want to sell ice pops,” Katye said. “I just need to get everything together because I’m already learning what I need to do.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Scarce oversight: State let Newark charter crisis flourish, staff say

2026-05-11T18:35:35+00:00

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This story was first published on NJ Spotlight News, a content partner of Chalkbeat Newark.

Charter schools in Newark educate about a third of the city’s students, have proved popular among parents, and overall deliver higher scores on math and reading tests.

What happens, though, when a charter school struggles?

In theory, the state is supposed to shut it down if it can’t improve. Even supporters of charters say that’s important for the overall success of the charter movement, like pruning dead branches from a healthy tree.

Yet is the state doing its job? That’s the question raised in the wake of reported troubles at New Horizons, an underenrolled, roughly 370-student school. It’s been put on probation by the state for three years due to poor test scores, ineffective instruction, and rising chronic absenteeism, according to a letter from the state Department of Education.

Staff members, most of whom spoke to NJ Spotlight News on condition that their names not be used, describe a dysfunctional environment rife with executive self-dealing, falsification of key metrics, a toxic work culture, and failures to handle violence or provide vital services for kids.

The charter school denied those allegations. Through a lawyer, school leaders called the claims “meritless” and made by “disgruntled former staff members.”

New Horizons “has undergone review, monitoring and improvement processes, as many schools do, and we have continued to make progress in strengthening systems, instruction, compliance, and student support,” the lawyer, Perry L. Lattiboudere, said in a statement. “We remain focused on teaching and learning, continuous improvement and serving our students well.”

The FBI recently requested financial records from a former New Horizons staffer, who told NJ Spotlight News about providing board minutes showing large compensation, including bonuses and stipends, paid to its top administrators.

That raises a question: Why didn’t this school get closer scrutiny from the state?

Critics say previous governors were lax on charter school oversight

“It is part of the responsibility of the charter school office in New Jersey to make sure that public dollars are being spent effectively,” said former New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf. During his tenure under Gov. Chris Christie — a charter school supporter — Cerf shut down roughly 10% of such schools for low performance.

Of New Jersey’s 84 charter schools, four are on probation, including New Horizons. All the state’s charters are overseen by a state Department of Education office with a staff of about six people.

If a charter school’s remedial plan is insufficient or if it fails to meet its probation terms, the state can shut it down.

Christie’s successor, Gov. Phil Murphy, was lax on charter school oversight, critics say. High-performing charters were denied expansion while those with “operational concerns” faced no intervention, according to Harry Lee, head of the New Jersey Charter Schools Association.

The state Department of Education “has broad oversight authority and must hold schools accountable when they aren’t doing the right thing,” Lee said. He expressed hope that Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration more proactively will limit “unnecessary and unreasonable expenditures” for schools on probation.

Charter school teachers and leaders typically are paid less than those in traditional public school districts, he added. A new law aims to curb payroll abuses by requiring the Department of Education, both annually and during charter renewals, to review pay for the top three administrators, and to publish clearer budgets showing total executive compensation.

Former staffers allege problems at New Horizons

Founded in the late 1990s, New Horizons is a small school that’s consistently underperformed compared with major charter networks. It performs about level with the city’s public school district, with 27% of students reading and 13% doing math on grade level, and has been on probation for the past three years.

The floundering isn’t limited to academics, according to 10 current and former staffers interviewed by NJ Spotlight News. They allege that it’s being irresponsible with public funds, filing inaccurate reports and treating students and staff inappropriately.

The school denied any wrongdoing. It declined to comment on specific allegations, citing staff and student privacy laws.

The charter’s superintendent, Rhonda Wilson, had a publicly funded salary of almost $240,000, while the state average is less than $198,000. Many of those administrators oversee operations for multiple schools with thousands of students.

New Horizons’ enrollment is less than half the maximum 750, public records show. She also was paid nearly $60,000 in bonuses and $11,000 in stipends in 2024 -25, and $3,000 a week to substitute as principal in 2023, expense records show.

Staff members allege she used school employees for personal chores and showed favoritism in pay, awarding herself and her inner circle high overtime and other perks. The business administrator, Tom Omwega ,received $57,000 in bonuses and stipends in 2024-25, records show.

Wilson has “been operating like this for a long time,” a former staffer, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, told NJ Spotlight News. “They keep their files a mess on purpose.”

The FBI’s Newark office, like the state comptroller’s office, would neither confirm nor deny any investigation. The charter says it is unaware of any inquiry and operates “with integrity and transparency.”

New Horizons staff ‘run that building very much like a penitentiary,’ parent claims

Strict state Department of Education oversight limits New Horizons, a charter school on probation, to “reasonable and necessary” spending. Asked if the state Department of Education approved all bonuses, a spokesman for the department said those decisions “are made solely by a charter school board of trustees.”

That board is closely allied with Wilson, former staffers say. Its president, Edgar Nemorin, did not respond to questions from NJ Spotlight News.

Relying solely on the judgment of the charter’s own board is “philosophically inconsistent with the duty of the state,” says Cerf, the former education commissioner.

Current and former staff at New Horizons say administrators pressured them to falsify data to the federal government and the state. The charter fabricated hours for employees who worked at an after-school program funded by federal Title I money, a former staffer alleged.

Staff say they were told to log inaccurate attendance and safety data: inflating attendance figures, labeling suspensions as “resets” in order to report zero such removals to the state, sending students home for a week without home instruction, and failing to report fights.

Adonijah Williams, the parent of a former student at New Horizons, confirmed that her son was suspended multiple times, including for a week.

Top administrators berated students harshly for small infractions, current and former staff said. “They run that building very much like a penitentiary,” said Wesley Collins, a former teacher.

One student, lacking a required aide, “terrorized” the school, current and former staff say. New Horizons, though, reported virtually no violence, they say, and her suspensions were deemed “resets.” One time, at least a dozen students waited in a staircase for the student so they could record one of her fights, current and former employees say.

The school also denied assistance to roughly 100 students with disabilities — waitlisting them for years to be evaluated, just to qualify for services, according to the current and former staffers. At least one student was sent elsewhere because a needed elevator was broken, they said.

An eighth grader was added to the evaluation waiting list two years ago, they said. About to leave for high school, the student had yet to be tested, they said.

Newark school board supported New Horizons’ renewal with one condition

The treatment extended to staff as well, the employees say, and New Horizons had a nearly 50% staff turnover rate during a recent 18-month period. The reason, they say, is a toxic work environment.

Principal Stephen Webb, also a pastor, is accused of making inappropriate sexual comments by three former employees, one of whom filed a formal complaint. He reportedly brushed off concerns about potential lawsuits, saying that’s “why I keep a good lawyer.”

Staff also allege selective accountability. A social worker was fired for sending a child in a medical crisis to a hospital while administrators were at a Disney resort in Orlando for a conference, current and former staffers said.

The dismissal came after a parent objected for reasons that were unclear, according to staff.

Former teacher Terrence Knox and others recalled one odd incident in particular. A teacher received a disciplinary letter for mocking a student with special needs in front of the class, allegedly saying, “At least I’m not special ed.” The letter was rescinded, they said.

Despite state findings that New Horizons failed to provide a high-quality education, the acting commissioner under Murphy, Angelica Allen-McMillan, renewed its charter with probation in 2023, citing confidence that its initiatives to improve culture and emotional support would reverse poor academic trends.

The Newark school board, including Superintendent Roger León – who has fought other charter schools – supported New Horizons’ renewal on the condition that it improve special services programs, which a former staffer described as resources for special education students.

While the charter isn’t at half capacity and lacks approval to expand, the principal tells students that New Horizons is opening a high school next year, current and former staff said. New Horizons’ leaders deny that.

Knox, the former teacher, called such claims “putting on a show for the public.” The goal: “to make it seem like everything is great and fine and dandy.”

Julie O’Connor has written about politics, legal issues and education in New Jersey for more than 15 years. She was a member of the Star-Ledger editorial board and previously reported on criminal trials in Superior Court in Elizabeth. Now she covers urban education, particularly in Newark, Trenton, Paterson, Camden, Plainfield and Jersey City. Email her at OConnorJ@njspotlightnews.org.

‘It’s enough already’: Newark lawmaker pushes back on GOP scrutiny

2026-04-16T13:25:57+00:00

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New Jersey’s fiercest budget debate this year is over education spending — and Newark is at the center of the conversation.

At a heated state Assembly budget hearing on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers’ questioning returned repeatedly to the state’s largest school district. Statewide, Republicans have taken issue with Newark’s spending on everything from an AI surveillance system to COVID relief funds for tutoring, and a controversial lease for a new elementary school.

GOP Assemblymember Gerry Scharfenberger, who represents Monmouth County, said at Wednesday’s hearing “we need way better accountability,” and audits that run through budgets with a “fine-toothed comb” for urban districts like Newark. Assemblymember Al Barlas, who represents parts of Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties, said for the millions being spent in Newark, “we should all be offended by the fact that these kids are not graduating and are not reading” at grade level.

Republican lawmakers have targeted Newark and other urban school districts partially in response to state funding cuts that have hit suburban schools particularly hard.

But Assembly Budget Chair Eliana Pintor Marin, who represents Newark and served on the city’s Public Schools Advisory Board, said the focus on Newark is reductive and pits school districts against each other rather than aiming at the real issue — reforming a school funding formula that lawmakers agree isn’t working for everyone.

“I’m just tired of it,” Pintor Marin said Wednesday of the outsized attention paid to Newark schools by lawmakers who don’t represent the city. “It’s enough already.”

Pintor Marin said Newark is still recovering from the deep school funding cuts enacted under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie. The district has gone through state control, been federally audited for spending COVID relief funds, and has had a state monitor in place through the district’s transition back to local control.

In short, Pintor Marin said, Republicans’ calls for more state and federal oversight of Newark schools are “ridiculous.”

She noted the way the state funds education is tied directly to the number of students enrolled in each district and the cost to educate them. Newark’s enrollment is up, she said, and it educates a greater population of English learners and those with disabilities so state funding should increase accordingly.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget includes two new state Department of Education positions specifically for oversight and accountability of school districts, state Education Commissioner Lily Laux said at the hearing.

Assemblymember Alexander “Avi” Schnall, who represents parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties, pointed to the Lakewood School District’s multiple state monitors as evidence that increased state oversight does not equate to improvement.

Over the last 12 years, Schnall said Lakewood has had 11 state-appointed monitors, with four currently stationed in the district.

Those monitors “have not made much of a difference,” he said. “If anything the fiscal deficit has grown by a lot.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

New Jersey Republicans demand federal and state reviews of ‘fiscal failures’ in Newark Public Schools

2026-04-08T10:00:01+00:00

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Six years after New Jersey handed control of Newark Public Schools back to the community, a group of 20 Republican lawmakers is pressing federal and state officials for more oversight of how the district handles money.

The state’s largest school district is under scrutiny after it announced plans last month to enter into a $498 million, 30-year lease agreement to open a new elementary school in the city’s East Ward, Newark’s most densely populated neighborhood, where more than half of schools are overcrowded, according to a Chalkbeat analysis.

But the Republicans — none of whom represent Newark — are raising questions about the proposal, as well as what they allege is Newark’s mismanagement of federal pandemic relief funds.

In an April 2 letter to the state education department, comptroller, and local finance board, Republicans slammed the district for what they claim are “epic fiscal failures and taxpayer waste” and urged officials to reject the district’s proposed lease and ensure the district “stop wasting taxpayer dollars.” District officials have said the proposed lease would help add seats in the East Ward, as the state lacks funding to move forward on new school projects already identified in Newark.

In a separate letter to the U.S. Department of Education on March 31, a state senator and two Assembly members asked Secretary Linda McMahon to conduct an “immediate federal review” into how the district spent $287 million in pandemic relief.

In a statement to Chalkbeat on Tuesday, Ellen Keast, a spokesperson for the U.S Department of Education, said the federal department is taking the legislators’ concerns seriously.

“Misuse of taxpayer funds became widespread under the previous administration, which is why addressing it is a top priority,” Keast said.

Paul Brubaker, Newark Public Schools’ communications director, did not respond to a request for comment.

Michael Yaple, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Education, said the department received the letter from lawmakers and is reviewing Newark’s lease proposal. Yaple could not say when the state education department would decide on the proposal.

The Republicans’ calls echo recent efforts across the country to bring back state takeovers of school districts, a practice New Jersey has long used in cases of fiscal mismanagement or academic failures. Critics have said the practice frequently targets districts with large shares of students of color.

But Republicans are now raising the same issues cited when the state originally seized control of the district in 1995: mismanagement, lavish spending, and poor student outcomes.

GOP Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who represents parts of Morris, Sussex, and Warren counties west of Newark, recently cosponsored a bill that would appoint state monitors to school districts that receive 70% or more of aid from the state. Typically, more than 80% of Newark’s funding support comes from state aid.

“Newark has pockets of excellence. I don’t doubt that at all, and they should be very proud of some of the gains that they have made,” said Fantasia, who signed both letters and has alleged on Fox News and social media that Newark has mismanaged money. “That does not excuse egregious, ridiculous spending and behavior on nonsense for adults.”

The scrutiny comes as Superintendent Roger León tries to consolidate the gains Newark has made since the state officially ended its 25-year takeover of the district in 2020. At that time, León said he was worried about the school system’s recovery, not from the pandemic, but from the state’s control.

During a Fox News show last week, León was asked to respond to Fantasia’s concerns about Newark’s spending not resulting in better student outcomes. He said he had “absolutely no idea” what Fantasia was talking about. Instead, León touted the district’s 90% graduation rate and its 10.4% chronic absenteeism rate.

Under León, the district has also opened ten new schools and increased its enrollment. That trend has been fueled in part by a surge in English language learners and students with disabilities who require more money to educate.

For the next school year, the district said its costs are rising and closed a $122.9 million budget gap by reallocating funds, drawing from its budgeted fund balance, and cutting 30 teaching positions.

The district in March approved a $1.67 billion budget for next school year and expects to receive a record $1.38 billion in state aid.

“I don’t think we have a money problem in these large districts,” Fantasia said. “It’s how those dollars are allocated, what the deliverables are, and what student outcomes are.”

Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office referred questions about Newark’s lease proposal and investigation into its finances to the state education department. Her proposed fiscal 2027 budget would add funding for new roles there to help districts facing budget deficits.

Newark, the state’s biggest school district, receives the largest share of state aid, which the School Funding Reform Act distributes to districts based on student population, property valuations, and the income of residents, according to Danielle Farrie, research director for the Education Law Center.

Proposed school lease provokes New Jersey Republicans’ anger

At the center of the Republican complaints is the lease proposal for the new site of the Riverfront Elementary School in Newark’s East Ward. Students in the neighborhood learn in school buildings that are on average a century old. But the Schools Development Authority –– the state agency that builds new schools for Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts –– has rebuilt only two new school buildings since 2006, and nine total for the district overall.

Hawkins Street School is located in the East Ward of Newark, New Jersey and was originally built in 1887.

The Republican letter to the state notes that the Riverfront School deal is more than the roughly $284 million cost of Perth Amboy High School, the most expensive school built by the SDA in New Jersey. The district already holds a lease worth over $300 million for the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design, also in the East Ward.

The links between Mayor Ras Baraka and the proposed Riverfront School’s developer, 56 Freeman Street LLC, have also increased scrutiny of the district.

District officials have defended the lease deal by pointing out delays in projects run by the SDA, which estimates it needs $7 billion to fund construction projects in the 31 high poverty districts alone. Republican lawmakers counter that by saying the nine new schools built for Newark since 2006 are “nearly one every other year.”

The Republican letter also cites a 2024 state audit that required the public school system to return $33,650 in state aid that officials spent on an outdoor party for central office staff and their families. The district has not told Chalkbeat if it returned the money. The state’s education department investigation determined that the spending violated laws on how school boards can spend taxpayer dollars since the event lacked educational or professional development value.

Nearly 70% of students in grades 3-9 fell short of literacy standards on state tests in 2025, and roughly 80% did not meet math standards. The district has improved scores by about two percentage points every year since 2022, and because of the improvements, the state designated Newark as a high-performing district this school year. But Republican lawmakers argue Newark’s spending is still out of sync with its academic results.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves $1.67 billion budget as costs for charters, facility needs, and programs grow

2026-03-27T20:35:12+00:00

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Newark Public Schools will spend $1.67 billion next year after the school board approved a budget Thursday that tops last year’s by $100 million.

This year’s budget adds more money to academic programs such as tutoring programs, art and music teachers in every school, new math workbooks, and an elementary school basketball league. It also budgets for more facilities spending to maintain old school buildings and renovate former schools shuttered under state control.

The spending plan is expansive and is supported by record high state funding, which makes up the bulk of the budget. But those added costs come at a price: homeowner taxes will go up, as the district plans to cut 30 teaching positions, six administrative roles, and nine school support staff positions but will keep over 3,000 teaching positions for the upcoming school year and add new teacher aides.

And while districts across the country are struggling with declining enrollment and school closures, Superintendent Roger León said at Thursday’s board meeting that interest in Newark schools is growing across all wards. He said the district does not anticipate closing schools “in this decade or the next.”

Newark grapples with rising costs, supported by record high state aid

School funding, including academic programs, technology, and salary increases, remains the district’s largest expenditure, followed by charter school payments, which grew by $5 million for the upcoming school year.

School Business Administrator José Fuentes, who presented the budget, said anticipated costs next school year grew to $122.9 million, a gap the district was able to close by reallocating funds and drawing from its budgeted fund balance – money set aside that carries over into the next budget cycle.

Contributions to schools were the biggest spending increase in next year’s budget, which includes more money for teacher salaries and benefits under the Newark Teachers Union contract and funding for growing schools. More money is also being provided to schools that are adding a grade level next school year.

Those costs are followed by rising charter school payments, building renovations, school construction costs, and facilities maintenance work, including lease increases and environmental remediation.

Newark taxpayers will feel the district’s growing costs in their pocketbooks.

The 2026-27 budget also includes a $39.94 tax increase for the average homeowner, bringing yearly tax contributions to $2,172.03.

District cuts to school roles next year will bring teaching position totals to 3,285, administrative positions to 390, and school support staff to 797, per the district’s presentation on Thursday. The district will also add 11 new aides, for a total of 382 aides next school year.

More state funding for Newark as district looks to expand schools

State aid for the upcoming school year bumped up to a record-high $1.38 billion contribution, a slight increase from this school year’s $1.32 billion per Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s budget proposal. State funding makes up 82.7% of the district’s overall budget, while the local tax levy makes up 8.8% of the budget next school year. The budget also includes an excess fund balance of 7.6%, which is available to cover expenses next school year, according to the budget presentation.

The upcoming spending plan ensures student support, academics, and programs remain, while adding more clubs, more athletics programs, and more trips for students, León said. He added that programs like after-school tutoring and Saturday School will continue, along with music and art teachers across every school.

León also said the district is adding more for school technology and teacher coaches to support English language arts and math programming, and setting aside funding for students “who actually need technology at home.”

District leaders are also budgeting for more academic programming and plan to spend an extra $5.6 million for K-5 math workbooks, an elementary basketball league, technology in classrooms, staff professional development, and the new Media High School, set to open at Bard High School Early College, with freshmen only starting in September, per the budget presentation.

Demand for more schools grows as families move to Newark

León said the main challenge next school year will be to ensure there are seats for every student who applies to the district. The number of eighth graders who have requested a seat for ninth grade next school year is the largest the district has ever received, said León on Thursday.

He added that the demand to add more seats in schools is “spreading like wildfire” across wards, including in the Ironbound section of Newark’s East Ward. District leaders have previously said that the city’s East Ward schools are more than 100 years old and overcrowded.

“We are projecting that with families that will be moving into the city, there will be a need for more schools than the ones we actually have,” León said.

To keep up with demand, district leaders are planning to open new schools over the next five years.

This week, the district presented its proposal to open the new Riverfront Elementary School through a $498 million lease and the new Media High School, which will take over the former Dayton Street School building in 2027 after renovations are completed, Leon said.

The upcoming school year’s budget plan includes $27.5 million more for renovations at Dayton Street, which closed in 2012 under state control of the district, school bathroom renovations, and other construction projects across the district. Fuentes, during Thursday’s hearing, also said an extra $12.1 million was budgeted for rising costs for maintenance work at schools, lease increases, and environmental remediations.

Charter school payments are rising as enrollment increases

Payments to charters are rising by $5 million, totaling $421 million this upcoming school year, one of the district’s largest financial pressures, Fuentes said during Thursday’s hearing. He explained that as charter school enrollment grows, so does the district’s responsibility to fund them.

Under state law, school districts like Newark must provide charter schools with at least 90% of per-pupil funds for students who live in the district. Roughly 21,400 students are enrolled in 15 charter schools across Newark.

During the meeting, South Ward resident and community advocate Maggie Freeman questioned why charter school representatives weren’t at the budget hearing yesterday to provide transparency on their spending in light of rising costs.

“We don’t know if we’re double, triple, or quadruple paying, and taxpayers are absorbing that cost,” Freeman said.

Aside from the $421 million, the district also projected spending just over $7 million for transportation costs for charter schools and nearly $5 million for students attending schools outside of the district.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Record school aid, tutoring, youth mental health: key education priorities in New Jersey governor 2027 budget

2026-03-10T21:00:13+00:00

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill says her first budget will break records for state education spending.

Speaking at the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday, she proposed more than $13.8 billion in total education spending in her fiscal year 2027 budget, which includes $12.4 billion in K-12 aid, $1.4 billion for preschool, and $15 million to expand high-impact tutoring to more districts.

Sherrill’s budget also includes $33 million to provide new youth mental health services and $625,000 to help support the state’s first cellphone-free school year starting this fall.

But notably, some items were absent. The budget proposal doesn’t include new money for the Schools Development Authority, the state agency responsible for school construction. Instead, the proposed budget will help fund new roles at the Department of Education to help school districts facing budget deficits, according to state leaders.

“This budget invests in and lays the groundwork for consolidating services and curricula,” Sherrill said. “It’s better for students, offering continuity as they move from elementary to middle to high school in one unified system. And it’s better for districts, providing needed savings.”

In Newark, home to New Jersey’s largest school district, education advocates hoped Sherrill’s budget priorities would also address longstanding issues such as providing additional support for the district’s more than 7,0000 students with disabilities and their families, along with more funding to replace the city’s old public school buildings. State leaders said special education aid, supplemented through federal IDEA funds, varies by district and is based on student counts, rather than statewide averages as of fiscal year 2026.

Sherrill spoke before a room full of former governors, politicians, community advocates, and other guests as she outlined her $60.7 billion overall state spending plan, which includes high appropriations to property tax relief programs and public worker pensions, and includes a proposed surplus of $5.4 billion.

The proposed budget is Sherrill’s first spending plan for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, and represents the state’s most ambitious investments in public education during what state leaders have called a “very difficult budget situation.” At the beginning of the budget process, state leaders estimated a $3 billion budget structural deficit, or about 5% of state expenses, “historically one of the worst budget gaps in the nation,” Sherrill said Tuesday. She also said federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump “are blowing an immediate hole in our budget.”

The proposed spending plan includes nearly $2 billion in spending reductions, as budget expenditures are approximately $1.6 billion more than anticipated revenues, according to a budget presentation on Monday. Sherrill on Tuesday said the proposal “is the budget we can afford.”

“If there are things you think we need to add – come to me with places we can cut. It’s simple math: Any additions require subtractions,” Sherrill said.

Education leaders across the state are closely watching this year’s investments in education after Sherrill, on the campaign trail, pledged to boost student performance, provide equity in schools, and reform the school funding formula.

The proposed spending plan is now in the hands of state lawmakers who will negotiate and draft the final budget bill over the next few months. The new budget must be finalized by July 1, according to the state Constitution.

Expanding support for high-impact tutoring

The budget includes $15 million for high-impact tutoring, an expansion that would help bring nearly 100 more districts into the program launched under former Gov. Phil Murphy to support students disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The new investment would help reach roughly 13,500 more students, according to state leaders.

High-impact tutoring is a research-based approach that requires three or more sessions per week with the same tutor in small group settings.

Sherrill on Tuesday said the approach is helping boost math and literacy scores in Camden, Franklin, and Elk Township.

For Newark Public Schools, the new funding is especially important as only 27.7% of the city’s public school third graders reached proficiency levels in English language arts last May. In 2023, the district began implementing high-impact tutoring to help refine student skills in math and reading. It also received a state grant that year to fund the work.

Paula White, the executive director for JerseyCAN, a statewide advocacy organization, on Tuesday said she applauds Sherrill for education priorities laid out in her budget but wants to work with her administration to implement “mission-critical budgetary investments” and strengthen existing policies to help “address long-ignored educational issues.”

The organization detailed five recommendations to support student success, including expanding career and technical education and improving math curricula. It also recommended that the state provide universal access to high-impact tutoring.

More mental health services for students

The budget also allocates $33 million in School-based Partnership for Access and Resilience for Kids, or SPARK grants, to fund new youth mental health services for students with the most acute needs. Sherrill said the program will bring “specialized, intensive mental health support” back in schools.

“That work is so important, especially given the impact of social media today,” Sherrill added on Tuesday.

During her gubernatorial campaign, Sherrill made clear she would invest in student mental health and online safety. She outlined a “Kids Online Safety Agenda,” to hold “big tech’s feet to the fire,” Sherrill said Tuesday.

“Kids are struggling with pressures that didn’t exist when we were young: the always-on online culture, fierce competition, worries about school violence, and concerns about the future,” Sherrill said.

The investment comes as Newark students have been pushing for more mental health support. Last month, a Newark student coalition spoke out at a school board meeting after members rejected their proposals that would have given students a formal role in monitoring how the district addresses mental health needs.

Preparing for a cellphone-free school year

The mental health push is also tied to the state’s first implementation of the new phone-free schools law starting this upcoming school year. In January, former Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law directing school districts to create policies that would limit the use of cellphones during instructional hours.

The proposed budget sets aside $125,000 for the new Office of Youth Online Mental Health Safety and Awareness in the Department of Health and $500,000 in support for a new Social Media Research Center.

“My four kids are between the ages of 14 and 20. And I can tell you with certainty: Our country is failing our children when it comes to protecting them online,” Sherrill said.

The new law calls on school districts to create their own policies restricting the use of cellphones during instructional hours. Newark school officials last month said they are working on their new policies. In December, the district was awarded more than $170,000 through a state grant to implement a bell-to-bell policy limiting cellphone use.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Advocates push Newark school board to cut ties with food vendor that supplies controversial ICE facility

2026-03-06T11:00:01+00:00

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As Newark Board of Education members, parents, and students shuffled into Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School in advance of the board’s February meeting, they passed a small group of activists protesting on the sidewalk.

Chatting quietly with each other, some eight activists stood along the school fence and held handwritten signs saying, “I prefer crushed ICE” and “ICE out of New Jersey!!!”

The advocates, members of local groups like Cosecha, Democratic Socialists of America, and Eyes on ICE, were gathered as part of “Ditch Driscoll Foods,” a campaign to pressure the school board to end its relationship with a food vendor that services a controversial immigration detention center.

“We don’t want the school system doing anything that is going to contribute to the current climate of fear that’s going on in our neighborhood,” said Amy Brown, a member of the campaign and a parent at Oliver Street School, where the majority of students are Latino. Many of her daughter’s classmates and their parents, she said, live in fear of ICE.

Amy Brown, a Newark parent speaks during the Newark Board of Education meeting.

Last summer, volunteers photographed a Driscoll Foods truck exiting the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility near Newark. The photo sparked a series of public records requests, which revealed the details of multiple contracts between Newark public schools and Driscoll Foods authorizing the district to spend up to $12 million with the vendor.

The contracts are set to expire on June 30, and advocates hope to pressure the Newark Board of Education to choose a different vendor for the upcoming school year. Advocates testified at the January Board of Education meeting; since then, they say, board members have ignored their repeated requests for comment and information.

“How is it possible that the school district is contracting with a company that already has a history of providing terrible quality food, not only to students but now also in immigration detention centers?” Carlos Castañeda, a member of the immigrants rights organization Cosecha told Chalkbeat, in Spanish. “We are demanding that the school district stop the contract.”

A parent of a 4-year-old girl at Sir Isaac Newton Elementary School spoke with the activists as he left the building before the board meeting.

“I don’t think we should be using our tax dollars, our education dollars to support companies that are getting rich off of feeding inmates bad food. Companies that are supporting essentially concentration camps,” the parent, who declined to share his name, told Chalkbeat. He had not been aware of Newark schools’ connection with the ICE contractor.

“I don’t want my tax money going to that and I hope the Board of Education takes that seriously,” he said.

Advocates want Newark schools to cut ties with Driscoll Foods

Delaney Hall, the privately-run ICE detention facility operated by the GEO Group, the largest prison operator in the United States, has faced a stream of complaints around detainee treatment since it opened last May. Detainees have reported abusive treatment, from frigid temperatures to vindictive guards to missing essential toiletries. In December, Jean Wilson Brutus, an asylum seeker from Haiti, died one day after being detained at Delaney Hall.

Detainees at Delaney Hall also say they have been served rotten and spoiled food, often at irregular times and in insufficient quantities. Last June, dozens of detainees protested the conditions at Delaney Hall, focusing on the quality and quantity of food they were provided.

“The same food that you’re giving to the detained people at Delaney Hall who haven’t gotten their due process, you’re giving to felons and people in jail at Essex County jail. That’s crazy that you’re serving that to elementary school students,” a Newark public school elementary teacher told Chalkbeat. The teacher asked not to share their name because they feared retaliation from the district.

“It kind of says a lot about what you think about the students in Newark,” the teacher said. “They deserve the best. These are children we’re talking about.”

In response to a question from Chalkbeat about the food quality at Newark schools, Hasani Council, president of the school board, said “That's something that we are working on."

Driscoll Foods has also come under criticism for its work in New York City. In 2024, then-Comptroller Brad Lander found the company had overbilled New York City’s Department of Social Services by $9 million, according to reporting at the time from The City.

Driscoll Foods did not reply to a request for comment.

During the school board meeting’s public participation period following reports from the superintendent and board members, advocates associated with the “Ditch Driscoll Foods” campaign spoke against Newark Public Schools’ ties to the company. Some read statements written by undocumented parents of Newark schoolchildren.

They repeatedly expressed frustration that the board had not responded to their messages or requests for information.

Teresa Yi-Bourdett, an activist with “Ditch Driscoll Foods,” urged board members to take action. “They are not a responsible supplier to work with,” she said. “So just remove them from competition, right?”

“That’s not how that works,” a board member said. Other board members appeared to be on their phones as advocates testified.

Teresa Yi-Bourdett, an activist speaks during the February Newark Board of Education meeting.

The presentations were followed by enthusiastic claps from the advocates and some attendees, including high schoolers who’d attended the meeting to push for better mental health support.

Some speakers at the meeting, unaffiliated with “Ditch Driscoll Foods,” called attention to what they said was the poor quality of food served to Newark public school students. Others questioned why the coalition was not advocating for the Newark school board to cut ties to suppliers to Essex County prisons.

“We’re serving a community where most of the students that make up that community are predominantly immigrant students,” the Newark teacher said. “I would think that we wouldn’t want to support a harmful company in that way.”

In response to a series of testimonies, board members repeatedly emphasized that they are required to follow procedural rules in selecting contractors.

Following the public comment period, School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson read a statement that addressed the selection of Driscoll Foods in the previous cycle.

“Vendors must be selected through a competitive procurement process to ensure fairness, compliance, and continuity of service. Does the district endorse all business practices of its vendors? No,” Wilson said. “We have a responsibility to ensure uninterrupted access to nutritious, compliant meals for students while adhering to public contracting law.”

Some advocates were not convinced.

“I just thought [the board members] were advocating for the quality and the nutritional value of the food, but the food isn’t that great,” the Newark teacher told Chalkbeat. She cited several occasions when students have been served expired food, and criticized the uniformity, cold temperature, and insufficient portions of breakfasts.

In response to a question from Chalkbeat about the food quality at Newark schools, Hasani Council, president of the Newark school board, said “That’s something that we are working on and we want to continue to work on and train our staff.”

The choice of food supplier, he added, was not in the power of Newark school board members to decide.

Board members, he said, only have final voting approval on the bid once it has already been awarded after a public bidding process. In response to a question from Chalkbeat about how he would vote if the superintendent were to recommend renewing Driscoll Foods’ contract, Council said, “I don’t know yet.”

Ciattarelli wants school vouchers in NJ. He hasn’t said how he’d pay for them.

2025-10-22T18:37:17+00:00

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The most radical proposal for change in New Jersey’s governor’s race is getting almost no attention. It’s not the focus of ads, it didn’t come up in the debates, and neither candidate is hammering at it during campaign stops.

But Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s plans to bring Florida’s school voucher program to New Jersey would flip the table on education. The vouchers, funded by the state, would give $8,000 annually, per student to any family that sends its child to private schools of any type.

A billionaire from Short Hills would be eligible. So would a single mother from Camden. One family of six kids could get $48,000 a year. The students could attend Catholic Schools, Jewish schools, or Muslim schools. And if the school is teaching that evolution is a myth, the state would fund that family’s choice and by extension, support that private school.

“School choice means school choice for everyone,” said Ciattarelli spokesman, Chris Russell. “Money follows the student.”

Ciattarelli’s plan

For Ciattarelli, and for the program’s supporters in Florida, a voucher program is liberation. It would free children trapped in failing public schools, voucher advocates say, many of them unable to afford private school, and give them hope.

The more than 200,000 students who already attend private schools in New Jersey would get the money, but so would anyone who wants to make the switch, or teach their kids at home. Ciattarelli won’t say how much that might cost, or where the money will come from, but the number could be at least $1.6 billion, based on the number of students already in private school and an $8,000 voucher.

That idea — that everyone should be eligible — has its supporters. While many voucher programs across the country limit eligibility to poor families in failing districts, supporters of Ciattarelli’s plan say including everyone will broaden the political support, giving the program permanence, like Social Security.

“If you care about that kid in Asbury Park and want to make sure that they always have the opportunity to have access to a program like this, then you want to make sure somebody in Ventnor has a chance to be in it too,” says Derrell Bradford, who heads the educational reform group 50Can, which supports charter schools and school vouchers.

Vouchers don’t exist in New Jersey now. We have charter schools, which are run by private organizations, with public money. But charters don’t charge tuition, and students take no test to gain admission. Charters can’t be religious, and virtually all are non-profit. And they have to meet the state’s academic standards, and measure progress with state tests.

That approach has blossomed in cities like Newark, where charters educate more than one-third of the students and report test scores that outpace district schools, on average, even among the poor. Mikie Sherrill, Ciattarelli’s Democratic opponent in this race, says she supports successful charters with strong oversight but draws the line on vouchers.

Ciattarelli’s voucher plan takes the idea of parental choice to a new level. And Democrats warn that it would be an expensive boondoggle, one that risks diverting funds from public schools already threatened by federal cuts, while enriching the rich, and forcing taxpayers to finance substandard schools.

Democratic opposition

“This would just destroy the public school system,” according to Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) who chairs the education committee and is the chair of Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign. “The no income cap aspect, the no accreditation is wild, the homeschooling piece – well, it’s all wild. And I think that this is probably the most extreme education proposal that we’ve seen anywhere in the country.”

For home-schoolers, Ciattarelli’s plan is heaven-sent. They would not only get the $8,000 per kid, but would be free of government interference and could teach what they want.

Andrew Schlafly of Far Hills, son of the late conservative activist Phillis Schlafly, is ready to open his doors and start homeschooling again based on his own curriculum resource, “Conservapedia,” which teaches that dinosaurs and humans roamed the earth together. He doesn’t have to worry about regulators. Under Ciattarelli’s program, the state money would go to anybody. It’s the parent’s choice, even if the school promotes what most experts consider pseudoscience.

The cost of Ciattarelli’s plan could be enormous. In Florida, the program costs nearly $4 billion a year.

And while Ciattarelli hasn’t said how he’d fund the program, a separate funding formula he has proposed would lead to deep cuts in state aid to poor districts, from Camden to Asbury Park to Newark.

Given that the next governor will have to wrestle with a stubborn deficit in the state budget, and that Ciattarelli is promising deep tax cuts, it’s hard to see how he might manage it. And he’s not saying.

Gopal, the Senate Democrat, says the plan is motivated by cynical politics, not educational vision. Vouchers would be enormously popular in communities that send their children to private religious schools, like Lakewood’s heavily Orthodox Jewish community.

“He’s clearly doing this to attract the Lakewood voting population, is my belief,” Gopal said. “There is a more effective way to do this where you don’t hurt the public schools at the same time,” he added, of creating more school choice opportunities for low income families.

Assemblyman Alexander Schnall, a Democrat from Lakewood, agrees that families of the 60,000 Orthodox students who attend Lakewood’s private schools would embrace this. He supports the concept of vouchers, he says, but also wants to make sure we don’t “destroy public schools.”

“In Florida, some school districts lost a lot of money,” he said. “So why go after one thing and say, that’s the thing, I’m copying you? Let’s look at the multitude of states and get the best options.”

This would be the first time that taxpayer dollars directly funded education at religious schools in New Jersey, Schnall acknowledged, and he’s ok with that. “The money follows the child, so there’s no issue of separation of church and state.”

Others, like the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, aren’t so sure. “Those are scarce and treasured resources that should not be depleted, especially not for unconstitutional schemes,” said its executive director, Amol Sinha.

Impact on students

How would all this affect student achievement? That’s tough to predict, given that the studies produce differing results, and that the many voucher programs across the country differ in key respects. Florida’s is the broadest version in place, with wider availability and fewer rules than most. Ciattarelli says that’s his model.

Patrick Graff of the American Federation for Children, which supports vouchers, was a third-grade Catholic school teacher in Florida during the two decades when its voucher program was restricted to low and middle-income families, before it went universal in 2023. While the parish where he worked had a large Hispanic population, prior to the voucher program, a lot of those kids were unable to afford the Catholic school, he said. Thanks to the voucher money, together with financial aid, “our school was able to reflect the diversity of our Catholic community there for the first time.”

But while his organization is “very supportive” of Florida’s model, Graff notes that other states have built their programs differently. “Our main priority – and this perhaps distinguishes us from some other school choice advocacy groups – is that low-income families should always be put first, regardless of the kind of program that you’re building,” he said.

Critics of Florida’s program complain of a lack of transparency: A parent attracted by a glossy ad has no way of evaluating what a school’s academic outcomes are unless it voluntarily publishes them. Unlike public schools, private, religious or home schools aren’t required to publicly report how well their students do on standardized tests.

Families may also enroll without understanding that these schools aren’t required to provide special ed services or align with state standards. “The qualities of the schools are wildly different,” says Norin Dollard of the Florida Policy Institute, which opposes vouchers. “Small private schools are proliferating. The Orlando Sentinel did a whole in-depth piece looking at schools in strip malls.”

Florida families have been allowed to use voucher money for things like paddle boards, televisions, and tickets to Disney World or Legoland. And after its voucher program went universal, Dollard found that based on its own data, 70% of the families using vouchers had already had kids enrolled in private school, where they were now getting a discount. You’d be crazy not to, she said: “Your accountant would tell you to do it.”

Adding to the mix is a new federal voucher program just created by President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” While the law doesn’t specify exactly how much the federal vouchers will be, it also allows wealthy families to use them.

In theory, a rich kid could take an $8,000 voucher paid with state tax dollars, stack it against an $6,000 voucher funded by federal money, and walk away with $14,000 annually to use on tuition at an elite school like Pingry, says Sasha Pudelski of the School Superintendents Association.

But Democrats plan opposition. As long as Gopal is Senate education chair, he’s vowed to fight this.

“I’m never going to post it,” Gopal said of a bill to create Ciattarelli’s voucher program, which he believes would bankrupt New Jersey’s budget. “This is insane.”

Trump administration freezes $140 million for NJ schools as Gov. Murphy urges feds to release funds

2025-07-11T18:54:24+00:00

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The Trump administration’s decision to withhold billions in public school funding – more than $140 million earmarked for New Jersey alone – could jeopardize programs serving thousands of low-income students and English language learners in the state.

The U.S. Department of Education notified the state’s education department on June 30 that it would not issue the funds, which were approved by Congress earlier this year and set to be available on July 1, a move nonprofit advocacy groups called unlawful.

Last school year in New Jersey, the funds supported over 14,000 students in free summer and after-school programs, helped more than 100,000 students improve English proficiency and academics, and expanded STEM programs, dual enrollment, tutoring, family support, and staff training, according to the state’s education department in an email to Chalkbeat on Thursday.

In response, Gov. Phil Murphy this week urged federal leaders to disburse the funds immediately to prevent delays that “could threaten school districts’ continued provision of critical services,” according to a letter he sent Wednesday to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.

“This departure from past practice threatens harm to students and educators in New Jersey and around the country. It undermines the timely, high-quality, thoughtful education and support services our students depend on to achieve their full learning potential,” said Murphy in his Wednesday letter.

The state’s education department “is reviewing and evaluating its options to ensure that students receive the resources they deserve,” wrote Mike Yaple, NJDOE spokesperson, in an email on Thursday.

Congress had approved the nearly $7 billion as part of a continuing resolution in March. The money was earmarked for seven federal programs in schools nationwide. Five of the programs fund K-12 education, while the other two support schools, community colleges, and organizations providing adult literacy and civics education.

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told Chalkbeat last week that its initial findings “have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda” but the office did not provide documentation for its findings.

Nonprofit advocacy groups like the Education Law Center and the Learning Policy Institute have been sounding the alarm about the consequences of halting federal funds. The policy institute last week in a blog post said that, for now, “states must begin to plan for the possibility that these funds may not become available, and if they do, it may not be for several months or longer.” They added that states may need to replace funds with state funds, provide funding to school districts most impacted and unable to replace the funds, or take other actions.

The Education Law Center in a press release last week called the Trump administration’s move to hold the funds an “illegal decision.”

“That illegal decision, like the other steps this administration has taken to shut down the Department, is unlawful and will harm students and families across the country,” the group wrote.

Of those funds in New Jersey, nearly $46 million is earmarked for teacher training, $23 million for English language learners, and $32 million for tutoring and other academic enrichment programs, according to the state education department. A state education department spokesperson did not confirm the amount of federal funds for state migrant education and before- and after-school programs that will be frozen by publication deadline.

Additionally, the state receives more than $15 million to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services, according to Murphy’s Wednesday letter. The state partnered with school districts, community colleges, and vocational schools across the state to provide the support.

In Newark Public Schools, New Jersey’s largest school district, the withheld federal funds include just under $2.5 million for teacher training, nearly $2 million for English learners, and another $2 million for tutoring. A state education department spokesperson did not confirm by publication deadline how much federal funding could be withheld for migrant education and before- and after-school programs in the Newark school district.

Federal funding has been a critical piece for Newark. In 2023, Superintendent Roger León said federal pandemic relief dollars were the district’s “saving grace” in expanding summer school, Saturday school, and before- and after-school programming.

In Newark, summer school is a combination of enrichment activities, specialized programs for high schoolers, and mandatory academic programs, and is funded in part by federal dollars. The district’s summer school also provides a program for English learners who have recently arrived in the country and a program for students with disabilities, focusing on maintaining the skills they developed throughout the school year.

The district has also been cautious in building its $1.5 billion budget for the upcoming school year. Historically, Newark has been one of New Jersey’s most underfunded school districts based on the state’s school funding formula, despite receiving a record high $1.3 billion in state aid for this fiscal year.

During the district’s budget hearing this spring, school business administrator Valerie Wilson said they budgeted conservatively in light of funding uncertainties at the federal level.

“We’re not quite sure what’s happening, how we’re going to deal with that, and you can’t assume that you’re going to have all the money you had in the past,” said Wilson during the March budget hearing.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Legislador republicano de NJ exige investigación de las finanzas de las escuelas de Newark

2025-05-02T19:44:52+00:00

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Un legislador de Nueva Jersey exige que el estado investigue de inmediato los “descarados y frívolos” gastos de las escuelas de Newark en los últimos años, incluyendo $17.5 millones para un sistema de cámaras de seguridad con inteligencia artificial y $44,000 para un día de diversión del personal, entre otros costos en el presupuesto del distrito de $1,500 millones.

El asambleísta republicano Alex Sauickie, que representa partes de los condados de Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean y Burlington, instó al comisionado estatal de educación Kevin Dehmer a auditar los presupuestos y gastos del distrito para el año académico actual y los últimos cinco años, según una carta enviada por correo electrónico compartida con Chalkbeat Newark.

“Esta petición no se hace a la ligera”, escribió Sauickie en la carta del 15 de abril. “Se basa en un creciente conjunto de información financiera disponible públicamente e informes que revelan lo que la mayoría consideraría gastos descarados y frívolos incompatibles con la responsabilidad fiduciaria esperada de un distrito que recibe más de $ 1,300 millones en dólares de los contribuyentes, la mayor parte provenientes de residentes fuera de Newark”.

El legislador del sur de Nueva Jersey, que defiende el Servicio DOGE de la administración Trump —una iniciativa que la administración dice que está destinada a recortar el gasto federal que considera derrochador— también propuso una legislación a principios de este año que asignaría un monitor fiscal a Newark y otros distritos escolares con alta pobreza.

El vocero de las escuelas públicas de Newark, Paul Brubaker, calificó las declaraciones del legislador como “ataques infundados y escandalosos” contra el distrito. Las llamadas del legislador “exponen conceptos erróneos profundamente arraigados sobre nuestro distrito y, más generalmente, los distritos escolares urbanos de Nueva Jersey”, dijo Brubaker en un comunicado enviado por correo electrónico el martes 22 de abril.

Sauickie se centra en particular en los $1,250 millones que el distrito recibió en ayuda estatal para el año escolar en curso y los $75 millones adicionales asignados al distrito para el próximo año escolar. Esa ayuda estatal marca la primera vez que Nueva Jersey financia totalmente al distrito en base a la fórmula actual de ayuda escolar.

El traslado de fondos a distritos históricamente subfinanciados, como Newark, causó algunos recortes en las ayudas estatales para los distritos que han sido sobrefinanciados según la fórmula estatal de ayuda escolar. Debido a eso, los distritos de su región han experimentado reducciones en las ayudas estatales y han tenido que enfrentar cortes difíciles y a menudo controvertidos en sus presupuestos en los últimos años, dijo Sauickie.

El distrito escolar de Jackson, por ejemplo, ha citado recortes en las ayudas estatales por su decisión de vender una escuela primaria y fusionar sus dos escuelas secundarias.

El impulso del legislador para auditar los gastos de Newark llega en un momento en que la administración de Trump está examinando los costos que considera derrochadores, fraudulentos o un abuso de la financiación a nivel federal. En las últimas semanas, la administración puso fin a los fondos federales para el alivio de la pandemia, pidió a las escuelas que acabaran con los programas de diversidad, equidad e inclusión que considera ilegales, y eliminó personal del Departamento de Educación de Estados Unidos.

El Departamento de Educación del estado no respondió a una solicitud de comentarios antes de la publicación de este artículo. Sauickie dijo que no había recibido respuesta de Dehmer o del departamento estatal de educación desde que envió la carta la semana pasada.

El distrito fue ordenado a reembolsar al estado por el uso indebido de la ayuda

Sauickie tuvo éxito en un reciente intento de investigar los gastos del distrito después de que informes periodísticos el año pasado destacaran el “día de diversión para el personal” del superintendente de Newark, Roger León, que se llevó a cabo con un costo de $44,000. Después de leer los informes, el legislador escribió una carta a Dehmer y le solicitó que se realizara una auditoría.

El Departamento de Educación del estado posteriormente auditó al distrito y determinó que debía devolver $33,650 en ayuda estatal, la cual dijo fue gastada inapropiadamente cuando se organizó el día de diversión para el personal. El evento de un día incluyó un DJ y cuatro cabinas inflables de carnaval, entre otros entretenimientos, pero carecían de componentes educativos o de desarrollo profesional, determinó la auditoría.

En su reciente carta a funcionarios estatales, Sauickie también dijo que quiere que el departamento de educación del estado investigue al superintendente del condado de Essex, Joseph S. Zarra, por el “nivel de supervisión o falta de ella” al revisar los presupuestos del distrito.

El equipo de prensa del departamento estatal de educación, que responde en nombre de los superintendentes del condado, tampoco respondió a una solicitud de respuesta de Zarra.

“Si otros distritos no han recibido la financiación que necesitan para ofrecer un programa educativo completo y eficiente, nos unimos a su petición de ayuda estatal adicional”, agregó Brubaker en su declaración por correo electrónico. “Sin embargo, todo el mundo debería tener cuidado con los legisladores que tratan de desviarse de las necesidades de sus propias comunidades haciendo declaraciones ofensivas, despectivas y falsas sobre otras comunidades, como Newark, en lugar de abordar esas necesidades directamente”.

Newark presupuestó $17.5 millones para un sistema de cámaras de seguridad de inteligencia artificial, que fue financiado en su mayor parte por fondos federales de ayuda para casos de pandemia. El distrito no ha confirmado si el gobierno federal dispersó los fondos que necesitaba para cubrir el costo de ese proyecto, que se paralizó en el otoño debido a problemas de asbesto y plomo.

En los últimos años, la Junta de Educación de Newark también ha gastado miles de dólares en viajes a conferencias desde Miami hasta Honolulu, según el consejo editorial de The Star-Ledger. En los últimos dos años, la junta escolar ha aprobado hasta $2.8 millones de dólares para atender eventos del personal, incluidas las noches de regreso a la escuela, según Tap Into Newark.

Cuando se le preguntó sobre los gastos de viaje, Brubaker dijo en un correo electrónico: “El distrito no ha gastado millones en viajes, y no controla dónde se celebran las conferencias”.

Del mismo modo, cuando se le preguntó acerca de los fondos presupuestados para los eventos con comidas y bebidas, Brubaker dijo: “Nunca lo hemos hecho”.

Este año se cumplen cinco años desde que se restauró el control local de las escuelas públicas de Newark. El distrito había estado bajo control estatal desde 1995, una medida que tenía como objetivo mejorar el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes y las finanzas del distrito. Varias escuelas de distrito fueron cerradas y vendidas durante ese tiempo, que León ha convertido en una de sus prioridades recuperar.

Traducido por Bernardo de la Cruz.

Catherine Carrera es la corresponsal jefa de Chalkbeat Newark. Comunícate con ella por correo electrónico a ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por New Jersey Hispano, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

New Jersey GOP lawmaker demands investigation into Newark schools’ finances

2025-04-23T21:55:28+00:00

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A New Jersey lawmaker is demanding that the state immediately investigate Newark schools’ “brazen and frivolous” spending in recent years, including $17.5 million for an artificial intelligence security camera system and $44,000 for a staff fun day, among other costs in the district’s $1.5 billion budget.

Republican Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, who represents parts of Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Burlington counties, urged state Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer to audit the district’s budgets and expenditures for the current academic year and the last five years, according to an emailed letter shared with Chalkbeat Newark.

“This request is not made lightly,” wrote Sauickie in the April 15 letter. “It is based on a growing body of publicly available financial information and reports that reveal what most would consider brazen and frivolous expenditures inconsistent with the fiduciary responsibility expected of a district receiving over $1.3 billion in taxpayer dollars — most of which come from residents outside of Newark.”

The South Jersey lawmaker who champions the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service — an initiative the administration says is intended to cut federal spending it considers wasteful — also proposed legislation earlier this year that would assign a fiscal monitor to Newark and other high-poverty school districts.

Newark Public Schools spokesman Paul Brubaker called the lawmaker’s statements “baseless and outrageous attacks” on the district. The calls from the lawmaker “expose deep-seated misconceptions about our district and, more generally, New Jersey’s urban school districts,” Brubaker said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

Sauickie takes particular aim at the $1.25 billion the district received in state aid for the current school year and the additional $75 million earmarked for the district next school year. That state aid marks the first time New Jersey is fully funding the district based on the current school aid formula.

Shifting funds to historically underfunded districts, such as Newark, caused some cuts in state aid for districts that have been overfunded based on the state’s school aid formula. Because of that, districts in his region have experienced state aid reductions and have had to face difficult, and often, controversial cuts in their budgets in the last few years, Sauickie said.

The Jackson school district, for example, has cited state aid cuts for its decision to sell an elementary school and merge its two high schools.

The lawmaker’s push for auditing Newark’s spending comes at a time when the Trump administration is scrutinizing costs it considers wasteful, fraudulent, or an abuse of funding at the federal level. In recent weeks, the administration put an end to federal pandemic relief funding, asked schools to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs it considers illegal, and gutted staffing in the U.S. Education Department.

The state Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment by publication. Sauickie said he hadn’t gotten a response from Dehmer or the state education department since he sent the letter last week.

District was ordered to refund state for misuse of aid

Sauickie was successful in a recent push to investigate the district’s spending after news reports last year highlighted Newark Superintendent Roger León’s “staff fun day,” which ran at a cost of $44,000. After reading the reports, the lawmaker wrote a letter to Dehmer and urged an audit.

The state Education Department subsequently audited the district and determined it needed to pay back $33,650 in state aid, which it said was inappropriately spent when hosting the staff fun day. The daylong event included a DJ and four inflatable carnival booths, among other entertainment, but lacked educational or professional development components, the audit determined.

In his recent letter to state officials, Sauickie also said he wants the state education department to investigate Essex County Superintendent Joseph S. Zarra for the “level of oversight or lack thereof” in reviewing the district’s budgets.

The state education department’s press team, which responds on behalf of the county superintendents, also did not respond to a request for a response from Zarra.

“If other districts have not received the funding they need to provide a thorough and efficient educational program, we join in their advocacy for additional state aid,” Brubaker added in his emailed statement. “However, everyone should be wary of legislators who attempt to deflect from the needs of their own communities by making offensive, disparaging, and false statements about other communities, like Newark, instead of tackling those needs head-on.”

Newark budgeted $17.5 million for an artificial intelligence security camera system, which was mostly funded by federal pandemic relief dollars. The district hasn’t confirmed if the federal government dispersed the funds it needed to cover the cost of that project, which was stalled in the fall due to asbestos and lead issues.

In recent years, the Newark Board of Education has also spent thousands of dollars on travel to conferences from Miami to Honolulu, according to The Star-Ledger editorial board. Over the last two years, the school board has approved up to $2.8 million for catering for staff events, including back-to-school nights, according to Tap Into Newark.

When asked about the travel expenses, Brubaker said in an email response, “The district has not spent millions on travel, and it does not control where conferences are held.”

Similarly, when asked about the budgeted funds for catering, Brubaker said, “We have never done so.”

This year marks five years since local control was fully restored for Newark Public Schools. The district had been under state takeover since 1995, a move that was intended to improve student academic performance and the district’s finances. Several district schools were closed and sold during that time, which León has made one of his priorities to reclaim.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

A translation of this story was provided by Bernardo de la Cruz of New Jersey Hispano in partnership with Montclair State University’s Center for Cooperative Media and is supported financially by the NJ Civic Information Consortium. The story was originally written in English by Chalkbeat Newark and is republished under a special content-sharing agreement through NJ News Commons’ Spanish Translation News Service.

Escuelas de Newark podrían recibir $1,300 millones bajo el plan presupuestal de 2026 de Phil Murphy

2025-03-07T23:00:28+00:00

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En el plan de gasto de $58,100 millones propuesto por el gobernador de Nueva Jersey, Phil Murphy, para 2026, las escuelas de Newark obtendrían una cifra récord de $1,300 millones —un aumento del 6% en la ayuda estatal durante el año actual— bajo una fórmula actualizada de financiamiento escolar destinada a proporcionar más estabilidad a los distritos que la actual.

Alrededor de $22,200 millones —o un tercio— del presupuesto propuesto para el próximo año fiscal que comienza el 1 de julio, se destinaría a financiar la educación pre-K-12 en el estado, dijo el gobernador en su discurso presupuestario esta semana. De esa considerable porción, $12,100 millones cubrirían la ayuda estatal a las escuelas, un aumento de $386 millones en ayuda durante el actual año fiscal, según el presupuesto del gobernador en breve.

“Durante los últimos ocho años, el gobernador Murphy se ha asegurado de que el sistema de educación pública permanezca a la vanguardia de sus prioridades para Nueva Jersey y este presupuesto refleja esto”, dijo el comisionado de educación Kevin Dehmer en una llamada con reporteros el jueves.

El Departamento de Educación del estado publicó los estimados de ayuda escolar para el año escolar 2025-26 el jueves y celebró una llamada a la prensa para discutir los cambios propuestos en la fórmula de financiación escolar.

La fórmula actualizada limitaría los aumentos y recortes anuales de la financiación estatal, cambiaría la forma en que se calcula la matrícula en educación especial y permitiría a los distritos aumentar el impuesto escolar por encima del límite actual del 2%.

“Esos ajustes reflejan los temas más comunes e importantes que hemos escuchado de educadores y defensores a lo largo de los años”, afirmó Dehmer, agregando que durante el año pasado el departamento celebró audiencias públicas regionales en todo el estado para discutir la actualización de la fórmula de 17 años.

Algunos cambios básicos incluyeron ajustes para los costos reales, como los salarios actualizados de los maestros, los costos de los beneficios de salud y el costo de la energía para tener en cuenta la inflación, dijo Dehmer. La fórmula actualizada también incluiría el costo de los programas de salud mental en las escuelas y las nuevas prácticas de seguridad.

Sin embargo, estos cambios solo se aplicarían al próximo año fiscal. Si los legisladores decidieran mantener la fórmula actualizada, sería necesario codificarla en una legislación separada.

Este año fue la primera vez que distritos históricamente subfinanciados, incluyendo Newark, recibieron su parte completa de ayuda estatal bajo la fórmula actual desde que se promulgó la Ley de Reforma de Financiamiento Escolar en 2008. Si bien algunos distritos experimentaron un aumento de la financiación, otros sufrieron recortes significativos que hicieron difícil equilibrar el presupuesto.

En un esfuerzo por crear más estabilidad, la propuesta limita los recortes de ayuda este año al 3% y establece un límite máximo de aumentos del 6% en cuatro categorías principales de ayuda estatal: transporte, educación especial, igualación y seguridad.

La fórmula actualizada también calcularía la ayuda para educación especial utilizando las cifras más recientes de matrícula en educación especial de un distrito, en lugar del enfoque actual de utilizar una estimación basada en el censo.

“Queda claro por la abrumadora respuesta que el cambio a usar la matrícula de educación especial es el enfoque preferido”, dijo Dehmer el jueves.

Otro cambio significativo en la propuesta permitiría a “algunos distritos” aumentar el impuesto escolar más allá del límite actual del 2%, pero aún no se ha publicado cómo determinará el departamento qué distritos recibirían esa oportunidad, explicó Dehmer. Algunos distritos, entre ellos Newark, por ejemplo, no están aumentando su cuota local de acuerdo con la fórmula actual debido al límite impositivo, pero esta flexibilidad les permitiría hacerlo.

“Todavía estamos planeando los detalles de exactamente cómo se verá eso”, dijo Dehmer. “En general, vamos a apuntar a los distritos que están aplicando los impuestos por debajo de la cuota local para darles la oportunidad de alcanzar ese nivel de ingresos locales”.

En su discurso del presupuesto, Murphy dijo que el estado tendría que tomar un camino diferente si los recortes anticipados de fondos federales causaran una interrupción, pero no compartió exactamente lo que eso significaría para las prioridades presupuestarias, incluida la educación.

Dehmer dijo que el Departamento de Educación del estado ha aconsejado a los distritos escolares que planifiquen una ligera reducción en la financiación federal mientras preparan sus presupuestos para el próximo año escolar, lo cual ha sido práctica habitual.

“Realmente no sabemos exactamente lo que va a sacudir a nivel federal, así que estamos vigilando eso de cerca”, afirmó Dehmer. “Los distritos ya planean una ligera reducción año tras año y hemos aconsejado a los distritos que planifiquen potencialmente incluso un poco menos, solo para ser conservadores”.

Traducido por Bernardo de la Cruz.

Esta traducción fue proporcionada por New Jersey Hispano, en asociación con el Centro de Medios Cooperativos de la Universidad Estatal de Montclair, y cuenta con el apoyo financiero del Consorcio de Información Cívica de NJ. La historia fue escrita originalmente en inglés por Chalkbeat Newark y se vuelve a publicar en virtud de un acuerdo especial para compartir contenido a través del Servicio de noticias de traducción al español de NJ News Commons.

Catherine Carrera es la corresponsal jefa de Chalkbeat Newark. Comunícate con ella por correo electrónico a ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Newark schools would get $1.3 billion in aid under Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2026 budget plan

2025-02-28T21:52:35+00:00

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In New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed $58.1 billion spending plan for 2026, Newark schools would get a record-high $1.3 billion — a 6% bump in state aid over the current year — under an updated school funding formula meant to provide more stability for districts than the current one.

About $22.2 billion — or one-third — of the proposed budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1, would go toward funding pre-K-12 education in the state, the governor said in his budget address earlier this week. From that hefty portion, $12.1 billion would cover state school aid, a $386 million increase in aid over the current fiscal year, according to the governor’s budget-in-brief.

“Over the last eight years, Gov. Murphy has ensured that the public education system remains at the forefront of his priorities for New Jersey and this budget is no different,” Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer said in a call with reporters on Thursday.

The state Education Department released school aid estimates for the 2025-26 school year on Thursday and held a press call to discuss the proposed changes to the school funding formula.

The updated formula would cap year-to-year increases and cuts to state funding, change the way special education enrollment is calculated, and allow districts to increase the school tax levy above the current 2% cap.

“Those adjustments reflect the most common and significant themes we heard from educators and advocates over the years,” Dehmer said, adding that over the past year the department held regional public hearings statewide to discuss updating the 17-year-old formula.

Some basic changes included adjustments for actual costs, such as updated teacher salaries, health benefits costs, and the cost of utilities to account for inflation, Dehmer said. The updated formula would also account for the cost of schools’ mental health programs and newer security practices.

These changes, however, would only apply to the next fiscal year. Should lawmakers move to keep the updated formula, it would need to be codified in separate legislation.

This year marked the first time that historically underfunded districts, including Newark, received their full share of state aid under the current formula since the School Funding Reform Act was enacted in 2008. While some districts saw an upward swing in funding, others experienced significant cuts that made it difficult to balance a budget.

In an effort to create more stability, the proposal limits cuts in aid this year to 3% and places a cap on increases at 6% across four main state aid categories: transportation, special education, equalization, and security aid.

The updated formula would also calculate special education aid using a district’s most recent special education enrollment figures, instead of the current approach of using a census-based estimate.

“It’s clear from overwhelming feedback that the shift to using special education enrollment is the preferred approach,” Dehmer said on Thursday.

Another significant change in the proposal would allow “some districts” to increase the school tax levy by more than the current 2% cap — but how the department will determine which districts would be granted that opportunity has yet to be released, Dehmer said. Some districts, including Newark, for example, are not raising their local fair share per the current formula because of the tax cap, but this flexibility would allow them to do that.

“We’re still planning the details of exactly what that will look like,” Dehmer said. “In general, we’re going to be targeting those districts that are taxing below local fair share to give them the opportunity to get up to that level of local revenue.”

In his budget address, Murphy said the state would need to take a different path if anticipated federal funding cuts cause a disruption, but he didn’t share exactly what that would mean for budget priorities, including education.

Dehmer said the state education department has advised school districts to plan for a slight reduction in federal funding as they prepare their budgets for next school year, which has been customary practice.

“We really don’t know exactly what’s going to shake out at the federal level so we’re keeping a close eye on that,” Dehmer said. “Districts already plan for a slight reduction year-over-year and we have advised districts to plan for potentially even a little bit less, just to be conservative.”

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Cellphone ban, school aid: Key education priorities in New Jersey governor’s 2026 budget

2025-02-25T23:56:36+00:00

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy proposed $22.2 billion for pre-K-12 education in his 2026 budget, which would include $12.1 billion in school aid, $3 million for a school cellphone ban initiative, and $7.5 million to support high-impact tutoring.

The proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, reflects a roughly $500 million increase in school aid over last year and would mark the second consecutive year that the Murphy administration fully funds the state’s school funding formula.

“With every budget we have introduced, we have provided record-high funding for our K-12 schools,” Murphy said in his budget address in the Assembly Chamber at the statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday. “With our final budget, we will once again fully fund New Jersey’s public education system.”

Before a room full of politicians, former governors, community advocates, and other invited guests, Murphy outlined his $58.1 billion overall state spending plan, which makes hefty appropriations to property tax relief programs and public worker pensions, and includes a proposed surplus of $6.3 billion.

Murphy’s education agenda for his final year in office comes as the federal Department of Education faces potentially consequential disruptions and uncertainty about federal funding looms. To that end, the two-term-limited Democratic governor said the plans would likely need to be modified should an emergency situation arise.

“While I sincerely hope that the situation in Washington settles down, and that we, in turn, have a normal, healthy budget season over the next few months — that is by no means a guarantee,” Murphy said. “There is a distinct possibility that we will, instead, need to pursue a ‘break the glass’ strategy. What that looks like, we cannot yet say. But we must acknowledge and adapt to this new reality.”

Murphy repeated a message from his State of the State address last month: that he intends to work with the Trump Administration. But, he added, he will also defend the civil rights of all residents, including immigrant families and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the rights of educators “to teach the full truth of our history.”

The proposed spending plan must go through negotiations with lawmakers and stakeholders over the next few months before it’s finalized by the June 30 deadline.

Cellphone ban a ‘win-win-win’

Murphy has joined a growing trend nationwide to ban cellphone use during school, following announcements from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also plans to make an announcement this week to implement the initiative in that state.

The proposed $3 million will be available to districts through a competitive grant process to offset the cost for tools that help keep phones out of reach, such as pouches.

Murphy said he believes the initiative is a “win-win-win” for teachers, parents, and students. Without cellphones, “our students can remain focused on their studies, and our educators don’t have to compete with TikTok for their attention,” he said on Tuesday.

New Jersey lawmakers proposed a bill late last year, currently pending action, that would direct the state’s education commissioner to meet with school stakeholders as the education department works on developing cellphone and social media policies.

The excessive use of smartphones and social media can have detrimental effects on youth mental health and academic performance, according to recent studies. In national surveys, many educators have said cellphones are a major distraction in the classroom and most adults support a ban on classroom cellphone use.

However, parents have raised concerns about cellphone bans and there is evidence in other surveys that parents want their children to have a phone in school in case of an emergency.

In Newark Public Schools, the current policy states that electronic devices and cellphones may be brought to school but students may not use them to make calls or take photos or videos from within the school building, unless they receive permission from a school administrator.

Want to share your opinion on policies to limit cellphone usage in your school? Take our survey.

Increases in school aid for some districts, limits to cuts for others

Throughout Murphy’s tenure, state aid to underfunded districts, including Newark, has been increasing incrementally to fulfill the school aid formula established in 2008. The state has used a weighted student formula created under the School Funding Reform Act to give districts financial support in addition to local taxes to help ensure that every student is provided a “thorough and efficient” education, as stipulated in the state constitution. However, the state didn’t provide the full amount owed to underfunded schools until this current fiscal year.

While much-needed funding has increased for historically underfunded districts, other districts have experienced significant cuts. Murphy’s proposal addresses concerns from those districts by capping cuts this year to no more than 3%.

Though the significant increases in school aid for poor districts have received much praise, education advocates say the formula is in serious need of key updates and revisions to meet today’s educational standards.

In the current fiscal year, Newark received a record-high $1.25 billion in aid, which made up roughly 82.3% of the district’s $1.5 billion budget for the 2024-25 school year. Yet, the district remained underfunded per the formula by roughly $112 million due to the local fair share of property taxes.

On Thursday, the governor’s office plans to announce the estimated state aid for school districts. Districts will be able to use those estimates to finalize their own budget proposals for next school year.

Schools Development Authority still needs more funding

Murphy’s proposed budget also includes $350 million for the state Schools Development Authority, the agency responsible for funding school construction projects in Newark and 30 other high-poverty districts in the state. This amount follows a funding schedule established in 2023, according to the governor’s budget-in-brief.

There is an additional $50 million for the SDA from the budget’s general fund to support capital projects in SDA districts, which falls significantly short of the $500 million that a coalition of advocates recently said these districts desperately need for capital projects.

“If significant funding is not appropriated now, the NJSDA may not be able to continue capital projects past the year 2030,” said Nikki Baker, the lead organizer for the coalition Healthy Schools Now. “School facilities funding must be an education priority.”

The expansion of free universal pre-K has been a hallmark of Murphy’s education agenda. As part of his education plan for his final year, Murphy’s plan includes an additional $34.6 million in new funding to continue that program.

He also sets aside $1 million in the budget to incentivize towns to join Newark in lowering the voting age to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to cast ballots in local school board elections. Newark teens will get to vote in the school board election for the first time on April 15.

Fully funding the state’s school aid formula is more crucial now as the threat of federal funding cuts loom, said New Jersey Education Association leaders in an emailed statement.

“We need to protect students from the specter of reckless cuts to federal education funding, and that starts with the state meeting its full obligation, as this budget does,” the statement read.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.