I am very concerned about how state funding is being distributed to schools in NJ.
In WW-P where I have been a teacher for 18 years, and K-12 student prior to that, we had over $7.7 million removed from our state aid figure last year. This cut of over 70 percent of the state aid figure determined by the school funding formula, required the district to eliminate about 20 teaching positions, increase class size at all levels, let go all of the custodial employees, reduce extracurricular programs, etc.
In the Robbinsville School system, where my son attends school, state aid was also severely cut last year and the school district is now functioning with less than adequate funding by over $6 million. In Robbinsville, as in WW-P, property taxes are high and so are the parental expectations for the students in each school system, yet the state is financially choking both of these successful districts.
The residents of WW-P and Robbinsville send tens of millions of dollars to the state through income taxes and our school systems receive very little, comparatively speaking, in state aid for our schools. Both school districts fund over 90 percent of the cost of public schools through property taxes. The state has told school districts to tighten their belts and consequently teachers have been laid off, programs have been cut, and classrooms are over-crowded.
Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to allocate $1 billion to subsidize private and religious schools through Senate Bill S1872. This bill diverts corporate tax dollars into an account exclusively dedicated to funding private and religious schools with a dollar for dollar tax credit to corporations.
WHAT? We can’t afford to provide funding for our public school systems where all students are welcome and all challenges are addressed, but we can fund private schools where special education services are likely not available (and parents must waive their child’s rights to those services if they enroll in the school) and students can be denied entrance?
This seems like one more scheme to promote and financially support private and religious schools in New Jersey while also financially choking the public school system. The state’s public school system, which ranks among the very best in the nation and which includes all students no matter what their educational challenges might be, no matter where they come from or what support or lack thereof they experience, is being choked by this bill.
I am outraged that bill S1872 is even on the table. I do not want corporations to receive a tax break that ends up diverting more money from public schools.
Debbie Baer
Robbinsville
Baer is president of the WW-P Teachers Association.
