Superintendent Thankful for State Aid Increase, But Says School Funding Still 'Lagging'

Superintendent Bruce Watson said he was pleasantly surprised by the increase in state aid for Fair Lawn public schools, but that "we're still behind, we're still lagging" after the previous year's sharp cuts.

The Fair Lawn School District is for 2011-2012 than it did for 2010-2011, under Gov. Chris Christie's budget proposal. Watson said that "I'm thankful and I'm sure my Board [of Education] is thankful" for the increase, but that the school district is "still a far cry from what we should be getting."

Fair Lawn's education aid from New Jersey was reduced last year by $4.1 million—from $5.2 million to $1.1 million. Watson said he expected the aid to either be flat or cut more this year.

"This is kind of a surprise for all of us," he said of New Jersey school districts.

Despite the increase to about $1.9 million in aid, Fair Lawn schools could have used more because the $797,621 gain can be easily eaten up by inflation and other costs for the school district.

Christie promised in his Tuesday that every district in the state would see an aid increase—part of a $250 million boost to education aid overall. In Bergen County alone, schools saw an overall increase of nearly $22 million.

Last year, the governor sharply reduced aid to schools, including many in Bergen County. Some saw their state aid eliminated entirely. At the time, many districts had been making plans for their budgets based on suggestions of more modest cuts by the state Department of Education.

"I agonized over making cuts to education aid last year," the governor said in his budget address. "They were the very last cuts I approved. It was not a decision I took lightly. It was not something I wanted to do. However, in a year where shared sacrifice was required from everyone, it was a necessary choice."