LD11 GOP Ticket Spreads Fake News on School Funding

Long Branch - This past Friday, in two separate occurrences, Republican Senator Jen Beck and Rob Acerra, Republican candidate for State Assembly, actively spread false and misleading information about the school funding debate.

On June 23rd while at a fundraiser, Beck falsely claimed that the proposal put forth by Speaker Prieto and Senator Sweeney would take “$200 million dollars out of Monmouth and Ocean Counties and sending it to Camden County."

Separately, on June 23rd in a Facebook post, Rob Acerra falsely stated that the schools funding proposal put forward by Senator Sweeney and Speaker Prieto was also the work of Assembly members Houghtaling and Downey.

Both of these statements are lies.

“Senator Jen Beck and Rob Acerra’s lies regarding the school funding debate are both irresponsible and outrageous,” said Axel Owen, campaign manager for the LD11 Democratic ticket. “Both need to correct their statements immediately and issue an apology to the voters of Monmouth County for promoting false information.”

In reality, while the Prieto-Sweeney plan leaves much to be desired, there is no evidence that $200 million would be taken out of Monmouth and Ocean Counties and funnelled to Camden County. In fact, the plan that comes closest to accomplishing that scenario was the original Prieto plan that Beck co-authored (SCR140).

In addition, Assembly members Houghtaling and Downey have issued multiple statements highlighting their concern for the proposed Sweeney-Prieto plan and calling for Democratic leadership to improve the outcome for Monmouth County schools.

“We are happy and willing to have an accurate conversation about the school funding crisis facing our state, but we won’t stand for ‘alternative facts’ being spread about the issue,” said Owen. “Beck and Acerra are lying to their voters. It’s this disregard for the truth that causes voters to lose faith in elected officials. Houghtaling and Downey have been leading the conversation regarding true, long-term solutions to school funding that will ensure the full funding of all our schools. Implying anything else is an attempt to deceive voters.”

The school funding plan supported by the LD11 Democratic ticket is one that Houghtaling and Downey have championed since arriving in office. Their plan would develop a standing commission that would address all aspects of school funding, not just shift money from one school district to the next. This commission would be able to assess the needs of individual school districts so that district budgets aren’t severely impacted. The commission would develop recommendations on a regular basis to ensure that school districts are always adequately funded.