Haddon Township BOE Members Speak Out Against Aid Cuts

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ - Haddon Township School District officials were among 70 school districts that went to Trenton on Tuesday to protest the potential impact of state aid cuts on the district.

Board of Education members from Haddon Township joined others from around the state as districts bring their protest to the steps of the Statehouse as Gov. Phil Murphy prepares to deliver his budget speech for 2019-2020.

Under S2, the so-called adjustment aid is being taken away from districts the state says are "overfunded" and that money is being moved to districts that are "underfunded." The law, pushed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, also mandates that districts that are "under adequacy" — meaning they don't spend as much as the state says they should be spending to educate students — must also increase their property tax levy by the state cap maximum of 2 percent.

The assertion by Sweeney has been that district whose aid is being cut are not paying their fair share of property taxes.

"I get offended when I hear these districts talk about 'it's unfair,' " Sweeney said in an interview with NJ Spotlight in mid-February. "What was unfair was when they were overfunded for the last nine years, and they're buying iPads for all their kids and other school districts are sharing books."

Murphy will be giving his 2019-2020 budget presentation Tuesday afternoon. Below are some images from Tuesday's rally.

With reporting from Patch Editor Karen Wall.