Middletown School District Gets $329K Less In State Aid For '23-24

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Thursday, the NJ Department of Education and Gov. Murphy's office released these state aid figures for the upcoming '23-'24 school year. (See "2023-2024 Total K-12 State Aid by School District.")

And — as has been the case since 2018 — the Middletown school district continues to receive less money from Trenton.

The Middletown school district will receive approximately $13.2 million in state aid for the 2023-24 school year, according to this chart. That is $329,953 less than the district received for the current '22-'23 school year, a 2.44 percent reduction.

The Middletown school district received $13.5 million in state aid for the 2022-23 school year, which was 6.84 percent less than the $14.5 million Middletown schools got in 21-22.

Middletown, like many other large, suburban school districts across the state, consistently receives less money from Trenton. Suburban school districts experiencing reduced student enrollment receive less from the state.

Brick and Toms River schools saw similar — but much more drastic — funding cuts this week. This comes at a time when enrollment in Toms River schools is up, so some lawmakers say enrollment is not the deciding factor in the state aid formula:

Brick Schools Hit With $2.5M State Aid Cut For 2023-24

Toms River Schools Hit With $14.4M State Aid Cut For 2023-24

Critics have long said the funding formula hurts suburban school districts, while rewarding urban districts. Also published on this topic this week: NJ Republicans Call Murphy's "Historic" School Aid Plan Unfair

State aid can be an influential factor on whether local property taxes are raised.

Brick, Middletown and Toms River are part of more than 150 school districts that have been subjected to state aid cuts since 2018, which was when the state of New Jersey changed its school funding formula.

The cuts were to be spread over seven years; the final year of cuts is slated to be the 2024-25 school year.

Ocean County Assemblymen Greg McGuckin (R-NJ10) criticized the cuts this week, saying, "Murphy touts his historic school funding, but it is costing 30 percent of New Jersey’s schools millions of dollars a year."

"Brick loses seven figures in state funding a year. It is not sustainable," he said. "All children deserve a thorough and efficient education, but Murphy’s budget and funding formula picks winners and losers. Increased funding for schools shouldn’t come at the expense of other children’s education."

With reporting from Karen Wall/Ocean County Patch reporter