2022 Newark School Election: Vote Nears For Board, Budget

NEWARK, NJ — Newark voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, April 19 to choose three board of education members. Local voters will also be asked to cast a ballot for the Newark Public School District's proposed budget.

Here’s what you need to know about this year’s school election. Learn more about voting in New Jersey here.

CANDIDATES

Voters will choose between seven candidates for three seats on the board of education.

Incumbent board members A’Dorian Murray-Thomas and Daniel Gonzalez are running on the "Moving Newark Schools Forward" slate with Crystal Williams, which is backed by Mayor Ras Baraka. They will face challenges from Thomas Luna, Maggie Freeman, Phillip Wilson and Allison K. James-Frison.

Newark nonprofit Project Ready co-hosted a forum for the candidates with Newark Trust for Education and Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration on April 5.

Watch a video of the forum below.

BUDGET

Newark voters will also be asked to decide on the 2022-23 school year budget.

The $1.2 billion budget will raise spending by $146 million. But the local tax levy of $138 million would mean an $8.75 decrease for the average home with an assessed value of $175,000, according to figures presented by the board. Read More: No Tax Increase In Massive Newark School Budget (What To Know)

District administrators noted that Newark got more than $1 billion as part of Gov. Phil Murphy's school state aid proposal, an increase of 13.21 percent from last year. Read More: Newark Will Get More School Aid From NJ Under Murphy Plan

Property taxes in New Jersey are made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. In Newark, that breakdown last year was 31.1 percent for school taxes, 53.8 percent for municipal taxes and 15.1 percent for county taxes.

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