NJ Republicans Bash $500M School Proposal In Newark: ‘The Buck Stops With You’

NEWARK, NJ — A large group of Republican lawmakers in New Jersey are urging state education authorities to reject a $500 million plan to lease a new school in Newark.

Last week, 20 Republican members of the New Jersey Assembly sent a letter to the Department of Education, arguing against a proposal that recently advanced in the state’s largest public school district.

“It is your responsibility to ensure that officials at Newark Public Schools stop wasting taxpayer dollars and start properly educating students,” they wrote. “The buck stops with you.”

The Newark Board of Education recently approved a resolution that will allow the district to advance plans to ink a 30-year lease for a new elementary school, with the total price tag estimated at nearly $500 million. The district would have the option to own the property at the end of the 30-year period for a sum of money “yet to be negotiated.”

>> READ MORE: School Could Cost Newark $500M – And District Might Not Own It

The owner was listed in the resolution as 56 Freeman Street LLC. More information about the developer wasn’t shared at a school board hearing on March 25. However, a NJ Spotlight News report has since identified the builder as Scott Fields – a donor to Mayor Ras Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign last year.

Baraka told NJ Spotlight that he has nothing to do with the proposal and denied any influence over the deal, but added that he thinks the amount is “a lot of money.”

During a March 25 board meeting, district administrators said the new school would help alleviate chronic overcrowding in the city’s East Ward, which includes several aging buildings that have already seen a series of repairs.

Superintendent Roger León said making repairs instead of building a new school could end up costing local taxpayers “billions of dollars” over the long run – and it would be “as harmful as leaving those schools unattended.”

The superintendent pointed to plans to build a controversial skyscraper nearby, saying that it will potentially bring a wave of new students to the neighborhood’s already overcrowded schools. Read More: Newark Planning Board Approves Skyscrapers In Ironbound Neighborhood

Some attendees at the meeting questioned the proposal – including its price tag – with one speaker calling it “outlandish.”

Last month’s vote allows district staff to move forward with planning efforts and securing state approval. If state officials give it a green light, the Newark school board will have to vote again on the proposal to finalize the lease.

SCHOOL SPENDING IN NEWARK

The Newark Board of Education recently approved a $1.67 billion school budget for 2026-2027, which includes staffing cuts and a tax increase for local homeowners.

Administrators noted that New Jersey provides 82.7 percent of the Newark Public School District’s general funds through state aid. Newark is in line to receive $1.38 billion in school aid under Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed state budget – a $60.6 million increase from last year. The additional funding will support “essential operating costs,” including special education services, student transportation and instructional programming, administrators said.

• Related: $1.6 Billion Newark School Budget Has Tax Hike, Teacher Cuts

Republican leaders in the New Jersey Assembly pointed to the large amount of state aid for Newark in their April 2 letter.

“When state taxpayers outside of Newark pay for 83 percent of the school’s budget, they expect a certain level of accountability, transparency and academic performance,” the lawmakers argued.

“Newark is missing the mark on all fronts,” they alleged.

“If you allow this agreement to proceed, you will cement New Jerseyans’ distrust in government and put future school funding for 1.3 million students in jeopardy,” the lawmakers charged.

According to GOP critics, the proposed $500 million lease and the district’s current $300 million lease for the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design exceed the cost of constructing the most expensive school ever built by the state – Perth Amboy High School – which cost about $284 million.

“School officials say they need the leases because the state’s Schools Development Authority is too slow to respond to growing needs, but the SDA has built nine schools in the district in 20 years,” the GOP legislators continued. “And still, New Jersey continues to increase funding and sign off on costly projects for a school district that has a history of mismanaging finances.”

State education officials returned local control of Newark’s school system in 2018 after taking over control of the district’s finances in 1995 due to allegations of severe mismanagement.

The transition plan got a thumbs-up from former governor Chris Christie before he left office.

• Related: Newark Schools Celebrate 'Historic' NJ Board Of Education Vote

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