Essex County School Districts to Receive $1 Billion in State Aid

Essex County school districts are slated to receive $1,106,005,181 in state aid, the most in New Jersey for 2011-2012 under Gov. Chris Christie's budget proposal.

Christie promised in his budget address Tuesday every district in the state would see an aid increase—part of a $250 million boost to education aid overall. The Verona School District will see an increase of $275,172 in state aid for 2011-12. In Cedar Grove, 2011-2012 aid has been increased to a total of $244,259. In total, Essex County schools will see an increase of more than $21 million.

Although the aid figures will be slightly higher than last year, when both townships lost 95 percent of state school aid, for both Verona and Cedar Grove, this year's aid increase comes solely in the form of special education aid.

In 2009-2010, Cedar Grove received $1,219,830 in state school aid. That number was slashed to $62,853 last year.

Last year, Verona saw its state aid package reduced from $1,390,809 to $70,811.

Last year, the governor sharply reduced aid to schools, including several in Essex County. Some saw their state aid eliminated entirely. At the time, many districts had been making plans for their budgets based on suggestions of more modest cuts by the state Department of Education.

"I agonized over making cuts to education aid last year," the governor said in his budget address. "They were the very last cuts I approved. It was not a decision I took lightly. It was not something I wanted to do. However, in a year where shared sacrifice was required from everyone, it was a necessary choice."

But he said hard decisions made over the last year allowed for some increase this year. Many districts will still receive less than they did prior to 2010-2011.

In proposals tied to his budget, the governor is also pushing for reform to tenure, and for public employees to take on much of the cost associated with their benefits. He's also pushing for associated pension reforms. 

"The need for reform, of course, is more urgent than ever. ... We need to reward excellent teachers, put an end to automatic tenure, and give parents trapped in failing schools a choice for a better future for their children. Once and for all, we must reward excellence and there must be consequences for failure. This is the way it is all across America – we must finally bring it to all of New Jersey’s classrooms," Christie said.

The proposed state aid for Essex County schools is as follows:

2011-2012 TOTAL AID