Amoroso, Woolley Blast Murphy School Aid Cuts In LD11
Ocean Township, NJ — In response to the recent reports on Fiscal Year 2020 school aid allocations, Legislative District 11 General Assembly candidates Mike Amoroso and Matt Woolley issued the following statement condemning the Murphy Democrats who supported legislation that lands three LD11 school districts – Asbury Park, Freehold Regional, and Neptune Township – in the top ten districts statewide that are losing the most funding:
“We are now seeing the drastic cuts to our schools, to the tune of over $38 million, that were signed into law on July 24, 2018. The Murphy Democrats, including Assemblyman Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Downey, have failed us in this district. They allowed our school funding in District 11 to be stripped from our kids,” said Amoroso. “As a Board of Education President in the District, I have seen firsthand how the lack of state funding has hurt students. Residents have had enough.”
The funding figures have now been released by the Murphy administration. Over $38 million from LD11 school districts will be redistributed to other counties throughout the state over the course of the plan’s seven-year phase-in period. In Fiscal Year 2020 alone, Asbury Park, Freehold Regional, and Neptune Township are slated to lose nearly $9 million in state aid. Allenhurst, Deal, Eatontown, Monmouth Regional, Neptune City, Ocean Township and Tinton Falls are also projected to lose more than a combined $1.1 million this upcoming year.
“It’s shocking that our ‘representatives’ would support a plan that drastically and negatively impacts LD11 students,” added Woolley, 29 of Ocean Township. “How Assemblywoman Downey and Assemblyman Houghtaling could cut resources from schools in their district, and not even offer recourse for this tremendous loss, is beyond comprehension.”
These major cuts will undoubtedly lead to a spike in property taxes in the affected districts, and will force our schools to cut programs and teachers. Mike Amoroso and Matt Woolley will fight the Trenton politicians to bring back funding to the LD11 schools.
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