Dear Editor,

I’m Brandon Umba, former Assemblyman and a candidate to once again represent South Jersey families in Trenton. I’ve seen firsthand how bad policy out of the Statehouse hurts our communities—and right now, nothing is hurting us more than the Democrats’ broken school funding formula.

There’s only one way to fix it - change at the top.

Trenton’s S2 formula has already cost the Lenape District nearly $10 million. Andrea Katz advocated for it then, and she still defends it now. The results are undeniable: fewer teachers, cut programs, and higher taxes. Families in towns like Evesham are living the consequences. Their property taxes have spiked by $1,000 overnight, classrooms have swelled in size as teachers and aides get laid off, extracurriculars cut, benefits slashed, and transportation outsourced. That’s not fairness. That’s chaos.

Our community deserves better. I’ll fight to repeal S2 and deliver fair funding that protects our students, supports our teachers, and respects our taxpayers.

Just look at what happened again this year - another bloated state budget was passed in Trenton, and once again, South Jersey schools and taxpayers were the losers. Did you know the Newark School District received $1.3 billion in state aid? Your taxpayer dollars. That’s 185 times more than what Evesham Schools received while only having around 10 times the enrollment size. It’s political gamesmanship, and it needs to stop.

Year after year, Democrats like Mikie Sherrill and Andrea Katz refuse to fix a broken system that robs schools in the 8th Legislative District, forces cuts to classrooms, and drives up property taxes that are already crushing families. They had the chance to stand up for fairness and transparency, and they failed.

The school funding formula is 14 years old, shrouded in secrecy, and designed to pick winners and losers. Families are told their funding is being slashed, but the state refuses to show them why. That’s not governing. That’s arrogance. While our schools bleed, Governor Murphy and Trenton Democrats pat themselves on the back for “fully funding” a system they know is broken.

When I served in the Assembly, I fought for common-sense solutions like pausing the cuts, enhancing the way we fund special education, and fixing the school funding formula, but Democrats continue to go down the path of slashing aid and increasing property taxes. That’s why this fight is bigger than one bill or one budget. If we want real relief for parents, teachers, and taxpayers, we need to flip New Jersey red.

We need a strong leader in the Governor’s Office who understands fairness, accountability, and the struggles of families across this state. That leader is Jack Ciattarelli. Jack will fight to fix school funding, ease the property tax burden, and finally put New Jersey back on the right track.
I’m running alongside Jack and current-Assemblyman Michael Torrissi Jr., to implement a vision of fairer schools for our children. No more taking from our children to pay for corruption in big cities.

If we keep electing the same Democrats, nothing changes. Elect Jack Ciattarelli for Governor and the team of Michael Torrissi Jr. and me for Assembly, and South Jersey will get the attention it's always deserved.

Respectfully,

Brandon Umba
Former Assemblyman & Candidate for Assembly