Governor Murphy Allocates $3.6 Million in State Aid to Linden School District

Linden Mayor Derek Armstead says he is grateful to Governor Phil Murphy for including an additional $3.6 million in state aid to the city’s school district, but he is questioning whether it was appropriate for the local state Senator to take credit for last year’s additional monies.   Murphy unveiled a state budget, which would send Linden schools an increase of $3,668,650 over last year’s total aid package.   “The budget proposed by Governor Murphy takes significant steps to provide cities like Linden with the tools they need to move in the right direction,” said Armstead. “We are proud to stand beside Governor Murphy, our school board and city council working as a team.”   This budget will help us fund our public schools and provide quality education for our young people, helping kids from our city achieve at levels similar to their suburban peers.  It will also help our residents gain a foothold into the middle class.    The total state aid for Linden schools will be $30,940,218, which includes Equalization Aid; Transportation Aid; Special Education Aid; and Security Aid.

Armstead challenged Senator Nicholas Scutari, who previously claimed credit for additional aid money allocated in the 2018 budget, in a mailing that was distributed in the city that was paid for by the lawmaker’s political campaign fund.  Scutari outraged parents in a mailer after reading to a class for Martin Luther King’s Birthday.  After taking a picture with the children he then photo shopped the picture with a sign in front of the children saying “Senator Nick Scutari Secures $4 Million in Additional Aid for Linden Schools.”  But the fact remains our former Governor Chris Christie allocated $2 million and when Governor Murphy took office his administration was responsible for the additional $2 million.  Mayor Armstead said, “He believes that credit should go where credit is due and that credit remains with our two Governors and not Senator Scutari.”

“It seems as if we have a senator taking credit for something, where other people, including Gov. Murphy, clearly did the heavy lifting,” said Armstead. “I would like to see more of his energy put into making the lives of Linden residents better and less political campaign money going into misleading literature targeted at the Linden Taxpayers.”   “The way I see it, this is the product of teamwork, and not an accomplishment by any one individual legislator,” said Council President Yamakaitis.

“By working closely with Governor Phil Murphy, our City Council led by Council President Michele Yamakaitis, and the Board of Education with its new Board President as well as our legislators, I firmly believe we can deliver a zero tax increase this year not only from the Municipality, like we did last year, but also from the Board of Education.”