Testa: Murphy’s School Aid Cuts Will Be Devastating for Schools, Students & Property Taxpayers

Wildwood to Lose 53% of Its State School Funding Under Governor’s Budget Plan

Senator Michael Testa said state school aid cuts announced today by the Murphy administration will be devastating for schools, students, and property taxpayers in the 1st Legislative District.

“Wildwood is not a wealthy town, but Governor Murphy is slashing their school aid by more than 50%,” said Testa. “What does the governor think is going to happen to their schools and students who are struggling to recover from shutdowns? What does he think this will do to property taxpayers? These are real people, not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s shockingly destructive and completely indefensible when his administration is sitting on a $10 billion surplus that could support our schools and prevent huge property tax increases on families that are barely getting by.”

Under the school aid numbers shared by the Department of Education for next year, Wildwood would lose $2.139 million of state aid, a reduction of 52.8%.

Other big cuts in the Governor’s budget include: Upper Township loses $1.352 million (-22.5%); Lower Twp. loses $895,130 (-19.1%);  Dennis Twp. loses $553,385 (-26.0%); Lower Cape May Regional loses $537,190 (-11.7%); and Weymouth Twp. loses $146,664 (-18.4%).

Testa said the cuts are unjustified when Governor Murphy’s budget proposal includes $12 million for a French arts center, $10 million to build the State Hall of Fame in a mall, and $120 million to give illegal aliens checks of up to $4,000 each.

“Governor Murphy has enough money to waste tens of millions of dollars on budget pork and to write huge checks to illegal aliens, but he can’t fund schools in Wildwood and hundreds of other towns?” Testa asked. “It shows just how misplaced this administration’s priorities are. These cuts are going to be tragic for Wildwood and many other districts across the state.”