MIDDLETOWN, NJ – New Jersey State Senator Vin Gopal, the state’s highest elected member of the legislature overseeing education is touting the state’s latest funding formula. That funding formula will see school districts forced to close schools, fire teachers, and cut programs to restore all of those cuts.
Actually, it won’t It won’t even provide relief to those districts in the near future.
But, Gopal (D-Monmouth) has praised Governor Phil Murphy’s latest school funding proposal as “a good step in the right direction,” citing its efforts to stabilize aid distribution and reduce volatility in the state’s complex funding formula. Announced last week, the plan promises increases for nearly 70 percent of districts, caps aid cuts at 3 percent, limits increases to 6 percent, and introduces a three-year average for calculating local fair share based on property values. Yet, for towns like Toms River, Jackson, and Lakewood in Ocean County, these measures fall short of resolving deep-seated funding crises that have plagued their school districts for years, leaving students, educators, and taxpayers grappling with unresolved inequities.
Gopal is a close ally of Governor Phil Murphy, but unlike Murphy, Gopal has another election to win and sights set on the governor’s seat in the future.
The Root of the Problem
New Jersey’s school funding system, governed by the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA) of 2008 and adjusted by the 2018 S-2 legislation, aims to allocate state aid equitably based on student needs, enrollment, and local tax capacity—or “local fair share.” However, in practice, the formula has disproportionately harmed districts like Toms River, Jackson, and Lakewood, each facing unique demographic and fiscal challenges that the current framework fails to address adequately.
Toms River Regional School District, one of the state’s largest, has lost over $137 million in state aid over the past decade due to S-2’s phased reduction of “Adjustment Aid,” which once cushioned districts against sudden funding drops.
With a declining student population, the district’s aid has been slashed, yet its costs—such as transportation and maintenance of aging facilities—remain high. Facing a $26.5 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year, Toms River rejected a budget that would have raised taxes by nearly 10 percent, cut 368 staff positions, eliminated kindergarten, and axed extracurriculars. Superintendent Michael Citta has called the cuts “legislative child abuse,” leading the district to sue the state in July 2024, arguing that the formula violates students’ constitutional right to a “thorough and efficient” education.
Jackson Township School District faces similar woes, losing $4.5 million in aid for 2024-25 and contemplating class sizes of 40 students without state loans. The district’s budget is further strained by rising transportation costs for students attending private Orthodox Jewish schools in nearby Lakewood, a mandate not fully reimbursed by the state. Jackson has resorted to selling an elementary school to offset losses, a move forced by state oversight despite local objections, highlighting the formula’s inflexibility in addressing regional cost pressures.
Lakewood School District, with its unique demographics, exemplifies the formula’s most glaring failure. Home to over 42,000 private school students—mostly in Orthodox Jewish yeshivas—compared to just 5,200 public school students, Lakewood is mandated to fund transportation and special education for private school attendees, costing $138 million in 2023-24 alone. State aid, at $46 million, covers only a fraction of this, forcing the district to borrow heavily—owing $198 million to the state if a proposed $93 million loan is approved. A 2023 appellate court ruling deemed the formula unfair to Lakewood’s public students, yet no structural fix has been implemented, leaving the district reliant on unsustainable loans.
Why Murphy’s Plan Falls Short
While Gopal and Murphy tout the new proposal’s guardrails—capping cuts and averaging property values—these tweaks do not resolve the core issues afflicting Toms River, Jackson, and Lakewood. The 3 percent cap on aid reductions offers minimal relief for districts already operating far below “adequacy,” the state-defined minimum funding level. Toms River, for instance, is $91 million under adequacy, and a $1.2 million aid increase for 2024-25 barely dents its deficit. Jackson and Lakewood, similarly underfunded, see no immediate path to financial stability under the cap, as their structural cost burdens remain unaddressed.
The three-year property value average aims to smooth out volatility in local fair share calculations, but it does little for towns where property tax bases cannot keep pace with mandated expenses. Lakewood’s private school obligations, for example, dwarf its tax capacity, while Toms River and Jackson struggle with fixed costs despite declining enrollment. Gopal’s legislation, mirrored in Murphy’s plan, proposes a review of the census-based special education funding method and greater transparency, but these are long-term studies, not immediate solutions. For Lakewood, where special education tuition for private placements like the School for Children with Hidden Intelligence exceeds $128,000 per student annually, the lack of upfront funding reform perpetuates the crisis.
Ongoing Fallout and Unmet Needs
The consequences of these unresolved issues are stark. In Toms River, test scores have dropped—11 percent in English and 9 percent in math since 2016-17—while absenteeism, bullying, and behavioral issues rise due to staffing cuts. Jackson faces overcrowded classrooms and reduced programs, risking educational quality. Lakewood’s public students, predominantly Hispanic and low-income, are shortchanged as resources are diverted to private school mandates, a disparity the courts have acknowledged but the state has yet to fix.
Despite Gopal’s optimism, the funding formula’s “one-size-fits-all” approach continues to fail districts with unique challenges. Toms River’s lawsuit, Jackson’s forced asset sales, and Lakewood’s ballooning debt underscore a system that punishes rather than supports. Murphy’s plan may stabilize some districts, but for these Ocean County towns, it’s a bandage on a gaping wound—leaving educators and families to fight for a fairer future that remains out of reach.