TRENTON, N.J. — Assemblyman Alex Sauickie urged the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to reject Kevin Dehmer’s confirmation as Commissioner of the Department of Education, citing failures in managing financial crises that have led to school closures and systemic issues across multiple districts.
Sauickie (R-Ocean) criticized Dehmer’s handling of the Lakewood School District’s financial troubles, where a judge had ordered the Department of Education to find solutions to a decade-long crisis. Instead, Sauickie said, Dehmer issued a report blaming the district.
“The judge told the DOE to solve the problem,” Sauickie said. “The blatant disregard to following the judge’s order, or just the inability to do the job, is yet another reason why this acting commissioner should not be confirmed.”
He pointed to Lakewood’s mounting debt, which increased by $65 million this week, pushing its total to nearly $250 million. He also condemned severe funding cuts to Jackson School District, which has lost more than half of its state aid since 2018, leading to school closures, teacher layoffs, and program eliminations.
Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) questioned Sauickie about rising transportation costs despite declining enrollment. “Revenues are going down and enrollment is going down, but transportation costs to out-of-district private schools are going up?” Sarlo asked. Sauickie confirmed that Jackson’s private school busing costs had climbed from nearly zero to $6.5 million over seven years.
Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) defended the school funding formula, arguing that historically underfunded districts had suffered for decades. “While we all want to recognize that perhaps there have been some residential components to the formula that have swung the funding factor from one year to another in an extraordinary way, we don’t lose sight of the decades of impediment and the impact it’s had statewide,” Ruiz said.
Sauickie insisted he was not advocating for cuts to any district but argued that many schools were now “being destroyed” by funding reallocations. The contentious debate underscores the deep divide over education funding in New Jersey as the confirmation process moves forward.
