More than 1.4 million public school students in New Jersey are now back in school. Some have just entered kindergarten, while others are entering the third year of high school.
The back-to-school season can be a nervous time for families and communities worried not only about the quality of education and the safety of local schools, but also about the cost of education, including the impact on property taxes.
As Governor, Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Education Committee respectively, it is our duty, through the state budget, to ensure that the State makes significant and equitable core investments in public education.
The new state budget makes perhaps the most significant investments in classrooms, educational infrastructure, and property taxpayers in the state’s history.
This is a total investment of approximately $13.5 billion. For every $4 in the state budget, more than $1 goes to public education. But this is not just about investing in children and educators.
As has been pointed out many times, public school subsidies are local property tax relief. Ultimately, when school districts receive more state subsidies, they must seek less from property taxpayers.
This investment begins with direct support for classrooms in K-12 public schools totaling more than $11.5 billion. That’s an increase of $650 million from last year, making him nearly $2 billion more than under the previous administration. As other states across the country continue their attacks on public schools and public school educators, we are committed to going in the opposite direction.
We believe educators shouldn’t be forced to petition GoFundMe for basic classroom supplies. It also exempts parents from paying sales tax on their children’s school supplies.
Our investment in education includes more than $990 million in more than 200 school districts in every county, providing free, full-day preschool programs to 3- and 4-year-old learners in our communities. We are on our way to provide. This is another step towards our stated goal of ensuring universal access to Pre-K.
Investing in your youngest learners today will pay off in the long run. Students who receive a high-quality pre-primary education are more likely to perform better than others in key subject areas in high school, are more likely to earn an advanced post-secondary degree, and earn more throughout their lives. tend to earn income. There is also evidence of a correlation between preschool education and living healthier and longer.
But since the expansion of pre-kindergartens is good for children, this investment will soon become a lifeline for working parents as well as provide a more accessible and cheaper means of caring for their children. bring benefits to the region.
The budget pact also commits nearly $2 billion to readying our school buildings to deliver a 21st century education. This includes investments not only in the state’s core urban districts, which have been left behind for years, but also in the School Development Authority’s portfolio of partnerships with all other school districts, charter schools and Renaissance schools, but also in infrastructure. including investments in .
This will allow SDA to proceed with the construction of new, modern and safe schools across the state. This includes $350 million for necessary renovations, expansions and emergency upgrades to suburban and rural schools.
Also, unlike past SDA programs, these investments are made through the state budget rather than through borrowing, meaning not only are property taxpayers saving money now, but they are saving even more on future interest payments. To do.
There will always be detractors who look at the budget and see only dollar amounts and opportunities to earn political points, and certainly there are those who have such a short-sighted view of the budget. , the new state’s budget is not only for school children and educational communities, but also for property taxpayers.
Strong public schools make communities more attractive to future families and help make New Jersey more attractive to innovative businesses.
It’s true that $13.5 billion of state government partnerships with our school districts is a dollar that can stay in the pocket of property taxpayers. And we’re working with schools to solve New Jersey’s decades-old property tax problem.
Phil Murphy is Governor of New Jersey. Teresa Ruiz is the Majority Leader of the New Jersey Senate. Vin Gopal represents the 11th District of the State Senate.
