Public schools in New Jersey’s 18th Legislative District are slated to receive more than $173 million in direct aid under Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed fiscal year 2024 state budget.
The single-year record for school funding in the legislative district reflects a $49 million increase over the previous fiscal year, according to New Jersey Department of Education figures.
The 18th Legislative District encompasses East Brunswick, Edison, Highland Park, Metuchen, Milltown, South Plainfield, and South River.
South Plainfield (second up 65.2%), Edison (fourth up 54.4%) and Milltown (ninth up 37.1%) rank Top 10 among the nearly 700 school districts statewide in state aid percentage increases.
The three school districts combine with Highland Park (up 34.2%) and South River (up 30.4%) to comprise the Top 5 in state aid percentage increases among Middlesex County’s 24 school districts. The increases for Highland Park and South River rank 11th and 18th, respectively, in the state.
Lawmakers have until July 1 to approve Murphy’s $53.1 billion state budget, which includes a record $10.7 billion investment in direct aid for K-12 public education. Murphy’s proposed budget adds $834 million in public school aid, an increase of 8.4% over the previous fiscal year.
Senator Patrick Diegnan, Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, and Assemblyman Sterley Stanley, who represent the 18th Legislative District, congratulated the governor for continuing to make the education of New Jersey’s children a top priority.
“Still reeling from the pandemic’s impact on learning and social and emotional wellbeing, our students and the dedicated educators who serve them need our support now more than ever to ensure they are receiving the best possible education and are learning in safe environments,” Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley said.
“Our legislative district’s schools will benefit from investments in infrastructure, improved facilities, school construction and renovation, youth mental health, preschool expansion, special education, and much more.”
Under the proposed FY2024 budget, public schools in the 18th Legislative district will receive:
- East Brunswick $39.826 million (a $6.502 million increase over the last year)
- Edison $73.507 million (a $25.912 million increase over the last year)
- Highland Park $6.416 million (a $1.636 million increase over the last year)
- Metuchen $2.880 million (a $388,529 increase over the last year)
- Milltown $5.553 million (a $1.503 million increase over the last year)
- South Plainfield $16.357 million (a $6.454 million increase over the last year)
- South River $28.828 million (a $6.716 million increase over the last year)
In addition, Middlesex County’s five magnet schools, including the East Brunswick and Edison campuses, which are part of the 18th Legislative District, are budgeted to receive $19.381 million in direct state aid for education, an increase of $1.959 million over the previous fiscal year.
“Things like this don’t get done by me alone,” Murphy previously stated, singling out lawmakers from the 18th Legislative District and elsewhere, who he called extraordinary partners and colleagues. “To do this, as they say, it takes a village.”
Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley noted educators and students will gain from other elements of Murphy’s proposed budget, which includes investments in transportation and the state’s pension system.
With schools accounting for more than half of the average property tax bill in New Jersey, adequately funding New Jersey’s public schools will enable towns to maintain high quality educational programs without passing additional costs onto property taxpayers.
“We know that every dollar invested in education is repaid many times over in increased future productivity and decreased future costs,” New Jersey Education Association President Sean M. Spiller said. “New Jersey students are better off today and New Jersey will be stronger for years to come because of the investments Governor Murphy and the Legislature have made.”
Citing national rankings from U.S. News & World Report (2021) and Education Week (2020 and 2019) which rated New Jersey’s public school system the country’s best for three consecutive years, Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley said the state’s ongoing commitment to education will continue to position students for long-term success.
“Nothing is more important than investing in the education of our children,” Diegnan, Karabinchak and Stanley said. “It is no coincidence that New Jersey has the best public schools in the nation.”
Senator Patrick Diegnan 