March 12, 2024
The argument used in the past is a “Pay Forward” ideology. Having 1/3 of the township as senior developments, gave the school system more funding, and theoretically better schools, and higher property value. Fast forward 20 years and the argument collapses. In recent years, the State school funding formula shortchanged Monroe by cutting State funding, and is flawed. It treats seniors retirement savings accounts as an income streams. Money taken out of retirement accounts (RMD’s) are treated as income and reported on 1099’s (for tax purposes). This increases our household incomes in the State formula. That increase lowers our State aid. That puts the burden of education on the Monroe residents directly. This number, over a dozen years, is in the 10’s of millions of dollars of lost funding to our schools.
Some sad facts: It costs about $20k per year to educate a student in Monroe. We receive about $1,300 per student in State aid the rest from property taxes. You can readily see why our taxes are over $10K and climbing. For example, Old Bridge gets about $3,052 per student., and Newark gets over $22,000 per student, as do the other Abbott districts. The same scenario plays out across most municipalities. High senior populations in municipalities reduce school aid. Monroe’s Sr. population is about 1/3 of the total population.
I have been posting and lobbying our legislature about this for years on this subject. One voice changes nothing. We have an overpopulation of students in our schools. We do not have the funds to build new ones, in part because we have been shortchanged.
To be fair, the Governor has proposed adding $11 Billion to the school budget. If that becomes reality three things may occur. First, all taxes will go up in NJ. Second, we do not know where we stand in that line. Third, we don’t know if the legislature will approve it. Maybe because he is trying to get his wife elected. We have to see how that plays out.
Residents normally do not pay attention until the situation becomes dire. That is starting to occur now. Residents are leaving NJ in droves with high incomes. People are moving in with no, or low, incomes. Hard to pay back loans when income is dropping. Elections have consequences the saying goes. We elect the people in Trenton and they have created this mess. Get involved in the facts not the rhetoric. Listen to the candidates. Don’t just pull a lever or check a box without knowledge.
Aug 9, 2021
Not only is the Abbott decision detrimental to Monroe and all other districts, so is the State Formula for distributing aid. Another paltry increase and not addressing the $$$ Millions taken from Monroe by the state unfairly. Monroe must demand more from our elected officials. Bankrupting the residents in Monroe will destroy the town. We cannot afford funding the entire school system on our property taxes. Here are a few surrounding towns and what they get in state aid. A major reason Monroe receives so little in state funding is due to the large senior population. This will only get worse over time. Seniors forced to take RMD’s has unintended consequences the legislatures refuse to fix. Because the IRA’s and 401K’s have tax reporting for income tax purposes, that also increases household income as defined in the State Funding Formula. This has a detrimental affect on towns with high senior populations.
Summary Comparison 21-22 State Aid
Published 2021-2022 State Aid Formula http://Published State Aid Formula
2019
This was published at Regency. For years Monroe has been receiving less state aid school funding due to flawed formula. It has proven impossible to get residents in Monroe to stand up and make their displeasure known.
Mark Klein has been an advocate and the money lost is in the $10’s of millions – just look at your property tax bill and read Mark’s letter below. This was published and distributed to the entire Regency Community. Stonebridge has no such system for dissemination of important information.
(We have a private advocacy website residents can subscribe if they wish https://sbadvisorygroup.hnccorp.com/mail-list/)
The letter is long but the state shortage has been going on for over 10 years so explanation is lengthy. I will distribute that notification.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN RECEIVING MORE STATE FUNDING FOR EDUCATION For a long time I made the decision that Politics will not be part of my Emailing. However, Politics is when you have differences of opinion and this is when myself or others can get into back and forth “conversations” which, at time’s can become very confrontational.
Publisher of the Regency News Letter (name withheld)
Here are the individual politicians to send Mark’s letter to. Maybe just a simple sentence to start off your email saying that you support what Mark Klein has written, would suffice.
Senator Greenstein lrgreenstein@comcast.net
Assemblyman Benson daniel.benson@gmail.com
Assemblyman DeAngelo asmdeangelo@njleg.org
Senate President Sweeney sensweeney@njleg.org
The Governor doesn’t have an email address so sending him a letter is the only way he may
hear from you
Honorable Governor Murphy
Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
And mark it PERSONAL
Here is Mark’s letter to copy and paste onto your email to the above individuals:
Mark S. Klein
7 Crenshaw Court
Monroe Twp., NJ 08831
732-991-8264
March 5, 2020
The Honorable Governor Murphy
Office of the Governor
PO Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
Dear Governor Murphy,
I just read the report about the $300 million you have in your budget to be used for additional school aid, and I thank you for your efforts to include the two additional funding for education you distributed last year.
But here is the major problem; After the first two Abbott vs. Burke decisions made by the State Supreme Court for additional funding for the original 23 Abbott Districts, to equal the MOST spent by the suburban districts. Gov Corzine ordered the State Legislature to develop a funding formula to distribute State funding. It was FLAWED from day one, with over 55% of the total education budget going to these 23 districts now 31 Abbott Title One Districts and the remainder had to be distributed to the remaining over 500 school districts. Each time you added additional aid the money was distributed based on the flawed formula. So since about 1987 the state has wasted hundreds of billions of our tax dollars on these still failing districts. More money does not equate to better student achievement, it is parent involvement.
I have been fighting for Monroe Twp to get their fair share in State funding since 2011 when I served on the Monroe Township Board of Education. This district has never received a fair share in funding as compared to other similar school districts, with the residents paying 95% of the cost of our school system. This is not fair, and is in violation of the State Constitution for free public education.
Monroe Township’s student enrollment today is 6,885 students, 1,500 over the capacity of our schools, yet we will only receive $7 million this year or $1,022 per student. The student enrollment grows by 150 to 200 students a year and will get worse as these new family developments build out and are occupied. Within 5 years the over capacity of our schools is projected to be 2,700. Because of the over development of family units, caused by the State forcing our town to build affordable housing based on the COAH obligations. Let me add that the State allows the developers to build only 20% affordable units and the remaining 80% sold at full market rate. So today if our COAH obligation is 1,100 affordable units, we would have to build 5,500 units just to meet the COAH obligation. Our schools and classrooms are badly overcrowded and getting worse, yet we get very little help from the State. Again I quote the State Constitution; All New Jersey children are entitled to a Thorough and Efficient education.
As Education Commissioner Hespe stated a few years ago, pertaining to the failure of two $33 million referendums to expand their two overcrowded schools in Freehold Borough; “Freehold Borough’s children could not get a Thorough and Efficient education in overcrowded schools and classrooms” and he continued by stating “that the already overtaxed residents of Freehold Borough cannot have more of the tax burden placed on them for the expansion of their two schools”. He then awarded a grant of $33 million from the State to do the school expansions; their enrollment was 1,700 and only 400 over capacity. They were already receiving $9.7 million in regular state aid for their school district, $5,700 per student now they receive over $12 million.
In my opinion, based on other like districts with over 5,500 students we should receive at least $5,500 per student or $38 million on a budget of $140 million.
Let us compare this to Monroe Township’s situation. We presently have 6,885 students are 1,500 over capacity in our 7 buildings with a need for an additional Middle School and a large expansion on our 9 year old High School. The two referendums, the last for $147 million for these two projects were voted down by the badly overtaxed residents of Monroe Township. If the last referendum had passed the State was only going to give us $15 million, payable during the life of the 30 year bond, or $600,000 a year which would not cover the interest. Last year we only received $5.8 in regular State Education Aid or about $800 per student. Our buildings are dangerously overcrowded and our students cannot receive a Thorough & Efficient education, yet no help from the State, only excuses.
Now let’s look at the distribution of the additional $300 million you have in your budget for the 2020-2021 school year. Monroe Township will only receive $1,016,870. Our school budget is $140 million and grows by over $3 million per year. So as you can see this amount does nothing to ease the tax burden on our already overtaxed residents.
In the past I have sent many letters explaining our lack of fair and equitable State funding for our school district to; Governor Corzine, Governor Christie, Chief Justice Rabner, Senate President Sweeney, State Senator Greenstein, Assemblymen Benson & DeAngelo and Education Commissioners Cerf & Hespe. The only responses I received was from Senate President Sweeney who stated he would try to get our district an additional $2 million, which I explained was nowhere near enough and Governor Christie who I also met with after two of his town hall meetings. No one else cared nor had the courtesy of responding to my many letters through the years on behalf of the Monroe Township Residents.
In 2012 I had prepared a fair funding plan which I sent to Governor Christie as well as Commissioners Cerf & later Hespe as well as our elected representatives, as follows:
All children are worth the same no matter where they live in New Jersey;
The base, All districts would receive $6,000 per student based on enrollment.
All districts would receive an additional $3,000 per student for Special Education.
Lastly, Districts would receive an extra $2,000 per student for special circumstances, Breakfast, Lunch or special equip.
Now you would have fair and equitable funding of all the school districts in New Jersey.
If you may remember Governor Christie did propose a similar program during his last year in office. His plan was $6,800 per student to all districts. The Democrat majority in both houses refused to negotiate with the Governor or propose a plan of their own. So instead, suburban school districts like Monroe Township and their children and taxpayers continue to suffer, while billions of our tax dollars are going to 31 still failing districts each year.
There now have been seven Abbott decisions by the Supreme Court in favor of the Newark Education Law Center for more funding and new schools, these districts have wasted $100’s of millions of our tax dollars and are still failing. Their Abbott vs, Burke Decisions were wrong and unfair to over 500 other underfunded school districts and should be changed. This must stop and the Funding Formula must be changed.
Thank you for your valuable time.
Respectfully yours,
Mark Klein
Monroe Township Committee for Fair State Funding