Booker vows to fight for education
Back-to-school costs brings pain to parents
By Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... President Donald Trump's move to shutter the federal Education Department is to the most pressing thing on New jersey resident Wintischa Wilson's mind as the new school year kicks off. The cost of getting her grandchildren to school safely and with dignity is.
.....
Back-to-school shopping costs and the impact that tariffs will likely have on an already costly grocery list had Wilson - who is the mother of a 16-year-old and grandmother to two elementary schoolers - despairing over her family's expenses, she told Senator Cory Booker, D-New Jersey on September 8 [2025] in his Newark office.
..... Booker invited a small group of parents and advocates to discuss the potential impact on children and the back-to-school season of the federal spending law, called Trump's "big, beautiful bill" by its supporters.
..... "My daughter lives in Irvington, Wilson said. "She wants to buy school cloths for her two children that go to third grade and first grade. A pair of uniform pants costs 417, but if it's monogrammed you're talking an extra $5 to $10. Thank God they go to a school that doesn't use monogrammed uniforms," she told Booker.
..... "I like the rules that require uniforms, but without stipends or help with things like laundry detergent that are constantly going up in price, its super expensive," Wilson said.
..... An August [2025] analysis form the progressive think tank The Centru Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative says "the massive budget law will soon drive costs even higher for back-to-school essentials as it cuts to programs that children, families, and college students depend on take hold."
.....
a typical mix of fist-day school supplies cost an average of 7.3% more this back-to-school season [2025] compared with last year, [2024] the report said. Trump tariffs will raise the prices of clothing and shoes by around 40% electronics by 30% and college textbooks by 10%, it said. index cards went up in price by 42.6%, notebooks by 17.1%, binders by 12.8%, and folders by 12.7%.
..... Trump campaigned on a promise to bring down prices. with china being the largest exporter of plastic office and school supplies - and the U.S. the largest importer - the impact of tariffs on prices paid by cameraman customers would be to raise them seen higher, the report said.
....
Shoes, for example, are almost all manufactured in china, Vietnam and Indonesia, countries that were facing tariff of 20% to 40% in July [2025] news reports said. And the average family would see an additional $163 in the cost of packing a school lunch over last year, [2024] as the prices of bananas, grapes and juice boxes went up.
'Attack on public education'
..... Wilson, who lives in Rahway, said her daughter could not live near her in town, where Wilson might be of help, because she simply cannot afford the rent.
..... Rising prices, high rents and access to services like Medicaid were already a challenge before Trump. now cuts to social safety net programs and the tariffs' impact on the cost of living makes her fear for her children;s future, Wilson said.
..... "What we're seeing is a coordination in America," Booker said. "By strangling these vital programs, what we are seeing is instability in our public schools."
..... Booker was discussing the impact of tariffs and the increasing pressure on social safety net programs from recent federal funding claw-backs, and the federal spending plan, which the Republican-majority Congress approved in July. [2025]
..... Trump;s voter base has rallied to his move to redirect tax dollars form public schools into the hands of parents through vouchers. But the bill also threatens to cut Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides food assistance through a benefit card for low-income families, senors, and people with disabilities. And one of Trump's first moves was to issue an execute order largely dismantling the federal Education Department.
.....
"What I'm hearing from these professionals is a five-alarm fire,"Booker said. "They are ringing the bell. and this is September. [2025] If it continues to June, [2026] we are going to have one of the worst years in public education."
..... Democrats failed in the summer to keep Trump's bill from passing, but Booker has since been vowing to hold his ground until Republicans compromise on some issues before voting for the next round of government funding before it expires on September 30. [2025]
..... "I will not give my voe away in this budget showdown unless some of this suffering hitting American families is alleviated," he said.
..... "Will download Trump compromise? That's the choice we are trying to force right now," Booker said if his fellow Democrats.