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Sherrill pushes K-12 consolidation

Also, regulating social media to protect kids' mental health

By: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... To help New Jersey student's mental health, governor Mikie Sherrill proposed social media regulation and funding school-wide cell phone bans in her $60.7 billion state budget proposal on March 10. [2026]
..... Sherrill also proposed consolidating services such as transpiration to reduce costs for the state's nearly 600 school districts. It all summed up to a "record investment" in school funding, Sherrill said, addressing lawmakers in Trenton.
..... Her proposed 2026-2027 budget sets aside $22.5 billion in funding for pre-K to 12 grade education - $222.6 million over the current year. This is the highest amount of school aid funding in New Jersey history, the governor's office said.
..... Some $12.5 billion of that would go toward formula aid to districts, based on the school funding formula.
..... But Sherrill acknowledged that a record funding number doesn't "five the bang for the buck that we need," amid a trend of budget deficits and layoffs in such municipalities as Passaic in Passaic County, Westwood in Bergen County and Jefferson Township in Morris County. as premiums for state health benefits plans rise and COVID aid-funded income streams dribble out, among other factors.
..... The budget provides $1.4 billion for pre-K, a 9.3% increase over the current fiscal year. [2026]
..... Of that, the Education Department has $4.5 million to support new districts.
..... More than half of school districts in New Jersey already have access to a state-funded pre-K program, the budget statement said.
..... Some $350 million would be made available to the Schools Development Authority to pay for already identified infrastructure projects in the state's poorest districts.
..... Literacy tools and high-impact tutoring are also funded.

Consolidating services to reduce school district costs

..... "Consolidation" is Sherrill's watchword - an approach she floated in her campaign and in her budget - to tackle looming budgetary crisis by benefiting from economies of scale.
..... "Everyone in this room knows we are not getting the bang for the buck that we need there," Sherrill said. "Evidence shows the huge benefit for shared services in special education, transpiration, books, and software."
..... "This budget lays the groundwork for consolidating services and curricula," she said. "It's better for students, offering continuity as they move from elementary to middle and high school in one unified system, and it's better for districts, providing needed savings."
..... The state will provide dashboards and mapping tools for the public to better understand the state's opaque funding formula and its allocation, which were the target of a lawsuit in recent years, as port of Sherrill's accountability platform.

Addressing social media and kids' mental health

..... Regulating classic media to protect students; mental helaht was a top priority. "This isn't just the Big Tobacco of our era; it's worse," Sherrill said. "It's where government has a role to play in keeping our kids safe."
..... New Jersey's first cell phone-free school year [2026] this fall would see $125,000 in funding for the new Office of Youth Online Mental Helaht Safety and Awareness in the Department of Health. The office will issue guidelines for responsible sue of social media platforms.
..... The proposed also includes $500,000 for a new Social Media Research Center to be opened at one of New Jersey's higher education institutions.
..... "School-based Partnerships for Access and Resilience for Kids," a granting mental health replace the existing mental health program for children under Governor Phil Murphy, which Sherrill is closing down.

Money for NJ colleges and universities, career initiatives

..... About $3.3 billion is proposed to directly support higher education institutions and financial assistance programs, according to Sherrill's budget proposal.
..... The budget "prioritizes" higher education aid, it said, with $755.2 million for state colleges and universities, $169.1 million for county colleges and $4.6 million for independent institutions of higher education, an increase of 47.5% in higher education state aid since 2019.
..... The budget also would fund workplace and career initiatives. It sets aside $1 million for a Summer Youth Work experience Program, to expanding early work experience opportunities for teenagers and young adults.
..... The Department of Labor and Workforce Development "will expand access to workforce training programs, facilitate higher education

and business partnerships and pathways, improve the quality and efficiency of government services, continue career opportunities for individuals with disabilities" to support a changing labor market, it said.

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