State reveals school aid for 2026-2027
Higher total of $12.7B still will leave many districts short
By: Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... New Jersey's nearly 600 school districts received notice of there state funding amounts for the 2026-2027 school year, totaling $12.7 billion, the first aid issued under Governor Mikie Sherrill, compared with $12.06 billion for the current school year. [2025-2026]
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Governors routinely tout the amount of state aid to schools, but the total still fall short for many district juggling a growing stream of costs driven inexorably higher by inflation, while receiving money calculated under an old state formula last amened din 2018.
..... One comfort is that districts losing aid will see no more than a 3% reducing, as the current school year. For those receiving more aid, increase were capped at 6%, "ensuring overall stability while recognizing the need for annual adjustments," the governor's office said.
..... Sherril expanded preschool aid by 9.3%, to a record level of $1.4 billion, including $4.5 million to expand preschool programs onto new school districts.
..... That has cut into the $12.7 billion total for K-12 districts, said Jeff Bennett, who writes a widely reference school funding blog using the name State Aid Guy.
.....The state has not generated enough total income tax revenue, and that reduces how much it can directly give its districts, Bennett said, even though the money is still "barely half of the state's total education spending," considering outlays for pensions and other non-formula aid.
..... "New Jersey isn't bringing in enough money to enable the full funding of all districts," said Bennett, who was speaking privately, and not on behalf of the South-Orange Maplewood Board of Education, where he is a trustee.
..... "New Jersey's income tax is supposed to increase by less than $500 million [this year]. Since some of that goes to direct tax rebates and even a small increase for municipalities," Bennett said, "the state lacks the fiscal ability to provide all the K-12 operating aid that districts need and fell entitled to."
..... New Jersey is increasingly relying on local taxpayers to shoulder more of the burden of funding their schools to an adequate level, as defined by the state's school funding formula, said Danielle Farris of the Education Law Center.
..... "The state could alleviate some of that pressure on local taxpayers by increasing the state's shear of funding, which would than also improve educational opportunity for students in many of the state's underfunded school districts - districts that disproportionately serve many of the state's low-income, Black and Latino students, Farris said.
Ending programs, cutting staff
..... Many districts are feeling the pinch and having to shut down programs or reduce staff as costs go up - including newer costs such a spending on security, helaht insurance premiums and the growing number of students needing special education services.
..... "Pascack Valley Regional High School District, like most school distinct, faced a significant challenge in developing its 2026-2027 budget," said Superintendent Drik Phillips. "Rising expenses, particularly health care costs, made this task difficult." a slight increase in state aid, to $3.04 million form $2.8 million in the current school year, will prevent the district form reducing more positions and programs, he said.
..... Officials were "grateful" but still must "carefully evaluate how staffing, academic and co-curricular programs and facilities will affect the district's longterm financial stability and ability to sustain key programs and services in the coming years," Phillips said.
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North Bergen, a low-income district in Hudson County, will see a $2 million cut for 2026-2027. During the current school year, it eliminated 10 positions "by attrition," such as not filling positions emptied by retirement, said Superintendent George Solter Jr.
..... The district may cut more technology programs to which it now subscribes. "everything's on the table to look at in order to make up for that money," he said The distinct received $67 million for the coming school year.
Paterson still faces budget gap
..... Paterson, the state's third-largest district, will get a $37 million increase in state aid - from $618 million to $655 million - coming as city education officials grapple with a large gap in their 2026-2027 budget.
..... Superintendent Laurie Newell has not yet made public the exact size of the shortfall. In late January, [2026] the district's business administrator, June Gray, said the gap was $71 million.
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An increase in funding by $300,000 was not enough for Jefferson Township Public Schools in Morris County, on of many districts in the Highlands region, were a law limited real estate development and years of school funding cuts have generated a budget crisis.
..... The district faces a $4.8 million deficit and may have to cut athletics and other critical programs. It received $5.45 million, but that is $1.2 million less than it was owed under the formula, said a "disappointed" Superintendent Jeanne Howe.
..... "I am disappointed by the news coming out of the Department of Education this morning, but the fight is not over," Howe said. "This is the second consecutive year that we have been denied approximately $1.2 million in funding that the state's formula says we need to provide a through and efficient dedication."
..... The distinct said it had not yet made any decisions about its budget.