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The Jersey City Public Schools are currently facing a funding crisis of monumental proportion.
According to the state funding formula, Jersey City schools are already $125+ million underfunded in the 2019-2020 school year. And it's getting worse. (Last year, the schools were $104 million underfunded.)
In addition, over the next few years, the schools will lose another $150+ million in state aid. (During the 2019-2020 school year, state aid was cut by $27 million; we expect another $42 million to be cut for next year.) Read the Education Law Center's report about funding in Jersey City.
If you are interested in getting involved in our work for the 2019-2020 school year, sign up using the form below.
Read our fact sheet about the current process for the 2020-2021 JCBOE budget. (Download here.)
Here is some of our work last year: Jersey City Together and parent leaders across the city took serious steps to address issues during the spring and summer of 2019:
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In March 2019, we launched a campaign to press for leadership around school funding & a set of concrete investments by the Jersey City School Board.
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After a series of proposed layoffs, the Jersey City School Board increased local funding by more than they had originally planned, but not enough to fill the budget gap, in the final budget passed in May;
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Jersey City Together leaders wrote an OpEd focused on continued funding needs and what the City Council could do in the short term;
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On June 26th, 100 parents, students, and faith leaders pressed the City Council to add $16 million to the JCBOE's budget to prevent some of the cuts for the next school year. They did not, and Jersey City schools have lost a significant number of staff & left other positions unfilled as a result of the funding crisis.
We know we have started to change the conversation around school funding in Jersey City, but we have much further to go.
If you want to learn more, watch a short video below to get an overview of the funding crisis and some of our work to date, and then join our campaign to ensure Jersey City schools are adequately funded & providing students with a "thorough and efficient education" going forward.