TRENTON — State Sen. Michael Doherty this afternoon launched a legislative assault on the state Supreme Court for "hijacking" decisions of education funding and unveiled a plan to provide equal state aid per student, regardless of need. "It is my opinion that the current system, where we’re all standing here with bated breath waiting for the Supreme Court to...
State Sen. Michael Doherty, seen here arguing in the Statehouse in a 2007 photo, today announced a plan to increase funding to suburban schools while cutting funding from the neediest districts.TRENTON — State Sen. Michael Doherty this afternoon launched a legislative assault on the state Supreme Court for "hijacking" decisions of education funding and unveiled a plan to provide equal state aid per student, regardless of need.
"It is my opinion that the current system, where we’re all standing here with bated breath waiting for the Supreme Court to tell us what we’re going to do with school funding, is unconstitutional," Doherty (R-Warren) said at a news conference at the Statehouse.
Under his proposed plan, which has not yet been introduced as a bill, the state’s suburban districts would gain substantially in state aid while the neediest districts would suffer the deepest cuts.
For example, Clinton Township — which is part of Doherty’s district — would get $11.9 million under his plan, up from about $583,000, according to figures he released. But urban areas such as Newark would decrease from $681 million to $337 million, the figures show.
In all, Doherty claims, about 75 percent of towns would gain by his division of education aid. Those that would lose dollars would have to make "tough decisions," he said, but the division of aid would be more fair for all residents
Doherty plans to hold a series of town hall meetings across the state to promote his plan and will focus on Democratic strongholds that would gain in dollars in hopes of ratcheting up public pressure on lawmakers there.
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