{"id":2889,"date":"2019-03-06T03:18:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T08:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=2889"},"modified":"2019-03-06T03:18:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T08:18:42","slug":"toms-river-brick-school-districts-lead-massive-protest-over-funding-cuts-in-trenton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2019\/03\/toms-river-brick-school-districts-lead-massive-protest-over-funding-cuts-in-trenton\/","title":{"rendered":"Toms River, Brick School Districts Lead Massive Protest Over Funding Cuts in Trenton"},"content":{"rendered":"[videopress AwUqT5i9]\n

As Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a $38.6 billion state spending plan<\/a>inside, thousands gathered outside the statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday to protest the shifting of funding away from about 70 school districts statewide \u2013 including Brick and Toms River, which were among the hardest hit.<\/p>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brick could see a permanent $23 million cut over seven years and Toms River may have to deal with an $18 million cut \u2013 which will then be permanently removed from the budget \u2013 along with mandatory tax increases to the 2 percent maximum allowed under the state\u2019s cap law. But even with the property tax hikes, officials from both districts say there will still be a funding gap that could cost hundreds of jobs, the removal of extracurricular programs like sports and the band, and an increase in class sizes above 30 pupils per room.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey Hey, Ho Ho!\u201d hundreds of Toms River Regional students shouted. \u201cSchool cuts have got to go!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another chant demanded the state \u201cbet on children, not on horses,\u201d referring to $100 million in public subsidies<\/a>proposed by Murphy to be spent on the horse-racing industry.<\/p>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Other chants called for the state legislature to \u201csave our future\u201d and a few angled toward a recall of Murphy, who hatched the school funding deal last year in a last-minute agreement with state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester).<\/p>\n

In Murphy\u2019s budget address, he promoted the new formula which slashed the Brick and Toms River budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work to modernize our formula to meet the on-the-ground needs of districts today, led by Senate President Sweeney, is ensuring that school funding dollars are more efficiently and effectively following our children,\u201d the governor said.<\/p>\n

Will the protest have an impact? Officials are hopeful.<\/p>\n

Gerard Dalton, Brick Township\u2019s superintendent, said he and colleagues, including TRRS superintendent David Healy, had been invited to a meeting with state officials after the budget address Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the message was heard,\u201d he told Shorebeat. \u201cBoth Mr. Healy and myself have had some conversations with people from the governor\u2019s office, and we may be staying today to continue those conversations as others go back on buses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River, Brick and students from 70 other districts across New Jersey attend a rally in Trenton over school funding cuts, March 5, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Brick Township\u2019s school board will next meet on March 14; Toms River Regional\u2019s board will meet March 20.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[videopress AwUqT5i9] As Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a $38.6 billion state spending planinside, thousands gathered outside the statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday to protest the shifting of funding away from about 70 school districts statewide \u2013 including Brick and Toms River, which were among the hardest hit. Brick could see a permanent $23 million cut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[803,232,802,11,804],"class_list":["post-2889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-toms-river-schools","tag-rally","tag-school-funding","tag-school-funding-cuts","tag-toms-river-nj-news","tag-trenton"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sos_rally_trenton_0305_126.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}