Bergen County Getting $22 Million More in State Education Aid

Christie promised in his budget address Tuesday every district in the state would see an aid increase—part of a $250 million boost to education aid overall. In Bergen County alone, schools would see an overall increase of nearly $22 million.

Last year, the governor sharply reduced aid to schools, including many in Bergen County. Some saw their state aid eliminated entirely. At the time, many districts had been making plans for their budgets based on suggestions of more modest cuts by the state Department of Education.

"I agonized over making cuts to education aid last year," the governor said in his budget address. "They were the very last cuts I approved. It was not a decision I took lightly. It was not something I wanted to do. However, in a year where shared sacrifice was required from everyone, it was a necessary choice."

But he said hard decisions made over the last year allowed for some increase this year. Many districts will still receive less than they did prior to 2010-2011, however.

While the additional aid is welcome, other issues discussed by the governor, including a proposal to increase public employee contributions for health benefits from 8 percent to 30 percent over the next several years, will be difficult.

Another point the governor has touched on in recent months has been his intention to alter how tenure is given in New Jersey, opting for a system that would annually evaluate teachers based on the test scores of their students. If a teacher is determined not to be satisfactory two years in a row, they could lose tenure under the proposed changes.

In proposals tied to his budget, the governor is also pushing for reform to tenure, and for public employees to take on much of the cost associated with their benefits. He's also pushing for associated pension reforms, and is planning to increase the amount of charter schools throughout the state.

"The need for reform, of course, is more urgent than ever. ... We need to reward excellent teachers, put an end to automatic tenure, and give parents trapped in failing schools a choice for a better future for their children. Once and for all, we must reward excellence and there must be consequences for failure. This is the way it is all across America – we must finally bring it to all of New Jersey’s classrooms," Christie said.

The governor's reform proposals have been met with opposition by groups including the NJEA, the state's largest teacher's union, which maintains Christie is unfairly burdening teachers and making them out to be the villians in a complex budget crisis. 

The proposed state aid for Bergen County schools is  below:

DISTRICTS 2010-11 TOTAL AID 2011-12 TOTAL AID AID CHANGE ALLENDALE BORO 0 143,135 143,135 ALPINE BORO 0 58,167 58,167 BERGEN COUNTY VOCATIONAL 4,074,780 4,664,804 590,024 BERGENFIELD BORO 8518945 9,095,707 576,762 BOGOTA BORO 4,813,896 4,999,643 185,747 CARLSTADT BORO 0 89,014 89,014 CARLSTADT-EAST RUTHERFORD 0 142,024 142,024 CLIFFSIDE PARK BORO 2,163,749 2,533,993 370,244 CLOSTER BORO 0 164,845 164,845 CRESSKILL BORO 63,066 292,981 229,915 DEMAREST BORO 0 123,613 123,613 DUMONT BORO 7,361,216 7,754,826 393,610 EAST RUTHERFORD BORO 260,754 392,028 131,274 EDGEWATER BORO 251,649 387,301 135,652 ELMWOOD PARK 1,601,959 1,902,438 300,479 EMERSON BORO 0 178,906 178,906 ENGLEWOOD CITY 7,612,899 8,241,716 628,817 ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS BORO 6,218 108,516 102,298 FAIR LAWN BORO 1,095,364 1,892,985 797,621 FAIRVIEW BORO 6,153,335 6,342,952 189,617 FORT LEE BORO 385,683 951,643 565,960 FRANKLIN LAKES BORO 44,398 296,023 251,625 GARFIELD CITY 44,787,657 45,510,230 722,573 GLEN ROCK BORO 0 406,228 406,228 HACKENSACK CITY 9,931,739 10,783,810 852,071 HARRINGTON PARK BORO 3,731 104,496 100,765 HASBROUCK HEIGHTS BORO 415,068 649,140 234,072 HAWORTH BORO 5,774 80,425 74,651 HILLSDALE BORO 286,864 467,107 180,243 HO HO KUS BORO 101,789 224,148 122,359 LEONIA BORO 2,707,840 2,965,640 257,800 LITTLE FERRY BORO 908,009 1,084,425 176,416 LODI BOROUGH 12,317,718 12,822,160 504,442 LYNDHURST TWP 1,031,892 1,350,489 318,597 MAHWAH TWP 735,363 1,289,749 554,386 MAYWOOD BORO 637,145 809,030 171,885 MIDLAND PARK BORO 73,411 264,714 191,303 MONTVALE BORO 82,664 223,761 141,097 MOONACHIE BORO 219,633 296,793 77,160 NEW MILFORD BORO 887,061 1,175,124 288,063 NORTH ARLINGTON BORO 1,056,845 1,288,242 231,397 NORTHERN HIGHLANDS REG 0 238,500 238,500 NORTHERN VALLEY REGIONAL 0 469,183 469,183 NORTHVALE BORO 0 83,897 83,897 NORWOOD BORO 166,422 253,767 87,345 OAKLAND BORO 0 251,532 251,532 OLD TAPPAN BORO 0 143,797 143,797 ORADELL BORO 38,169 140,038 101,869 PALISADES PARK 1,225,062 1,436,901 211,839 PARAMUS BORO 7,879 718,074 710,195 PARK RIDGE BORO 0 232,349 232,349 PASCACK VALLEY REGIONAL 0 412,996 412,996 RAMAPO-INDIAN HILL REG 0 463,514 463,514 RAMSEY BORO 0 474,070 474,070 RIDGEFIELD BORO 1,523,443 1,859,260 335,817 RIDGEFIELD PARK TWP 3,758,214 4,057,603 299,389 RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE 0 849,425 849,425 RIVER DELL REGIONAL 0 256,261 256,261 RIVER EDGE BORO 27,842 169,228 141,386 RIVER VALE TWP 0 186,101 186,101 ROCHELLE PARK TWP 187,770 286,833 99,063 ROCKLEIGH 0 6,401 6,401 RUTHERFORD BORO 1,372,333 1,742,525 370,192 SADDLE BROOK TWP 372,677 629,479 256,802 SADDLE RIVER BORO 0 81,908 81,908 SOUTH HACKENSACK TWP 71,530 138,484 66,954 TEANECK TWP 3,104,326 4,008,259 903,933 TENAFLY BORO 0 563,057 563,057 TETERBORO 0 2,592 2,592 UPPER SADDLE RIVER BORO 0 201,276 201,276 WALDWICK BORO 130,028 384,809 254,781 WALLINGTON BORO 2,434,633 2,590,547 155,914 WESTWOOD REGIONAL 451,079 906,178 455,099 WOOD-RIDGE BORO 312,523 466,608 154,085 WOODCLIFF LAKE BORO 0 130,457 130,457 WYCKOFF TWP 0 324,057 324,057