UNION CITY — Among cuts in Gov. Christie Christie’s current and subsequent state budget is a proposed $29.3 million slice in the aid sent annually to the Union City School District, according to a newspaper report Friday.
Last year, the district received approximately $150 million in state aid for its budget.
The district closed its two high schools last year and opened its newly built Union City High School this past September. It also runs nine elementary schools, two middle schools, a freshman academy, and early childhood programs.
NJ.com noted of the proposed cut, “That exceeds the cuts for all of the school districts in Christie’s own Morris County combined. Some Democrats saw the Union City cut as perhaps the first shot in a battle against the Abbott [urban special needs schools] funding system. Christie himself gave few hints.”
The Abbott system provides extra funding to 31 urban “special needs” districts, in response to a series of state Supreme Court cases. However, the fairness of the funds and the funding formula has been debated for some time.
On Friday, Mark Albiez, a spokesman for Union City Mayor/Democratic State Sen. Brian Stack, said the mayor was not ready to comment on the tentative cut yet.
Last year, Republican lawmakers questioned some spending in the district, including $300,000 paid in overtime to school bus drivers in densely populated, 1.3-square mile city.