HUDSON COUNTY – Hudson County public school districts will receive some extra aid from Trenton for the 2011-2012 academic year, according to figures released by Gov. Chris Christie’s office on Tuesday.
Hudson County will receive $878.4 million in education aid this year from the state, an increase of $87.4 million from the 2010-2011 year.
Bayonne will receive $50 million in aid, which is an increase of $2.2 million from last year.
Guttenberg is slated to receive $4.3 million, almost $300,000 more than what was received in 2010-2011.
Hoboken’s schools will receive $9.4 million, an increase of $2.4 million from last year.
Jersey City will receive $417 million this year, which is up $26.8 million from last year.
North Bergen will receive $53 million in 2011-2012, an increase of $2 million from 2010-2011.
Secaucus will receive $664,000 in state aid.
Union City’s schools received the largest county increase, pulling in $174.4 million this year in state education aid, up almost $29 million from 2010-2011.
Union City also received the most money in Hudson County from the state in May when the state Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Abbott Districts (mostly urban education districts) were underfunded and the Christie administration was forced to fund them with more money. Union City received $32.8 million in May. Sen. Brian Stack (D – Union City) is the mayor of Union City and is often viewed as a Democratic ally of the Republican governor.
Weehawken will receive $2.5 million this year, and West New York will receive $89.9 million. West New York will receive $14.8 million more than last year.
Christie spoke about the increase in education funding in a release on Tuesday.
“This year, New Jersey increased state aid to school districts by $850 million over last year, restoring every dollar of the cuts we were forced to make last year and increasing aid by an additional $30 million,” Christie said in a release. “We are keeping faith with our commitment to New Jersey’s children and families, spending more money per pupil on New Jersey’s students than almost any other state in the country. Now is the time to complement the dollars spent with real education reform to bring a focus on student learning, accountability and results.” — Ray Smith