The public school system is its own separate local government. The typical school budget is people-driven in terms of the investment, i.e. the budget pays for teachers, administrators, clerks, cafeteria workers, psychologists, security guards. In New Jersey, the typical school budget is paid for with two revenue sources, usually in this order:
- Local property tax
- State aid
I live in Jersey City and most of my articles thus look at the Jersey City Public Schools. There are two primary sources of data for public school data: (1) your local board of education website which will include the local budgets and (2) the NJ Department of Education of education which has a data portal. Both sources are references in my articles below.
What is with the high school “majors”? (A Civic Parent Explainer)
March 7, 2024
I wanted to share a brief explainer on "high schools with the majors." At the bottom of this post is ...
Demystifying Jersey City’s $1 billion budget for JCPS high schoolers
October 19, 2023
I recently met with high school student leaders in Jersey City Public Schools who are sharing stories of the conditions ...
JCPS audit is informing about needed improvements
May 24, 2023
I’m playing catch-up (due to a busy spring), but I wanted to share important news from the JC Board of ...
The local levy as connection between taxpayer and the local budget
May 11, 2023
This is part of a 2023 series about property tax in NJ. View the series landing page here. An upfront ...
The local budget timeline
March 10, 2023
To follow the public money and better understand what’s driving your property tax bills, you have to know when to ...
Jersey City set to lose $51 million in NJ education aid; how this connects to rising school tax
March 2, 2023
NJ's Department of Education released its state education aid summaries for the 2023/24 academic year and Jersey City is set ...
Property tax dashboard: visualizing tax levies, tax base, & tax rates from 1998-2022
February 28, 2023
This data was published by the NJ Department of Community Affairs (that site is here). Each year, the state collects ...
Property Tax & Local Budgets, An Intro to the series
February 28, 2023
I am launching a 2023 series on CivicParent about the local government budget process and property tax. My hope is ...
Jersey City Together Education Team: A Timeline of Advocacy, 2018-2022
December 20, 2022
JCT Education Team2017June 29, 2017From 2017: Why Possible State Aid Cuts to Jersey City = “Major Hardship”This is a quick ...
Jersey City’s 2022 tax hikes & Q3 and Q4 tax bill flux, explained
October 23, 2022
This post made my head spin a bit … the math and timing is wonky and confusing. I’ve done my ...
JCPS Update: Positive school climate, trauma informed schools, and social emotional support for kids
October 20, 2022
In my years within Jersey City Public Schools as both an advocate and a parent, I have heard stories of ...
How does your town’s property tax allocation compare to the state average?
October 4, 2022
I’ve often received the question: how does our town’s property tax compare to the state average? Using the most recently ...
$89M Maintenance of Equity to JCPS & the Eventual “Fiscal Cliff”
September 9, 2022
I wanted to share some thoughts around the $89 million "maintenance of equity" funds that Jersey City Public Schools received ...
Jersey City Budgets & the Connection to Property Tax Expense (an interactive teaching visual)
July 13, 2022
This is part of a series about the 2022 Jersey City budget. To see the full series, click here. For ...
Jersey City’s 2022 Municipal Budget: Focus on Revenues & Increasing City Tax Levy
June 24, 2022
In this post I’m using 2 public datasets: A: Jersey City’s 2022 Municipal Budget (Introduced) with proposed 2022 revenue and ...
Jersey City’s 2022 Municipal Budget: the Big Picture
June 24, 2022
On June 15th, Jersey City released introduced its 2022 budget. This is a part of a series about that budget ...
Series Kickoff: the 2022 Municipal Budget
June 20, 2022
The Jersey City municipal budget was introduced last week (June 15th) via resolution 22-4009. For the past three years, I've ...
Jersey City Board of Education Passes Historic School Levy Investment
May 5, 2022
Tonight the Jersey City Board of Education passed its 2022-23 school budget along a 5-4 vote, approving funds that staved ...
Interactive tools to learn about school tax increase in Jersey City
March 22, 2022
The Jersey City Board of Education increased the school tax levy...now what? I'm getting that question from more than a ...
Some final words on 2022-23 Schools Budget, anti-school tax rhetoric, and city/BOE budget timelines
March 19, 2022
This is my final post re: the Jersey City Public Schools budget which will be voted on this Monday. The ...
Jersey City Schools Budget, 2022-23, a brief update & next steps FYI
March 16, 2022
This is an update on the unfolding budget process for Jersey City Public Schools; the budget was introduced Tuesday March ...
A picture of state aid reduction in Jersey City
March 15, 2022
I wanted to share a picture of the state aid reductions to Jersey City Public Schools. State Aid can be ...
Putting Jersey City’s low school tax rate into perspective
March 13, 2022
Jersey City lost another $68 million in state aid on March 10th, 2022. This cut was expected, part of the ...
Jersey City Public Schools: Visualization for Federal Covid-19 Aid
March 1, 2022
The Jersey City Public Schools have received over $160 million in federal COVID-19 aid since 2020 and I was curious ...
Midway through Jersey City’s “S2” state aid cuts: assessing the fiscal landscape.
February 11, 2022
It has been nearly four years since NJ passed the “S2” law, leading to state aid cuts to Jersey City ...
What is in our local public schools budget? (a tool for advocates)
February 2, 2022
What’s included in our schools budget, and how is it structured (laid out)? I wanted to create a visualization for ...
Accountability Check: a look back at mental health services included in the FY2021-22 Jersey City Public Schools Budget
January 24, 2022
Jersey City's FY2021-22 public schools budget included concrete, promised investments in mental health services for our city's students. In this ...
Outgoing 2021 Jersey City Board of Education misses mark on showing budgeted investment for mental health services for students; new BOE should aim higher
December 18, 2021
On Thursday, December 16th, the Board of Education held its final regular meeting of the 2021 calendar year and while ...
Jersey City Public Schools Staffing Shortage: A data-driven view from Board Docs
November 7, 2021
Jersey City is experiencing a staffing shortage in its public schools. While this is part of a nationwide trend, local ...
Improving accountability and transparency for Jersey City Public Schools
September 25, 2021
In 2021 Jersey City Public Schools fully funded its schools for the first time in over a decade. Reasonable questions ...
In one chart: Jersey City’s seismic change in tax levies fully funds the schools and reallocates property tax
June 30, 2021
A "levy" is the amount raised in property tax to fund a government budget. Typically, a levy is one of ...
Transparency & Better Communications Needed for Jersey City Public Schools
June 28, 2021
The Board of Education (BOE) nearly shut down “remote” public comment last week and it’s worth explaining what happened, simply ...
NJ’s “Cost Per Pupil” is a flawed comparison of school district cost.
April 26, 2021
How NJ's "cost-per-pupil" can mislead taxpayers to interpret "investing more in higher needs students" as "overspending" On its face, the ...
The Board of Education Should Approve Superintendent Walker’s Schools Budget & Fully Fund Our Schools
March 17, 2021
Superintendent Walker proposed a fully funded budget on Monday, March 15th, a monumental step forward in Jersey City’s efforts to ...
JCPS: How does the schools budget process work?
February 5, 2021
Update, Feb 5, 2021: I’m re-upping this post from 2020 to share with anyone who’s interested in the upcoming schools ...
Tax Abatements 801: We need better abatement disclosures in NJ to show impact on public schools
December 11, 2020
This is post included in both my abatement series and a series about the User Friendly Budget in NJ. We ...
The “User Friendly Budget”, part 5 & Tax Abatements 701 – Abatement disclosures in the UFB
December 3, 2020
Note: the visualizations below are best viewed on a computer or tablet (vs a phone). Jersey City recently announced it ...
Jersey City School Tax Expense Calculator for 2020/21 School Funding Year
May 18, 2020
I am part of the education team with Jersey City Together and in May 2020 we created a school tax ...
Jersey City BOE Passes Mr. Walker’s Full Budget: $52.7M
May 12, 2020
Jersey City’s Board of Education took a huge step forward, following Superintendent Walker’s courageous lead to invest in Jersey City ...
It’s Now or Never to Support the 2020/21 Schools Budget for Our Kids.
May 9, 2020
It's Saturday May 9th and we are within a week of the 2020/21 schools budget being passed for next year ...
Approve the 2020/21 #JerseyCity Schools Budget: Invest in Jersey City’s Kids
May 4, 2020
PS #5 PTA Campaign: Tell the Board of Education: Approve the 2020/21 Schools Budget - Invest in Jersey City's Kids ...
Jersey City Public Schools Enrollment Data Shows Diversity of District, Imperative to Progressively Fund
May 2, 2020
For the last 10 years, Jersey City has been DIVESTING in its public schools. All the while, our city has ...
Thoughts on Technology and Mental Health in “Remote” Paradigm of Learning.
April 9, 2020
I normally use this blog to share data and analysis about taxes and public funding, but this is a more ...
What Investing in Jersey City Public Schools Looks Like for 2020/21
March 20, 2020
On Wednesday March 18th, Superintendent Walker proposed a budget that significantly increases local investment in our public schools. The budget ...
Jersey City Public Schools 2020/21 Budget Process: Working Timeline & FAQs
February 24, 2020
As we enter the budget season for Jersey City Public Schools, I wanted to share some upcoming process info – ...
Value & Empower Our Public Schools By Locally Funding Them in the 2020 Schools Budget
February 14, 2020
Helpful Tips: Thank you to the PTA of Dr. Michael Conti PS #5 School for this information & advocacy. We ...
Why the School Tax Levy is Key to Funding JCPS (and why seeking abatement funds is not a concrete solution).
January 30, 2020
I've heard "can't we go after the abatement money to fund our schools? Rather than increase the school tax levy?" ...
Infographic: Jersey City: the Municipality’s Role in School Underfunding
January 18, 2020
I've created this infographic as part of the 4th post of my 4-part series about the School Tax Rate in ...
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 3: A Case for Increasing the School Tax Levy
November 11, 2019
A Closer Look at Jersey City's School Tax Rate, Part 3: A Case for Increasing the School Tax Levy Jersey ...
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate. Part 2: Statewide Comparisons & the Role of the Tax Base
October 17, 2019
This is the second in a 4-part series about 2018 school tax rates, with a focus on Jersey City. This ...
A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 1: the Public Data
October 15, 2019
This is the first in a 4-part series about 2018 school tax rates, with a focus on Jersey City. This ...
Sharing from NJTV News: Questions over Jersey City teacher layoffs remain (July 4, 2019)
July 4, 2019
I spoke with reporter Briana Vannozzi in late June regarding our June 26th City Council action, when we delivered our ...
City Council Can Allocate Surplus Funds to the Public Schools.
June 3, 2019
The education team of Jersey City Together has been researching to understand, in concrete terms, the process by which City ...
Civic Questions for the Board of Education Upon Passing of their 2019/20 Budget
May 31, 2019
I wanted to share some civic questions that can be asked on the record or included in an email to ...
Jersey Journal Op-Ed: No Way to Run a World Class School District
May 31, 2019
I am a team member with Jersey City Together and a leader on the JC Together education advocacy team. I ...
JC BOE Used Incorrect Tax Base Value in Its 2019/20 Budget: Explaining the Tax Math
May 15, 2019
The Jersey City Board of Education used an incorrect tax base value in its budget presentation. It then based its ...
Accountability Checkpoint: Parent FAQs for May 13th BOE Meeting to Finalize the Budget
May 13, 2019
I’ve been getting some questions in advance of the Board of Education meeting tonight, and thought I’d share via a ...
The Jersey City BOE’s “10% Tax Levy Hike” Isn’t Enough & Doesn’t Value Our Kids or JCPS
May 8, 2019
Jersey City’s Board of Education is emphasizing a “10%” school tax levy increase as if that’s a big jump. Except ...
Jersey City: Approximately $40 Million of School Tax is Locked Up in Abatement Contracts
May 7, 2019
This is part of a series about the 2019/20 proposed municipal and schools budgets in Jersey City. Jersey City’s proposed ...
Jersey City’s 2019/20 Proposed Budget: Visualized APPROPRIATIONS (Expenses)
May 5, 2019
Every municipality must pay for services that are then consumed by its residents. These services include: Police force (eg the ...
Jersey City’s 2019/20 Proposed Budget: Visualized Revenues
May 5, 2019
Every municipality is funded by a mix of income streams, including: Property taxes (everyone pays property tax...you either pay it ...
2019/20 *Proposed* Advertised Appropriations (JCPS Spending for 2019/20 School Year)
April 28, 2019
How to use this visualization: Check out prior visualizations here that I'm sharing as part of the 2019/20 budget cycle ...
How does Jersey City Spend Its Money? A Data Visualization of Budgets from 2015-2018
April 25, 2019
As we look towards the coming weeks and months, two local governing bodies are undergoing a public budgeting process: The ...
2018/19 Advertised Appropriations (What JCPS Spends Money On)
April 15, 2019
How to use this visualization: This "tree map" shows the 2018/19 appropriations (i.e. expenses) for Jersey City Public Schools. I ...
Jersey City’s 2017 School Based Budgets: Learn what’s being funded in your school
April 15, 2019
How to use this visualization: This bubble chart shows 2017 actual spending within Jersey City's public schools, as reported by ...
Jersey City Facing $27 Million State Aid Cut for 2019/20 School Year
March 7, 2019
Governor Murphy released his proposed fiscal year (FY) 2019/20 budget for NJ and this week, and it included a re-allocation ...
NJ School Funding Basics: “Adequacy” Budget, School Tax Levy, & the Impact of Inflation (A Case Study of Jersey City)
March 7, 2019
This article is about Jersey City’s public schools funding crisis. If you’re unfamiliar with this issue, you can read more ...
NJ Public Schools – Diversity Dashboard Using Income, Race, & ESL Data
January 21, 2019
I was prompted by this tweet by Alpha Sigma Nu to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan 21, 2019). When ...
NJ School Funding Basics: NJ Department of Education Data & Reports
January 4, 2019
This is a quick initial post to point taxpayers to an excellent resource for rich, official public data about our ...
JCPS Funding Crisis: An Overview
January 4, 2019
Jersey City Public Schools Funding Crisis Based on the state funding formula, Jersey City Public Schools are currently $100 million ...
“Jersey City Public Schools are *Structurally* Underfunded”…What does this mean?
December 1, 2018
This started out as a Facebook post on my CivicParent Facebook page. I’ve turned it into a quick post, for ...
Jersey City & NJ: Student Group Data from NJ School Performance Reports (A Focus on ELL, At-Risk, and Special Education Students)
October 6, 2018
The NJ Department of Education publishes annual data relating to certain “student groups”, per school. The table below focuses on ...
NJ Special Education Statistics | #DataViz #OpenData
September 22, 2018
In this post I’m sharing statewide special education data, with ability to drill into Jersey City special education data specifically, ...
Jersey City’s Taxpayer Funded Schools: Enrollment Overview with Focus on Income Diversity
September 15, 2018
The charts below show enrollment data for Jersey City Public Schools. The Jersey City Public Schools system is the 39-school ...
Jersey City Public Schools – A Public Good Requiring Public Funding
August 30, 2018
Jersey City Public Schools is the city’s largest public good, funded through a combination of state, local, and to a ...
Jersey City: Who in City Council & the NJ State Legislature Represents Your School?
June 25, 2018
To help parents and taxpayers understand (a) what schools are in their neighborhood and/or (b) which elected representatives are tied ...
Jersey City Funding Crisis: Banked Cap, Explained
April 27, 2018
Jersey City Public Schools: CivicParent Funding FAQs I have been trying to understand how Jersey City Public Schools are funded ...
JCPS Funding: How JCPS Spends Its Money…A High Level Primer
July 5, 2017
I detailed in my last post how the JCPS budget is funded by a mix of state, local, and federal tax ...
JCPS Funding: Why Possible State Aid Cuts = “Major Hardship”
June 29, 2017
I will be writing about this issue as it unfolds, it’s a big topic that taxpayers should understand. This ...
Op-Ed Follow-Up: Get the Facts & Figures About Abatements & Public School Funding in Jersey City
May 30, 2017
I teamed up with Ellen Simon to co-author an op-ed in The Jersey Journal about how Jersey City’s PILOT policy ...
Jersey Journal Op-Ed Highlights PILOT vs. Public Schools Tension in Jersey City
May 15, 2017
I teamed up with Ellen Simon, a friend, fellow public school parent, and former board trustee of the Jersey City ...
Jersey City PILOTs Rob Funding from the School System
November 17, 2015
A strong public school system is essential bedrock to a healthy community. Yet in Jersey City, our bedrock is threatened by a fiscal ...
Jersey City, We Have A Problem.
May 18, 2014
Jersey City has been estimating the cost of its abatements incorrectly for at least eight years, and the impact to conventional taxpayers ...
Tax Abatements 501: A Critique of Mayor Fulop’s “Buy Up” Abatement Policy
April 21, 2014
In my Abatement Series, I’ve discussed the basic premise of abatements, how they are funded, and the impact to conventional ...
Tax Abatements 401: The Transparency Issue
March 23, 2014
In his 2010 report, “A Programmatic Examination of Tax Abatements,” NJ Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer highlighted numerous weaknesses with abatements. ...
Let’s Get Civic
December 15, 2013
The genesis of CivicParent.org…. I live in Jersey City and on November 14, 2013 I learned that Mayor Fulop’s first ...