Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), a candidate for Jersey City mayor, is thanking state lawmakers for stopping an “outrageous” proposed $4 million cut to the local board of education.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“As we said at the time it was proposed, this most recent $4 million cut to Jersey City public schools that was originally included in the state budget was an outrageous insult to our community,” O’Dea said in a statement.
“I’m thankful to our state legislative delegation for righting this wrong, but the battle to restore every dollar of the $250 million in state aid that has been cut from our local schools is just beginning.”
O’Dea credited state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) with not only working with other Hudson County state legislators to reverse the cut, but for his previous comments about how the S-2 school funding formula was passed for political reasons.
“Senator Mukherji was correct when he said that Jersey City was getting screwed by this new school funding formula for political reasons. When I’m elected Mayor I’ll make restoring this funding my number one legislative priority, and I won’t take no for an answer— our students, our teachers, our parents and our taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
O’Dea sounded the alarm on the potential cut when it was first proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in February, and in May demanded that Hudson County’s state legislators withhold their votes on the state budget until the funding cut was reversed.
