Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Characterizing Sharing Revenue as"Defunding" the Hoboken Public Schools is Purposely Misleading and Inflammatory

Hoboken's tax base is essentially unlimited (Local Fair Share = $239 mil for 3177 students; tax levy = $53 mil). Its spending at $29,672 per student is #2 in NJ among K-12 districts (after Asbury Park). In May 2020 the Hoboken Board of Education raised taxes 9.95% in anticipation of increased enrollment. Sharing PILOT revenue w/ charters is not "defunding" by any reasonable person's definition of the word. But, use of the word "defunding" is inflammatory and divisive.