The state education commissioner of NJ issued a decision (see here) on the Lakewood school funding lawsuit brought by R' Aaron Lang over the last 7 years to fix the funding formula for Lakewood and have the state pay more for Lakewood school education. The ruling stated that Lakewood BOE is providing a thorough and Efficient education and therefore the Commissioner does not need not to rule on the issue of the funding formula if it is constitutional or not. R' Lang said property taxes will more than double. No one will be able to live here and you will not be able to sell your homes. He will continue litigating the case in the courts.
The crux of the case is that the Lakewood school district is not providing a T&E Thorough and efficient education because of a lack of funds from the state. Reb Lang explained that you need to establish the T & E claim before arguing formula is unconstitutional. Previously, the administrative law judge agreed that Lakewood is not providing a T&E which paved the way for the case to continue about the funding formula but now the commissioner rejected that and said that Lakewood is providing a T&E and therefore deferred on the funding formula decision
R' Aaron Lang responded on Twitter that he will now take the case to the judicial courts where it should have been in the first place and not within the Dept. of Education. He said tax payers will be on the hook to pay back massive BOE loans A home paying $15K will pay $35K a year. Why should the legislature not remove the tax cap for a town that owes so much? Can you imagine how sick your BOE is to oppose the litigation? you will have a billion dollar tax debt that must be repaid within a decade.
The governor cannot waive the debt. By law it must be paid in a decade. Your property taxes will more than double. No one will be able to live here and you will not be able to sell your homes.Reb Aaron a musmach of BMG a attorney and math teacher in the lakewood public school has been litigating this free of charge on behalf of the Lakewood children and tax payers. He got no recognition from the township govt Vaad BOE or other leaders instead there have been several attempts to obstruct the case to pull it away from him and he was even demoted by the BOE. He vows to continue litigating despite the setbacks he wrote on twitter "I will still litigate this but this town, with all its false claims of hakaros hatov, which really just means kissing up to politicians and kissing down to gangstellach",
Can someone please explain the other side of the story?
ReplyDeleteIt seems so clear-cut that R' Aaron Lang is right.
Why is there any opposition to him?
Thoughtful replies only, please.
The other side would be that if Lakewood is found not to be providing T&E, the state could step in and take over the district.
ReplyDeleteOk, then what?
DeleteThe Lakewood BOE IS providing a T&E education, as evidenced by grades improving and other noticeable factors. It is an insult, and dishonest, to say the BOE is not giving a T&E education. However, there IS also a problem with the formula and therefore there have been many state loans. I don't think challenging the formula based on sheker is correct. But the state formula DOES need to be challenged in court.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously are not a homeowner. So we shouldn't take the loans and then there won't be a T&E and then we will deal with it? That will be even worse for the children.
DeleteNo. We should take the loans and continue to provide T&E. We should also challenge the formula in court. But we shouldn't fight it by saying that the district is not providing a T&E
DeleteThere is no NJ cause of action against the state for lower taxes, fairer funding for any particular township, funding for police or fire, more services or any local spending. The state can spend however it wishes as long as it does not run afoul of the constitution and does not single out a township by name (The can't say town X does not get funded. They can say "any town with this or that characteristic will not get funding.). That means the only cause of action in the courts is for educational funding due no T & E. Getting an education is a right under the state constitution.
DeleteSo just a 30% proficiency in reading and 8% proficiency in math is considered providing T&E? Appearently that is what you get when the highest paid position in the school district, by far, is the attorney.
DeleteR' Aaron,
ReplyDeleteAs a Lakewood homeowner whose kids are already thru the system, I, for one, appreciate what you are doing.
I know you feel very passionate about this and that is a good thing. I think the merits of this case are strong enough. Please try not to put people down in the process. (Although I whole heartedly agree with you on your feelings about these guys who are positions of so-called "leadership." You DON'T want to hear what I have to say about them, it ain't pretty.)
how about addressing the elephant in the room how can there be such a high enrollment number in the public schools if the Hispanic community which makes up most of the students are moving out of Lakewood.
ReplyDeleteSchool district claims enrollment is up are these figures accurate
there are reports of kids from outside Lakewood coming to the school district all they have to provide is a utility bill or claim they live in Lakewood
what are the real actual attendance numbers
The local pre-school is full of frumme children. The education is excellent, and the teachers are really dedicated. The Chadorim say that the skills learned there are unparalleled.
DeleteOur Morahs should learn a thing or two from them.
In order to justify his $750k salary and the superintendent's high salary - they need to have higher enrollment.
DeleteThe BOE members started the process of hiring someone to find all the kids coming from out of district. But when the new BOE lawyer came into power, that got canceled.
When questioned in public about this, the lawyer said "I am not Donald Trump. I don't care the legal status or where they live. If someone wants an education here in Lakewood, we will give it to them"
Anon 10:48 am
DeletePre school is non mandated does not justify all the salaries and jobs at the expense of taxpayers
The morahs are doing a excellent job no need to learn from the public school.
Thank you Reb Aaron for all you're doing on our behalf.
ReplyDeleteAnd please continue to fight for us and expose the gangsters!
People are making a mistake about the gangstelach. This is not about them.
ReplyDeleteConcerning T & E, we provided hours of testimony and mountains of evidence that the state is not providing T & E in Lakewood. The commissioner looked at raw scores which our expert testified went up across the state and did not compare the scores with the rest of the state like the ALJ. She said they were woeful. The monitors also testified that the program was bare-bones, even in the years with the loans. The BOE had no problem with this argument and district personnel testifying that there is no T & E. We have the lowest teacher salaries, lowest amount of kids going to college and every indicator is among the lowest in the state.
As for the BOE's flip-flop at the very end, their positions have been confusing since August of 2017. (Guess what happened then?).
We knew about the so-called improvements even before the trial started and the state still lost.
As for a state takeover, no one is asking for it. Not us and not the state. This case has nothing to do with local politics or governance. It is all about the formula. Every other district in the case law has welcomed litigation over T & E. The Lakewood BOE in the 2002 Bacon case made the same T & E claim I am making. They lost. They joined with the other Bacon litigants again in 2015 claiming there is no T & E in Lakewood.
So this whole thing about a state takeover is nonsense. So is any fears about the bussing and special education. The former is protected by law and the later is protected by the federal constitution. I have argued that these two services are protected in my petition and papers, and the state never argued to the contrary.
A Lang
Thank you so much Mr Lang for all your hard work. You are a true tzaddik and one day you will receive the rewards due to you. Your work on behalf of the klal is so selfless and the amount of flak you stand up to is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteThank you R' Aron. No one will honor you at their dinner, but the truth is on your side. We stand with you and salute you.
ReplyDelete