Hundreds protest budget cuts, planned teacher layoffs at Jersey City schools

JERSEY CITY — More than 300 parents, teachers and students crowded inside School 26 on Monday night to demand Jersey City school board members find a way to avoid massive cuts to school staffing and educational programs.

The board was meeting to adopt its $638 million budget for 2019-20 at a time when the 30,000-student district faced a budget gap that exceeds $100 million and a cut in state school aid that totals roughly $30 million. The district in recent weeks sent out hundreds of layoff warnings to teachers and staff — during Teacher Appreciation Week — panicking district employees and parents.

As of 8 p.m. the board had yet to hold a vote on the budget because of hours of comment from members of the public, many of them with their children in tow. They told board members they should impose a higher tax hike, lobby City Council members to use some of the city’s budget to fund schools and cut “wasteful spending.”

“Our schools are crying out for leadership and it is time for you to step up,” Jyl Josephson said.

Read more: https://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/05/hundreds-protest-budget-cuts-planned-teacher-layoffs-at-jersey-city-schools.html