First it was the WSJ now The Star Ledger joins in with a one sided bias article spewing more propaganda and myths about the Lakewood Orthodox community. Together with the the comments section and you have another article that is full of the continuous distortions, lies and accusations about the community. The favorite one of residents not paying taxes is trumpeted throughout the article and blames the fiscal woes of the school district on Tax exempt properties of the orthodox. The fact is, not only are Lakewood residents paying very high Property taxes with the bulk of it going toward education, but they send their children to private religious schools, so there should be enough funding for the district. The popular belief that somehow Lakewood residents are gaming the system and not paying taxes has been thoroughly debunked see HERE.
Secondly, as pointed out by others, the article fails to mention the lack of State funding despite the public school enrollment up by over 1000 students, the state has not increased its share in the last 4 years due to the funding formula.
The article failed to mention that the orthodox community voted to increase taxes and give the pubic schools an additional 34 million dollars for capital improvements. Many complaints about the high cost to educate special Ed students but no mention that these expenses are state mandated services.
The Clueless author is encouraged to look into another favorite Lie about the Orthodox who dont legally marry so they can game the system. He responds that he will check pubic records and report his "findings".
As one comment summed it up
Secondly, as pointed out by others, the article fails to mention the lack of State funding despite the public school enrollment up by over 1000 students, the state has not increased its share in the last 4 years due to the funding formula.
The article failed to mention that the orthodox community voted to increase taxes and give the pubic schools an additional 34 million dollars for capital improvements. Many complaints about the high cost to educate special Ed students but no mention that these expenses are state mandated services.
The Clueless author is encouraged to look into another favorite Lie about the Orthodox who dont legally marry so they can game the system. He responds that he will check pubic records and report his "findings".
As one comment summed it up
"The fact is the district is underfunded by the state especially since the district added 1000 public school students since the state froze funding 4 years ago. I didn't see one mention of you speaking to community members before writing this article. While every community and town has its issues especially one growing this quickly. A bit more research should be done instead of just looking for a juicy headline."