Jefferson TWP's Budget Crisis Public Forum

About this episode

The episode discusses the educational budget crisis in Jefferson TWP and the community's efforts to address it during a public forum.

Jefferson TWP hosted a Public Forum for locals to bring awareness to their educational budget crisis on 1/20/26. Local officials, teachers, students, alumni & tax payers voiced their opinions on the negative results of combining the 2018 S2 Education Funding Formula & The 2004 Highlands Act regarding decreases in funding from the state; 88% of Jefferson is within the Highlands Region. Over the last 7 years the town has lost close to 50 million in state funding forcing massive budget cuts along with multiple school closures. The S2 Funding Formula determines state-aid for schools based on their populations & Jefferson is restricted on expanding their residential & commercial markets. All argue that 'land stewardship' needs to be recognized when calculating numbers for Jefferson TWP since it hosts the drinking water for the largest city in NJ & more. [The views of the speakers are not always the views of the host].

Topics covered

• budget crisis
• education funding
• public forum
• local government
• Highlands Act

Keywords

• Jefferson TWP
• S2 Education Funding Formula
• Highlands Region
• state funding
• land stewardship

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Jefferson, the Highlands Region, NJ

More episodes of Podcasts w/ Curtis Mack

• Land of Make Believe · June 10, 2026 · 1 min
• New Vision for Jefferson | Victory Speech · June 9, 2026 · 6 min
• No Power 6/5/26 · June 5, 2026 · 0 min
• Self-Publishing Journey · June 2, 2026 · 0 min
• The Cost of College · May 29, 2026 · 1 min
• 2026 Jefferson TWP Fireman's Carnival · May 28, 2026 · 1 min