How Much State Aid For SOMA Schools? NJ Releases Totals

SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood Public School District will see a bump in funding under the proposed New Jersey state budget.

Gov. Phil Murphy held his final budget address last week. The spending plan will include $12.1 billion in funding for local school districts. Read More: More Taxes, Big Spending: 5 Takeaways From Murphy’s Final Budget

Later that week, the New Jersey Department of Education released its 2025-26 funding figures, showing how that money will support the state's K-12 schools. Read More: See Which NJ Schools Will Get More State Aid For 2025-26

The South Orange-Maplewood Public School District is in line to get $10,938,691 in state aid: a 6 percent increase from last year’s $10,319,520. Here's how the money is earmarked:

• Transportation Aid – $1,410,776 8
• Special Education Aid – $8,563,843
• Security Aid – $964,072

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Experts say that a decrease in school aid – or even a flat number – can trigger an increase in taxes for a town’s homeowners.

Essex County will be getting a combined 5.26 percent hike to state aid next year – more than every other county in New Jersey except Salem (5.59 percent). That increase isn’t shared evenly, however – with several local districts losing state funding. See the full chart here.

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