Wayne Sees School Aid Increase In New's State Budget: See How Much

WAYNE, NJ — New education aid numbers show that Wayne Township Public Schools are set to get a 6 percent boost in state funding for the 2025-2026 school year.

The record $58.1 billion state budget proposed for 2026 includes $12.1 billion for school funding, part of what Gov. Murphy said is his administration's "ongoing and unrelenting commitment to building a New Jersey that is stronger, fairer, and more prepared for the future."

Last Thursday, the state Department of Education released the 2025-26state funding figures, showing how that $12.1 billion will support the state's K-12 schools. There are 392 districts slated to receive increased funding, 175 seeing funding cuts and seven districts whose aid amount is the same as 2024-25.

The bulk of the districts seeing reductions are cut by 3 percent, while most of the districts seeing increases are getting a 6 percent bump, which Murphy and the Department of Education had indicated would be in place. Such was the case in Wayne Township, where the budget includes an increase of $739,562, bringing the amount of state aid to $13,065,614 for the next school year.

Wayne saw the majority of its $12.3 million in state funding for the 2024-2025 year allocated to special education aid ($9.36 million). Transportation aid ($2.67 million) and security aid ($1.06 million) made up the rest of that amount.

Meanwhile, Wayne Township Schools officials are planning for next year's district budget, which would include a 2 percent tax levy increase, Business Administrator William Moffitt said during a meeting last week.

A public hearing and final adoption of the 2025-2026WTPS budget are scheduled for Thursday, May 1.

Officials said they did not have much "wiggle room" in the current year's budget, highlighting increased costs for school employee salaries, support services for special education, and employee benefits.

Patch's Karen Wall contributed to this article.