Thread by @JerseyTogether

So… what is “maintenance of equity” and why is it critical & easy for @NJGov (particularly @NJSenatePres @SpeakerCoughlin @GovMurphy) to enforce this critical component of @JoeBiden’s American Rescue Plan. A thread. (1/

Inside the ARP, which provided critical relief to @NJGov, our schools & municipalities, are provisions about what states must do for schools when they accept that money. One of these is “maintenance of equity,” which was put in after advocacy by @EdTrust & others. Txt below. (2/

NJTogether saw this provision & recognized its potential. We talked with experts and attorneys, but we waited on the guidance from @usedgov before taking action. Because we knew it would clarify whether and how it applied to @jcps_district & others. (3/

That @usedgov guidance was issued in early June and it’s incredibly clear. Here is the actual verbiage to figure out whether a state is violating “maintenance of equity” for a given district. (4/

There’s more though… @usedgov makes very clear WHY this provision must be enforced by state education departments like @NewJerseyDOE. Read the language here. (5/

So… @JerseyTogether sent a letter to the legislature’s budget committees (& to @GovMurphy @NewJerseyDOE) alerting them about it. (6/

So did @EdLawCenter. And they figured out that districts like @jcps_district @JerseyCity & @inAsburyParkNJ count as “highest poverty” districts. Not just “high need”. They found that the total cost to the state is $172M for this school year. (7/

This is at a time when the state as an $10.1B surplus. TEN BILLION. (8/

The reason for this provision is to PROTECT STUDENTS & SCHOOLS at a time when that protection is most critical. When our poorest children have been hit the hardest, when they need extra resources most. When extra investments & spending you might not normally do are critical. (9/

Pandemics and crises like this demand that we spend money to make up for losses. It demands a bigger pie. And @NJGov has more than enough money to make that happen this year & next. Here’s the full impact by district. (10/

In Jersey City, we’re going to continue to press for more local investment. Just like we have. (In the last few years, our organizing has more than doubled the local school levy. We’ve fought for a payroll tax. We’ve changed the allocation of property taxes significantly.) (11/

But this moment demands a different kind of thinking by our politicians. It demands thinking bigger & not in us vs them ways. It demands thinking FIRST about our children & our most vulnerable. We’ll see Monday if that happens. (12/12)