More than 200 students of public and private schools, staff and parents attended as District Counsel Michael Inzelbuch argued in front of Administrative Law Judge Susan Scarola that the District wants what the Department of Education previously stated was needed to provide a “thorough and efficient education.”

The New Jersey Department of Education for the first time advanced a startling revelation that the State Budget would determine the needs of the District. After heated argument and the presentation of hundreds of pages of documents authored by the New Jersey Department of Education, the Judge herself appeared to correct the attorney for the State. Specifically, the Judge stated that the needs of any District should determine what monies the Department of Education is recommending rather than the Budget.

Inzelbuch stated “The district does not want a penny more than it needs . The Budget process is New Jersey politics at its worst.” Inzelbuch also said that the children of Lakewood “love the Governor and his determination.” However, after hearing the statements of the Department’s lawyer Inzelbuch stated “Now I am beginning to understand the Senate President …it almost appears as if the numbers appeared out of Heaven.”

Lakewood’s Board of Education has vowed to continue fighting cuts to their financial aid. There will be more to come.