Overview
- The Department of Education filed an Order to Show Cause, beginning the legal process that could place Lakewood under full state oversight.
- If approved, the district would be run by state-appointed leadership with sweeping authority over budgets, contracts, staffing, and policy, and the elected board would serve in an advisory role with added commissioner appointees.
- Officials cite more than a decade of deficits and repeated state loans that have not been repaid, with spending on private-school transportation outpacing classroom instruction for public-school students.
- Lakewood’s unusual enrollment profile—about 5,000 public-school students versus tens of thousands in private schools, with nearly 90% of public students learning English—has strained the state funding formula.
- Local leaders said they support increased state involvement while arguing the crisis is a revenue and formula issue rather than mismanagement, and the timing near the end of Gov. Phil Murphy’s term shifts responsibility to Sherrill.