“For too long, we have sold our children short by not fully funding education,” said Wisniewski. “By treating schools like a burden, New Jersey has blown an opportunity to build our state into a world-class education center.”

Speaking at an Education Town Hall at Rutgers University, Wisniewski, who is running for governor, vowed to fully fund K-12 in his first budget and outlined several revenue sources and spending freezes to accomplish his plan.

Wisniewski also pointed out that fully funding K-12 would help solve another problem plaguing New Jerseyans — property taxes.

“Year after year, as Gov. Christie has underfunded education, our school districts have had to pick up the slack,” he added. “The fastest way to immediately provide property tax relief in New Jersey is to fully fund our public schools.”

Wisniewski’s education plan encompasses fully funding the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), eliminating the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests, and enacting a moratorium on charter schools. Additionally, he called for New Jersey to institute his previously announced tuition-free college plan for students from families earning less than $125,000 per year.

“Education drives our economy — it is time for New Jersey to prioritize education from kindergarten all the way through college,” said Wisniewski. “The education plan we’ve outlined will give our schools the resources they need to give our students the quality education they deserve.”

In announcing a moratorium on charter schools, Wisniewski again took aim at Christie: “Gov. Christie’s fixation with charter schools has significantly drained resources from our public schools and drifted far from their original intention. By allowing billionaires, hedge fund managers and other wealthy elites into the management ranks of our schools is the first step on a path to privatizing our public education systems.”

Declaring that “tuition-free college education is the first step toward rebuilding a strong middle class in New Jersey,” Wisniewski laid out a bold, progressive plan to provide tuition-free college for New Jersey students, making him the only gubernatorial candidate with a proposal to eliminate crippling student debt.

“Simply put: we must enable teachers to teach, empower students to learn, and challenge public schools to innovate and lead,” concluded Wisniewski. “While the transactional party bosses and special interests in Trenton will say this is impossible, we maintain that nothing is impossible — with the right kind of leadership.”

Wisniewski’s full education and tuition-free college plans can be found here: