A small historical schoolhouse in New York State.
The debate over education is a perennial one in New Jersey, but doesn't grow directly from what happens in the classroom: How much should taxpayers pay for schools and are there too many districts across the 21 counties?
New Jersey has 590 public school districts and 89 charter or renaissance schools for its more than 1.3 million students, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.
And schools are the largest consumers of local property tax dollars — $18.8 billion or 52 percent of the 2025 statewide local property tax bill, according to a 70and73.com analysis of state Division of Taxation data. Those billions do not include state or federal tax dollars allocated for aid to education.
"I believe there are redundancies," state Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) told reporter Rob Jennings of nj.com in a story on Monday. Gopal told nj.com that there is "an affordability and efficiency crisis" in public education and that the number of districts should ultimately shrink to 70 or 80.
Gopal introduced a bill in November that, if passed by the Senate and Assembly and signed by the governor, would require county superintendents of school to submit plans to consolidate the state's smallest districts — those with fewer than 500 students — into regional districts.
However, it would take far more than Gopal's proposed law to get to his goal of 70 or 80 districts in the state.
A total of 137 districts, or less than one-quarter of the state total, had fewer than 500 students in 2024-25, the latest year available in the Education Department Fall Enrollment Reports. Fifty-one of the small districts are in South Jersey and 17 are in Burlington or Camden counties, according to a 70and73.com analysis. The Medford Lakes School District would be one of them, based on the 2024-25 data:
- Woodland Township School District, Burlington, 91
- Laurel Springs School District, Camden, 179
- New Hanover Township, Burlington, 185
- Riverton School District, Burlington, 252
- Gibbsboro Elementary School District, Camden, 264
- Oaklyn Public School District, Camden, 273
- Brooklawn Public School District, Camden, 277
- Springfield Township School District, Burlington, 297
- Lawnside School District, Camden, 333
- Beverly City School District, Burlington, 342
- Delanco Township School District, Burlington, 355
- Merchantville School District, Camden, 394
- Magnolia School District, Camden, 396
- Woodlynne School District, Camden, 407
- Mt. Ephraim School District, Camden, 426
- Medford Lakes School District, Burlington, 434
- Somerdale School District, Camden, 447
