From Montclair to Minneapolis, school deficits reveal progressive mismanagement
Alarming budget deficits in a growing number of public school districts are shining a light on failures to adequately supervise those who spend the money.
The planned termination of…
Alarming budget deficits in a growing number of public school districts are shining a light on failures to adequately supervise those who spend the money.
The planned termination of COVID-related federal funding, declining enrollment and out-of-control spending from mass hiring was already straining budgets for traditional K-12 public schools in 2025, according to the credit rating agency Moody’s.
Adding to the public school financial dystopia are last-minute discoveries of budget gaps, even as schools are opening. The gaps reveal school boards apparently more interested in diversity, equity and inclusion than in responsible financial management.
This week in Montclair, New Jersey, for example, one of the state’s most affluent and socially progressive districts, a dramatic budget shortfall has rattled confidence in school governance, reports Patch.
Just three months into her term, Superintendent Ruth B. Turner revealed Montclair Public Schools (MPS) was staring at an $18 million deficit, up from about $11 million originally disclosed in late July.
The new total reflects previously hidden liabilities and unpaid obligations, including newly discovered shortfalls of $4 million to $5 million in current budget items that were not accounted for in earlier estimates.
“It is really incompetence, bad accounting and administration’s inability to say no,” said Turner, according to multiple media outlets.
Turner has discounted fraud, but said the deficit was due to weak financial controls, noting that in some cases district records simply do not reconcile, according to a local podcast.
It’s not like they shouldn’t have the money, however, to run a district. The average residential tax bill came to $21,631 in 2024, said Montclair Local, citing state data.
MPS’s predicament, though severe, is not unique.
In Missouri’s St. Joseph School District (SJSD), a budget approved in June that projected an $8.2 million deficit quickly unraveled when a $6.8 million reserve shortfall was discovered in late July, The Heartlander reported previously.
That pushed the budget hole to nearly $15 million, raising tough questions about how a district could approve a budget with no clear visibility into its total cost.
New Superintendent Ashly McGinnis, who took over after the budget was approved, described the situation as reminiscent of the district’s 2018 budget deficit that caused a reduction in force of 15%.
That budget problem followed the 2015 SJSD scandal in which at least $25 million in “stipends” were paid to non-teachers over an eight-year period, according to a state audit.
For years, the SJSD board has suffered from infighting over progressive policies pushed by some on the board.
Other districts show similar patterns.
Minneapolis Public Schools, another ultra-progressive district, is facing a projected $95 million shortfall for 2025-26, according to district documents.
The gap follows the aftermath of the 2022 teachers’ strike, the longest in Minnesota history, which centered on wages. A technology tax increase approved by voters in 2024 provided some relief, but did not close the gap.
That’s because of “historic” wage increases that were granted teachers in both 2022 and 2024, even though those increases were known to be unsustainable. The average annual salary in the district is $77,178, 76% above the U.S. national average.
The district had previously received $264.6 million in federal pandemic relief funds, of which about $180 million supported ongoing costs, according to the district.
The list goes on.
A 2024 audit revealed Brockton Public Schools had $18 million from its budget disappear due to financial mismanagement. The problem was tied to an earlier $18.3 million tracking scandal that prompted a state probe and superintendent suspension.
But Brockton’s problems started earlier, as the district began a pet progressive plan to stop punishing disciplinary infractions. The district went from one of the urban turnaround success stories to a rank failure.
Since 2020, the number of black students at Brockton High School has dropped by about 15%, while the white student population has declined nearly one-third. At the same time, Hispanic enrollment has surged by 20%, reported the New York Post.
In 2024, the district even suggested calling in the National Guard to ensure the safety of students, as conditions continued to deteriorate.
The Brockton district demonstrates that when enrollment – the driving indicator for a district’s revenues – plunges, a deficit is bound to appear.
The Lion has identified other districts that have also had budget problems rear their ugly head, almost out of nowhere, including:
Many of the districts relied on one-time funds, failed to fully budget past liabilities or allowed costs to accrue in multiple categories, especially salaries that boosted union teachers, without adequate and sustainable financial resources.
These crises raise a sharp question: How can districts with high guaranteed tax bases allow financial oversight to erode so quickly when U.S. taxpayers were picking up the tab to ostensibly goose academic performance during COVID?
Experts suggest boards and leaders were focused intensely on equity issues or progressive policies, while routine financial audits, reserve policies and financial warning indicators were ignored.
