Republican two-time gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has been posting on social media about poor outcomes at Newark Public Schools, specifically targeting the Murphy Administration’s largesse toward New Jersey’s largest district ($4 billion in five years, he says) and twitting Democratic contender Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

Cittarelli instigated the back-and-forth on X (formerly known as Twitter) by tagging Murphy about his support for lowering the voting age in school board elections to 16 and 17-year-olds, writing that instead of making voting age his target, “how about helping the 80% of Newark 3rd graders who can’t read at grade level?”

Baraka hit back at his GOP opponent, posting, “instead of targeting 3rd graders, maybe try spending some time creating policy and citing the importance of civic involvement and outside factors that influence school outcomes (the “social determinants of health”: Explainer here). He adds, “We want young people to vote for a leader who will confront and remove barriers, not someone who mocks the expansion of democracy, divides our state, and creates memes to humiliate children.”

Ciattarelli responded by noting, “Newark schools have received more than $4 billion from the state in the last five years…Yet, very tragically, nearly 80% of third graders can’t read at grade level and only 18% of district students were proficient in math. That’s criminal.”

According to the New Jersey Department of Education, the total state contribution to Newark Public Schools over the last five years (2019-2024) has been $4.7 billion. This doesn’t include federal aid or taxes from local taxpayers; during this time period NPS’s total operating budget was $5.6 billion.

This is not the first time Ciattarelli has weighed in on public education issues. In July he wrote on Instagram, “Newark desperately needs educational freedom by way of school choice.” Last year he suggested we refrain “from saying our K-12 system is ‘one of the very best in the country.’ Are there pockets of exceptional success? Unequivocally, yes. But on the whole, the system is failing our students and taxpayers.”