By Vin Gopal
The state Senate Education Committee plans to begin discussing our bill to revamp the school funding formula at its Dec. 5 meeting as we strive to create a fairer, simpler and more transparent approach to paying for public education.
This is no small challenge because the problem here has developed over decades. New Jersey has not meaningfully updated its school funding formula, known as the School Funding Reform Act, since it was signed into law in 2008. The state, however, has changed dramatically since that time.
As chair of the Senate Education Committee and as prime sponsors with Assemblywomen Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, we recognize the need to make the state’s formula more transparent. Our bill includes a mandate for the Department of Education to publish online, in a user-friendly format, the calculation of each category of state aid payable to each school district. This would include explanations of variables used to determine the district's aid.
Since becoming law, the SFRA’s impact has been uneven throughout the state. The formula helped bring stable and equitable funding to many districts that have been historically under-resourced. But it has also created extreme year-to-year volatility for a significant portion of the state’s districts.
One of the bill’s central goals is eliminating that volatility. The bill would revise how districts local funding shares are calculated, provide them with more flexibility to contend with unexpected cost increases, and limit how much aid a district can lose from one year to the next in order to guarantee districts more stable and predictable funding.
Our legislation will also make the formula more adaptable going forward. The School Funding Reform Act requires the Department of Education to issue an Educational Adequacy Report every three years with recommendations for revisions to the formula. Our legislation expands the scope of the EAR, giving the Commissioner the authority to review any portion or variable in the formula, and provides for more stakeholder input into the review.
A robust Educational Adequacy Report is crucial to ensuring our state’s funding formula remains up-to-date and responsive to the needs of the state’s school districts, and we believe these regular studies of the formula will guarantee its sustainability.
We expect the hearings on this bill to span a number of Senate Education Committee meetings as we engage parents, educators, school administrators, and other stakeholders in the discussions.
There is too much at stake here for our children, seniors and other property taxpayers struggling to hold onto their homes.
Succeeding in school funding reform also will help keep our vibrant state economy growing by educating the workforce that will keep New Jersey competitive in business and industry.
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