Senators take first steps to overhaul state’s school funding formula • New Jersey Monitor

Allowing districts to increase levies by 7% per year may be too little to allow some districts to meet their local fair share in a timely manner, said Danielle Farrie, research director at the Education Law Center, pointing out, for example, that it would take North Bergen nine percent years to reach its current local fair share under a cap of 7%.

But some lawmakers may balk at the prospect of dramatic property tax increases, even if they broadly support the bill’s other provisions.

“I think the tax increase is going to be a tough task, but if you’re interested in getting some of these things done that we need to do now, I’ll co-sponsor it,” said GOP Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth). -Budget Officer of the Chamber.

The bill, which the committee discussed without a vote Thursday, would prohibit the state from reducing aid to a specific county each year by more than 2% of the county’s previous budget.

Some districts have faced outsized cuts, driven in part by rising property values, inflation and shifts in school enrollment as the state decided in recent years to phase out a type of public school funding called adjustment assistance. The cuts sparked widespread outcry in some parts of the state and have helped fuel the push for change.

The bill would prohibit the state from reducing aid to districts in municipalities whose overall balanced tax rate is at least 10% above the statewide average as long as their spending is at least 10% below adequate funding.

“Any elimination of dramatic fluctuations helps everyone,” said Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools.

SDA districts do not face reductions in aid if their municipality’s tax rate is above the statewide average and the district’s spending is below the appropriate amount.

It would require the Commissioner of Education to engage the public to determine whether the department’s method for deciding a district’s local fair share and its ability to properly pay it takes into account residents’ ability to pay.

It calls on the commissioner to review school budget timelines, districts’ ability to anticipate changes in state school aid and methods for expanding preschool funding, among other issues.

The law would also expand extraordinary special education funding. Under current law, the state funds up to 90% of per-student costs over $40,000 for students with disabilities.

The bill would lower that threshold to $35,000 and require the state to cover any costs above that level after a five-year, 80% transition period in the first full school year after the bill’s enactment.

“A student can completely mess up a small district’s budget if they have to pay that money,” said Francine Pfeffer, associate director of government relations at the New Jersey Education Association.

Numerous witnesses praised provisions that require the state to consider whether it should average county property values ​​over multiple years to prevent large fluctuations in funding in a single year, arguing that multiyear averages would smooth out the annual impact.

The effort to tweak the state’s funding formula is expected to precede an effort to require New Jersey’s roughly 600 school districts to combine to reduce administrative and other costs. Gopal said he expects this push to begin in 2025.

“In any district with 500 or fewer students, we can no longer operate,” Gopal said. “We need to bring together healthcare contracts, waste management and snow removal. All of that can help with this question of affordability, but at the same time I don’t think denying a child mental health, special education, music or art should be an option just because we’re having a crazy inflationary crisis right now.”