TRENTON – The Assembly Education Committee advanced legislation sponsored by Senators Vin Gopal and Troy Singleton to improve school funding transparency, protect high-tax-burden communities from severe aid cuts, and strengthen support for special education services statewide.

“Supporting education services is essential," said Senator Gopal (D-Monmouth). "This legislation moves us closer to an accurate and equitable funding system for all students. Our schools cannot operate on guesswork. They need a funding system that is consistent, transparent, and equitable.”

"Districts deserve a system that is fair, predictable, and transparent," said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). "This bill addresses real challenges districts face every year and helps ensure students receive the resources they need.

The bill, S-3917/A-5310 will require the Department of Education to publish detailed, user-friendly school aid calculations for every district. This transparency will give districts earlier insight into funding decisions. It will also make permanent and expand municipal overburden protections to prevent state aid reductions in districts where property tax rates already exceed statewide averages and where districts are spending below adequacy. Districts above adequacy would be protected from aid cuts that exceed their spending above adequacy. The bill will cap all state aid reductions at 2 percent of a district's operating budget, setting a floor that will improve predictability.

To help districts manage unpredictable and costly special education needs, the bill will require annual increases in extraordinary special education aid or increases in the percentage of costs reimbursed. It also uses district's actual special education population in aid calculations, instead of the census-based model that assumes the all districts have the same demographics and needs, and establishes an 11-member Special Education Funding Review Task Force to examine special education costs and explore a tier-based funding model.

Original Article